Type AM submarine
 Japanese submarine I-14 in 1945 | |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Operators: |
 Imperial Japanese Navy |
| Preceded by: | Type A2 submarine |
| In service: | 1944 - 1945 |
| Completed: | I-13, I-14 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 3,603 tons surfaced 4,762 tons submerged |
| Length: | 108.40 m (355 ft 8 in) pp 113.70 m (373.0 ft) oa |
| Beam: | 11.70 m (38 ft 5 in) |
| Draft: | 5.89 m (19 ft 4 in) |
| Propulsion: | 2 diesels: 4,400 hp electric motors: 600 hp |
| Speed: | 16.7 knots (30.93 km/h) surfaced 5.5 knots (10.2 km/h) submerged |
| Range: | 21,000 nmi (39,000 km) at 16 knots (30 km/h) |
| Test depth: | 100 m (330 ft) |
| Complement: | 118 officers and men |
| Armament: | 6 × 533 mm forward torpedo tubes (12 torpedoes) 1 × 25 mm machine gun 2 × 25 mm 3-barrel machine gun |
| Aircraft carried: | 2 Aichi M6A1 Seiran sea-planes |
The Type AM (A Modified) submarine (巡潜甲型改二潜水艦 Junsen kō-gata kai-ni sensuikan, "Cruiser submarine type A modified 2"), also called I-13-class submarine (伊一三型潜水艦 I-jū-san-gata sensuikan) It was a large seaplane-carrying submarine of the Imperial Japanese Navy, with a hangar space for 2 aircraft. These giant submarines were originally of the A2 type, meant to act as command boats for groups of submarines, but their design was revised after construction started so that they could carry a second aircraft.[1] Seven units were ordered, but only two were completed, while construction of two more was abandoned in March 1945, with construction of the remaining three submarines never started.[2][3] The seaplanes were to be the Aichi M6A1, bomber carrying 800 kg bombs.
The range and speed of these submarines was remarkable (21,000 nmi at 16 knots), but their underwater performance was compromised, making them easy targets.
- I-13 was sunk on 16 July 1945 by the destroyer escort USS Lawrence C. Taylor and aircraft action from escort carrier USS Anzio about 550 nautical miles (1,019 km) east of Yokosuka.
- I-14 surrendered at sea at the end of the war, and was scuttled off Oahu in 1946. In 2009 researchers at the Hawaii Undersea Research Laboratory found I-14 at a depth of about 2,600 feet (790 m).[4]
- I-15 was converted to a tanker submarine in June 1945, 90% complete, scrapped in 1945.
- I-1 was 70% complete, sunk by a typhoon on 18-09-1945, later salvaged and scrapped.
- No.5094, No.5095 and No.5096 were cancelled in 1943.
See also
- Cruiser submarine
- Type A submarine
- I-400 class submarine - 3-aircraft submarine with catapult launcher
- Submarine aircraft carrier
References
- ↑ Layman and McLaughlin 1991, p. 176.
- ↑ Gardiner and Chesneau 1980, p. 200.
- ↑ Layman and McLaughlin 1991, p. 177.
- ↑ HENRY FOUNTAIN (November 12, 2009). "2 Sunken Japanese Subs Are Found Off Hawaii". New York Times.
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