Midget submarine

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A midget submarine is any submarine under 150 tons, typically operated by one or two but up to 6 or 8 crew, with no on-board living accommodation. Midget submarines normally work with mother ships, from which they are launched and recovered, and which provide living accommodation for the crew and other support staff.

Both military and civilian midget submarines have been built and operated. Military types work with surface ships and submarines as mother ships. Civilian and non-combatant military types are generally called submersibles, and normally work with surface ships.

Some 80 Type D Kairyu class submarines and four Type A or Type C subs in a drydock at Kure, October 19, 1945
Some 80 Type D Kairyu class submarines and four Type A or Type C subs in a drydock at Kure, October 19, 1945

Contents

[edit] Military — World War II

[edit] Japan

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Five Ko-hyoteki-class midget submarines were used in the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, in which the type 97 torpedo was used operationally. However, most of the midget submarines floated completely off course and never even hit anything. One of these five midget submarines was shot and sunk by the USS Ward as it was spotted trying to enter Pearl Harbor. The wreckage of the submarine was located by NOAA's Hawaii Undersea Research Laboratory (HURL) in August 2002.

Photographic analysis conducted by the United States Naval Institute in 1999 indicates one of the five Ko-hyoteki-class submarines managed to enter Pearl Harbor, and successfully fired a torpedo into the USS West Virginia. The submarine's final resting place is unknown.

This conclusion, however, is disputed by several noted historians on the Pearl Harbor Attacked Message Board [1][unreliable source?]. The photographic analysis is based solely on three splashes[specify] seen in a single aerial photo and purported to be from the midgets propeller. Only one submarine is known to have penetrated the harbor, and it fired torpedoes at the USS Curtiss and USS Monaghan. Another submarine fired torpedoes at the USS St. Louis as she exited the harbor. The remaining three submarines—the one captured, one found in 1960 and one found in 2003—had their torpedoes onboard when found. These submarines together account for the torpedoes of all five submarines, and thus rule out the photographic interpretation.

[edit] Japanese midget submarine attacks on Sydney

The two midget submarines sunk in Sydney Harbour were used to construct a composite midget submarine which toured Australia during the war.
The two midget submarines sunk in Sydney Harbour were used to construct a composite midget submarine which toured Australia during the war.
Main article: Attack on Sydney Harbour

On the night of 29 May 1942, five large Japanese submarines positioned themselves 56 kilometres north-east of Sydney Heads. At 3.00am the next day one of the submarines launched a reconnaissance aircraft. After circling Sydney Harbour the aircraft returned to its submarine, reporting the presence of 'battleships and cruisers' moored in the harbour. The flotilla's commanding officer decided to attack the harbour with midget submarines the next night. The next day the five submarines approached to within 11 kilometres of Sydney Heads, and at about 4.30pm they released three midget submarines which then began their approach to Sydney Harbour.

The outer-harbour defences detected the entry of the first midget submarine at about 8.00pm, but it was not identified until it became entangled in an anti-torpedo net that was suspended between George's Head and Green Point. Before HMAS Yarroma was able to open fire, the submarine's two crew members destroyed their vessel with demolition charges and killed themselves.

The second submarine entered the harbour at about 9.48pm and headed west towards the Harbour Bridge, causing a general alarm to be issued by the Naval Officer in Charge, Sydney. About 200 metres from Garden Island the submarine was fired on by the heavy cruiser USS Chicago. The submarine then fired its two torpedoes at the cruiser. One torpedo ran ashore on Garden Island but failed to explode. The other passed under the Dutch submarine K9 and struck the harbour bed beneath the depot ship HMAS Kuttabul where it exploded, killing 21 sailors (19 Royal Australian Navy and 2 Royal Navy). The submarine then slipped out of the harbour, its mission complete.

The third submarine was sighted by HMAS Yandra at the entrance to the harbour and was depth-charged. Some four hours later, having recovered, it entered the harbour but it was subsequently attacked with depth charges and sunk in Taylor Bay by vessels of the Royal Australian Navy. Both members of the submarine's crew committed suicide.

The two submarines that were recovered were identical, and their remains were used to reconstruct a complete submarine, which toured New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia before being delivered to the Australian War Memorial in Canberra in 1943, where it remains on display.

[edit] Nations

[edit] British

The Royal Navy also used a number of midget submarines.

[edit] X class

The first group (known as the X class) were used to attack German warships in the North of Norway. One notable target of a successful attack was the battleship Tirpitz. The submarines had a crew of three (plus a diver) and carried two large mines containing Amatol – one on each side. Their strategy was to lay mines on the sea bottom beneath the target, set a time fuse, and exit.

[edit] XE class

The later XE class were used in the Far East, where they carried out a number of attacks and special missions.

[edit] Welman class

The British also developed the Welman class: a single person submarine widely considered a failure.[citation needed]

[edit] German

German midget submarine Seehund, with a torpedo
German midget submarine Seehund, with a torpedo

The Germans developed various classes of midget submarines: the Molch, the Seehund, and the Biber.

[edit] Japanese

[edit] Iran

Iran developed the Ghadir submarine.

[edit] North Korea

North Korea developed the Yugo class submarine.

[edit] Gallery

Japanese midget submarine sunk off New Hanover island, Papua New Guinea

Diver and conning tower of the sub

Detail of the hatch and conning tower of the sub

Diver and the torpedo tubes of the submarine

A Kairyu submarine at the entrance of Moroiso inlet, 1945

German Molch Midget submarine. South African Military Museum, Johannesburg

[edit] See also