Japanese submarine I-8

Japanese submarine I-8

The Japanese submarine "I-8" was a World War II Junsen Type J-3 Imperial Japanese Navy submarine, famous for completing a technology exchange mission to German-occupied France and back to Japan in 1943.

The series (I-7 and I-8), based on the KD ("Kaidai") type, were the largest Japanese submarines to be completed before World War II. They participated in the attack on Pearl Harbor in patrol missions with their Yokosuka E14Y seaplanes being used in reconnaissance flights.

Mission to Germany

These missions took place under the Axis Powers' Tripartite Pact to provide for an exchange of strategic materials and manufactured goods between Germany, Italy, and Japan. Initially, cargo ships made the exchanges, but when that was no longer possible, submarines were used. Only six submarines attempted this trans-oceanic voyage during World War II: (November 1943), and German submarine "U-511" (August 1943).

Of these, "I-30" was sunk by a mine, "I-34" by the British submarine .

War Crimes

"Tjisalak

On the 26 March 1944, during a raid into the Indian Ocean, "I-8" torpedoed the 5,787-ton Dutch freighter SS|Tjisalak. The submarine then surfaced amid the debris field and after a brief exchange of shots with the ship's defensive armament, collected the survivors upon the boat's deck. It was at this point, shortly after the freighter had sunk, that crew and passengers, totalling 97 survivors, were tied together and forced to run a gauntlet of Japanese sailors, during which they were slashed with samurai swords and beaten with monkey wrenches and sledgehammers before being shot, and kicked into the water. Six men somehow managed to survive this and find a life raft, from which they were picked up by the Liberty ship SS "James O. Wilder" sometime later.

"Jean Nicolet"

Just two months after the murder of the crew of the "Tjisalak", the crew of the "I-8" were involved in yet another atrocity, when they hit the 7,176-ton liberty ship SS|Jean Nicolet with two torpedoes, not far from the scene of the sinking of the "Tjisalak". The 100 crew of the American ship abandoned the burning craft and took to life rafts, but were all gathered on the submarine's deck in a similar fashion. This time the massacre took several hours, as the crew were made to walk individually past the conning tower, before being set upon and murdered [http://www.armed-guard.com/ag87.html] . Suddenly, and without warning the submarine dived, plunging the tied-up sailors lying on her deck into the ocean where most drowned. Sources differ over the number of survivors, but it is believed that 22 men made it to a life raft, from which they were picked up by the HMS|Hoxa some 30 hours later. Five prisoners were also taken to Japan by the submarine, one of whom survived to be released after the war.

"I-8" also sunk numerous other ships, often with high loss of life, and some with total loss, suggesting additional war crimes which remain unknown. Her captain, who had encouraged and participated in the events, Tatsunoke Ariizumi, committed suicide at the Japanese surrender, and no charges were ever brought against the remainder of the crew, few of whom survived hostilities.

Later developments

In late 1944, "I-8" was converted to carry Kaiten suicide torpedoes. She was lost off Okinawa on 31 March 1945, in an encounter with the American destroyers USS|Morrison|DD-560|6 and USS|Stockton|DD-646|6.

Commanding Officers

* Chief Equipping Officer - Cmdr. Hiroshi Goto - 20 May 1938 - 15 December 1938
* Cmdr. Hiroshi Goto - 15 December 1938 - 15 November 1939
* Cmdr. Taro Shimizu - 15 November 1939 - 31 October 1941
* Cmdr. Tetsuhiro Emi - 31 October 1941 - 25 July 1942
* Cmdr. Shinji Uchino - 25 July 1942 - 15 January 1944
* Cmdr. / Capt. Tetsunosuke Ariizumi - 15 January 1944 - 15 December 1944 (Promoted to Captain on 15 October 1944.)
* Lt. Cmdr. Shigeo Shinohara - 15 December 1944 - 31 March 1945 (KIA)

ee also

* Imperial Japanese Navy submarines
* [http://piquetjm.ns5-wistee.fr/cybervillage/viewtopic.php?t=365 Article with pictures of I-8 stay in France from a Kriegsmarine reel (French text) from www.lazaloeil.com ]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z555tPpijFo Youtube - "I-8" visits German Occupied Europe]

References


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