| History | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Name | Submarine Minelayer No. 52 orSubmarine No. 60 (see text) |
| Builder | Kawasaki Corporation,Kobe,Japan |
| Laid down | 17 April 1926 |
| Launched | 12 December 1927 |
| Renamed | I-24 on 12 December 1927 |
| Completed | 10 December 1928 |
| Decommissioned | 25 May 1935 |
| Recommissioned | 15 November 1935 |
| Renamed | I-124 on 1 June 1938 |
| Decommissioned | 20 March 1940 |
| Recommissioned | 24 April 1940 |
| Fate | Sunk 20 January 1942 |
| Stricken | 30 April 1942 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | I-121-classsubmarine |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 85.20 m (279 ft 6 in) overall |
| Beam | 7.52 m (24 ft 8 in) |
| Draft | 4.42 m (14 ft 6 in) |
| Propulsion |
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| Speed |
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| Range |
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| Test depth |
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| Complement | 80 |
| Armament |
|
I-124, originally namedSubmarine Minelayer No. 52 and then namedI-24 from before herlaunch until June 1938, was anI-121-classsubmarine of theImperial Japanese Navy that served during theSecond Sino-Japanese War andWorld War II. During the latter conflict, she operated in support of theJapanese invasion of the Philippines and was sunk during anti-shipping operations offAustralia in January 1942.
After she was renumberedI-124 in 1938, the numberI-24 was assigned toa later submarine which also served during World War II.
I-124 and her threesister ships —I-21 (later renumberedI-121),I-22 (later renumberedI-122) andI-23 (later renumberedI-123) — were the Imperial Japanese Navy's only submarineminelayers.[2] They were known in Japan by the type nameKirai Fusetsu Sensuikan (機雷敷設潜水艦,minelaying submarine), commonly shortened to "Kiraisen"-type submarine (機雷潜型潜水艦,Kiraisen-gata sensuikan).[2]
TheKiraisen-type design was based on that of theImperial German Navyminelaying submarineSM UB-125, aType UB III submarine which was the largest of seven German submarines transferred toJapan as awar reparation afterWorld War I and served in the Imperial Japanese Navy asO-6 from 1920 to 1921.[2] LikeUB-125, theKiraisen-type submarines had twodiesel engines producing a combined 2,400 horsepower (1,790 kW), could carry 42mines and had fourtorpedo tubes and a single deck gun — a 5.5-inch (140 mm) gun on the Japanese submarines in contrast to a 5.9-inch (150 mm) gun onUB-125.[2] Compared to the German submarine, they were larger — 10 feet (3 m) longer and displacing 220 more tons on the surface and 300 more tons submerged — and had a longer range both on the surface — 970 nautical miles (1,800 km; 1,120 mi) farther at 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph) — and submerged — 5 nautical miles (9.3 km; 5.8 mi) farther at 4.5 knots (8.3 km/h; 5.2 mph).[2] They were 0.2 knots (0.37 km/h; 0.23 mph) slower thanUB-125 both surfaced and submerged, carried two fewertorpedoes and could dive to only 200 feet (61 m) compared to 250 feet (76 m) forUB-125.[2]
Built byKawasaki atKobe,Japan,I-124 waslaid down on 17 April 1926 with either the nameSubmarine No. 60[3] orSubmarine Minelayer No. 52,[4] according to different sources. She waslaunched on 12 December 1927 and renamedI-24 that day.[3][4] She was completed andcommissioned on 10 December 1928.[3][4]
Upon commissioning,I-24 was attached to theYokosuka Naval District[3][4] and assigned to SubmarineDivision 9 in the Yokosuka Defense Division in the district.[3] On 11 December 1933, Submarine Division 9 was reassigned to the Yokosuka Guard Unit[4] or Yokosuka Guard Squadron[3] in the Yokosuka Naval District.[3]
While conducting deep diving trials with hersister shipI-23 on 25 May 1935,I-24 suffered damage to her mainballast tanks.[4] She was placed inreserve that day[3][4] to have her ballast tanks reinforced.[4] On 15 November 1935, Submarine Division 9 was reassigned to the Yokosuka Defense Squadron in the Yokosuka Naval District,[3] and, with her ballast tank work complete,I-24 returned to active service that day,[3] but in 1936 all four submarines of herclass had their designed diving depth limited to 180 feet (55 m).[4]
On 7 July 1937 the first day of theMarco Polo Bridge Incident took place, beginning theSecond Sino-Japanese War.[4] In September 1937, Submarine Division 9, consisting ofI-23 andI-24,[4] moved to a base atQingdao,China and began operations in northern Chinese waters as part of a Japaneseblockade of China.[5] On 1 December 1937, Submarine Division 13 was assigned to Submarine Squadron 3 in the4th Fleet, a component of theCombined Fleet,[3] and in December 1937, thelight cruiserKuma arrived at Qingdao to serve asflagship of Submarine Squadron 3, which consisted of Submarine Division 13 (made up ofI-21 andI-22) as well as Submarine Division 9 (I-23 andI-24).[5]
I-24 was renumberedI-124 on 1 June 1938,[3][4] freeing up her previous number for the new submarineI-24, whose keel was laid that year.[6][7] On 20 June 1938, Submarine Division 9 was assigned to theGunnery School in the Yokosuka Naval District.[3] In an effort to reduce international tensions over the conflict in China, Japan withdrew its submarines from Chinese waters in December 1938,[5]
On 1 May 1939, Submarine Division 9 was placed in the Third Reserve in the Yokosuka Naval District,[3] and it moved to the Second Reserve in the district on 15 November 1939.[3] On 20 March 1940,I-124 herself was placed in reserve atYokosuka.[3][4] While in reserve,I-124 and all three of her sister ships — which, like her, had been renumbered on 1 June 1938,I-21 becomingI-121,I-22 becomingI-122 andI-23 becomingI-123 — underwent conversion into submarinetankers.[2] Retaining their minelaying and torpedo capabilities, they were modified so that each of them could carry 15 tons ofaviation gasoline with which to refuelflying boats,[2][4] allowing the flying boats to extend their range during reconnaissance and bombing missions by meeting the submarines in harbors andlagoons for more fuel.[2]
I-124 was recommissioned on 24 April 1940,[3] and on 1 May 1940 Submarine Division 9 was assigned to Submarine Squadron 5 in the 4th Fleet.[3]I-124 soon began a lengthy training cruise in thePacific in company withI-121,I-122, andI-123:[3][8][9][10] The four submarines departedSasebo, Japan, on 16 May 1940 and visited the waters of theCaroline Islands,Marshall Islands, andMariana Islands before concluding their cruise with their arrival atYokosuka, Japan, on 22 September 1940.[3][8][9][10] On 11 October 1940,I-124 was one of 98 Imperial Japanese Navy ships that gathered along with more than 500 aircraft on the Japanese coast atYokohama Bay for anImperial fleet review — the largestfleet review in Japanese history — in honor of the 2,600th anniversary of the enthronement of theEmperor Jimmu, Japan's legendary firstemperor.[3][11][12]
Submarine Division 9 was reassigned directly to the Yokosuka Naval District on 15 November 1940.[3] On 1 May 1941, the division was assigned to Submarine Squadron 6 in the3rd Fleet, a component of the Combined Fleet, andI-123 andI-124 were based atKure.[3][4] From 7 to 9 April 1941,I-123 temporarily substituted forI-124 asflagship of Submarine Division 9.[4]I-123 again took over fromI-124 as flagship of Submarine Division 9 on 2 August 1941.[4]
As the Imperial Japanese Navy began to deploy in preparation for the impendingconflict in thePacific,I-123 andI-124, under the command ofLieutenant Commander Kishigami Koichi, moved fromYokosuka, Japan, toSamah onHainan Island in China,[13] whereI-124 arrived on 27 November 1941 in company with thesubmarine tenderChōgei.[3][4] She received the message "ClimbMount Niitaka 1208" (Japanese:Niitakayama nobore 1208) from theCombined Fleet on 2 December 1941, indicating that war with theAllies would commence on 8 December 1941Japan time (7 December 1941 on the other side of theInternational Date Line inHawaii, where the war would begin with Japan'sattack on Pearl Harbor).[4]
On 7 December 1941,I-124 laid 39 Type 88 Mark 1mines offManila Bay in thePhilippines.[4]I-124 then proceeded to an area southwest ofLubang Island to provideweather reports and to stand by to rescue Japanese aircrews downed in air strikes onManila launched fromFormosa after hostilities began.[4]
On 8 December 1941,Pacific campaign ofWorld War II began inEast Asia. On 10 December 1941,I-124 torpedoed and sank the 1,523-gross register ton Britishcargo shipHareldawns — which was on a voyage fromHong Kong toSingapore — 8 nautical miles (15 km; 9.2 mi) off westernLuzon at15°N120°E / 15°N 120°E /15; 120 (Hareldawns) and took hercaptain prisoner.[3][4] She concluded her patrol with her arrival atCam Ranh Bay in Japanese-occupiedFrench Indochina on 14 December 1941.[4]
The minesI-124 laid off Manila Bay sank the 1,881-gross register ton Americanmerchant shipCorregidor on 17 December 1941 at14°N120°E / 14°N 120°E /14; 120 (Corregidor)[3] and the 1,976-gross register tonPanamanian-flaggedcargo shipDaylite on 10 January 1942, also at14°N120°E / 14°N 120°E /14; 120 (Daylite).[3][4]
I-124 got back underway from Cam Ranh Bay on 18 December 1941 to begin her second war patrol.[4] By 22 December she was patrolling off the entrance to Manila Bay.[4] She then proceeded viaMindoro Strait to theSulu Sea. Reassigned withI-121,I-122 andI-123 to Submarine Group "A" on 26 December 1941, she concluded her uneventful patrol on 31 December 1941, arriving at newly capturedDavao onMindanao in company withI-122.[4] The rest of Submarine Squadron 6 —I-121,I-123 andChōgei — soon joined them there.[4]
Submarine Squadron 6 received orders to operate next in theFlores Sea and theTorres Strait north ofAustralia. On 10 January 1942, the four submarines departed Davao, commencingI-124's third war patrol.[4]I-124 reached her patrol area off the western entrance of theClarence Strait off Australia′sNorthern Territory on 14 January 1942.[4] That day, she sighted theUnited States Navyheavy cruiserUSS Houston (CA-30) anddestroyersUSS Alden (DD-211) andUSS Edsall (DD-219), which were returning to Australia from a sweep in theBanda Sea, but was unable to gain an attack position.[4] On 16 January she laid 27 mines nearDarwin, Australia.[4] Four Japanese mines that washed ashore near Darwin on 11 February 1942 may have been laid byI-124.[4]
On 18 January 1942,Houston reported sighting two Japanese submarines — probablyI-123 andI-124 — 180 nautical miles (330 km; 210 mi) west of Darwin.[4] At 17:40 on 19 January,I-124 reported the arrival at Darwin of threeAlliedtransports escorted by a destroyer.[4] She repeated the report at 22:36,[4] which was the last time the Japanese ever heard from her.[4] Allied codebreakers intercepted the signal and warned Allied forces thatI-124 was off Darwin.[4]
On 20 January 1942,I-124's sister shipI-123 conducted an unsuccessful torpedo attack in theBeagle Gulf 40 nautical miles (74 km; 46 mi) west of Darwin at12°08′S130°10′E / 12.133°S 130.167°E /-12.133; 130.167 against the U.S. Navyfleet oilerUSS Trinity (AO-13), escorted byAlden andEdsall.[13]Trinity sighted thewakes of three ofI-123's torpedoes and reported the attack, after whichAlden carried out adepth charge attack.Alden soon lost contact withI-123, which escaped unscathed and departed the area.[13]Trinity,Alden andEdsall continued their voyage and reached Darwin safely.
When news of the attack reached Darwin, theRoyal Australian NavycorvettesHMAS Deloraine,HMAS Lithgow andHMAS Katoomba put to sea to search forI-123.[4]Deloraine reached the vicinity of the attack first.[4] In the meantime,I-124 also had arrived in the area and she fired a torpedo atDeloraine at 13:35.[4]Deloraine turned tostarboard and the torpedo passed 10 feet (3 m) astern of her,broaching as it passed through her wake.[4]Deloraine establishedasdic contact onI-124 at 13:38 and dropped six depth charges at 13:43.[4] She sighted oil and air bubbles on the surface after the attack.[4] AfterDeloraine dropped another pattern of depth charges,I-124 briefly broached at12°07′S130°09′E / 12.117°S 130.150°E /-12.117; 130.150, exposing herbow andperiscope, down 5 degrees by the stern and listing 20 degrees toport.[4] BeforeI-124 fully submerged again, a depth charge fromDeloraine′s portdepth charge thrower landed 10 feet (3 m) from her periscope and a U.S. NavyOS2U Kingfisherfloatplane from theseaplane tenderUSS Langley (AV-3) arrived on the scene and dropped a bomb at the same spot.[4] WhenI-124 submerged, she settled on theseabed in 150 feet (46 m) of water.[4]Deloraine again depth-charged the stationary submarine at 13:56, then noted more oil, bubbles and particles ofTNT on the surface.[4] At 14:30 she made another underwater contact to the southeast and conducted two more attacks there, expending the last of her depth charges and noting more oil and bubbles rising to the surface.[4]
Lithgow relievedDeloraine on the scene by 17:10.[4] By 18:39Lithgow had made seven attacks, expending all 40 of her depth charges, and she observeddiesel oil and bubbles on the surface.[4]Katoomba arrived at 17:48 and deployed agrapnel to drag the bottom forI-124.[4] The grapnel made contact, but broke off whenKatoomba attempted to recover it.[4]Alden andEdsall joined the Australian ships at 18:59.[4]Edsall detected a contact at the edge of the oil slick and dropped five depth charges at 19:40, noting three explosions.[4]Alden attacked a contact of her own after 19:55.[4]
Deloraine, which had departed the area, returned at 03:05 on 21 January 1942 and made another submarine detection, which she attacked three times.[4] Theboom defence vesselHMAS Kookaburra joined her and began a series of attempts to locateI-124 on the ocean floor.[4]Katoomba, which also had left the scene, returned around 11:55, but at midday, the weather in the area deteriorated and no further attacks took place.[4]Delorainee claimed two submarines sunk andKatoomba claimed one.[4] In reality,I-124, sunk with the loss of all 80 men on board,[3] was the only submarine present and she was the first Japanese warship sunk by theRoyal Australian Navy[4] and fourth Japanese submarine lost in World War II.
On 26 January 1942,Kookaburra returned to the scene with a team of 16 U.S. Navydivers from the submarine tenderUSS Holland (AS-3).[4] The fourth and fifth divers identified a large submarine on the sea bottom with one hatch apparently blown open.[4] It was the first confirmation of the demise ofI-124.[4] The divers recorded the location of her wreck as12°03′S130°09′E / 12.050°S 130.150°E /-12.050; 130.150 (I-124).[4]
The Japanese struckI-124 from the Navy List on 30 April 1942.[4]
I-124 has been surrounded by controversy since her loss. During World War II there were claims that two submarines had been lost in the operations off Darwin; that her crew remained alive for some time; and that divers heard crew movement inside herhull. Later both Japanese and American sources reported that "theI 124 with her Division Commander Keiyu Endo, embarked, sank with all those on board in water only forty feet [12.2 meters] deep. US Navy divers were sent down and entered the submarine and removed naval codebooks, a godsend for the Navy codebreakers atPearl Harbor".[14] However, this was later disproved bymaritime archaeologist Dr M. McCarthy in his unpublished departmental report.[15] This was published with additional information, including details about the Japanese crew by naval historian Dr.Tom Lewis in his bookSensuikan I-124, later re-published asDarwin's Submarine I-124.
McCarthy and Lewis set out how the submarine was indeed the subject of diving attempts soon after the action, with the Royal Australian Navy and United States Navy both trying to access it to recover codebooks. However, the initial dives did not enter the wreck and diving later was curtailed because theJapanese air raid on Darwin on 19 February 1942 made it seem too dangerous to anchor ships over the site to support divers.
Though relatives of the crew attempted to organise the recovery of the crew's remains forcremation in accordance with Japanese custom,[16]I-124 was then left undisturbed until 1972, when its location was rediscovered following a six-week search. Trade Winds Ltd. and Lincoln Ltd. Salvage Company (T&L Salvage) of theNew Hebrides purchased thesalvage rights for the submarine from theAustralian government. The wreck was found to be mostly intact in 48 metres (157 ft) of water with several holes near theconning tower and at least one "blown" hatch. The salvage company believed the submarine was carrying large quantities ofmercury when she sank and offered to sell the wreck and any remains of its personnel to theJapanese government forA$2.5 million.[17] The Japaneseconsul-general in Australia advised T&L Salvage that any salvage required the approval of theJapanese government, which it was not willing to give as it considered the site to bewar grave. The Australian government found that it legally held no control over the wrecked submarine. The matter was further complicated by infighting within the salvage company, which led to a split in April 1973 when one of the salvors threatened to drop explosives on the submarine if a Japanese decision was slow in forthcoming. The controversy gained much media attention. Both salvage groups attempted to claim the right to salvageI-124, but withdrew their claims by the end of 1974, one willingly, the other after pressure from the Australian government, which had come to join the Japanese in considering the shipwreck a war grave.
In December 1976, the matter ofI-124 was raised in theParliament of Australia during discussion of abill that would protect all shipwrecks in Australian waters.[17] The bill was enacted as theHistoric Shipwrecks Act at the end of 1976. The salvor, Harry Baxter, carried through on a threat to use explosives on the wreck, damaging the conning tower and causing its aft section to come loose. In response,I-124 was placed under the enhanced level of protection offered by the legislation, with an exclusion zone placed around the wreck in July 1977.[17] The salvage team reports indicated that the submarine still carried mines, which led to the Royal Australian Navy sending theminehunterHMAS Curlew to locate and defuse them. Divers from the minehunter found no mines or explosives at the wreck site.[15]
A team from theWestern Australian Museum led by Dr. M. "Mack" McCarthy aboard the research vesselFlamingo Bay carried out a subsequent investigation of the wreck in March 1989. The expedition found that the location of the submarine was incorrectly recorded on charts and corrected it to12°07′12.328″S130°06′23.619″E / 12.12009111°S 130.10656083°E /-12.12009111; 130.10656083, a point 18 nautical miles (33 km; 21 mi) due south of Penguin Hill onBathurst Island. The researchers also disproved rumours that a second submarine had been sunk off Darwin at the same time, that the U.S. Navy had salvaged Japanese codebooks from the wreck, and that mercury was aboardI-124 when she sank, which was the reason given in the 1970s for removing the wreck.[18] Subsequent research by Tom Lewis further disproved these rumours, as well as claims thatI-124 was involved in the sinking of the Australianlight cruiserHMAS Sydney in November 1941.[19]
In November 2022, the ABC reported that a team of divers had completed a three-year mission to create a 3D map of I-124.[20]
In 2017, theAustralian Japanese Association of the Northern Territory (AJANT) erected a memorial plaque forI-124 and her crew at theDripstone Cliffs in Darwin, Australia.[21] A dedication ceremony for the plaque took place atParliament House in Darwin on 17 February 2017 in connection with the commemoration of the 75th anniversary of thebombing of Darwin in 1942.[21] JapanesePrime MinisterShinzo Abe visited the memorial on 17 November 2018 and laid awreath in memory of the crew ofI-124.[21][22] On 18 February 2019, AJANT planted a memorial pongamia tree (Millettia pinnata) at the site in connection with the commemoration of the 77th anniversary of the bombing of Darwin in a ceremony attended byAdministrator of the Northern TerritoryVicki O'Halloran, the Japaneseambassador to Australia, and the U.S.Consul General to Australia.[21]
In October 2021, theGovernment of Australia'sNorthern Territory and theAustralian Institute of Marine Science collaborated to map the wreck ofI-124 using remotesonar sensing equipment.[23] Dr John McCarthy, amaritime archaeologist atFlinders University inAdelaide,South Australia, then collaborated with the Northern Territory Heritage Branch to use the sonar data to create a "virtual dive experience" on the wreck, with narration in bothEnglish andJapanese.[23] Both the English- and Japanese-narrated versions of the video were posted on YouTube and the Oculus platform ahead of the 80th anniversary of the sinking ofI-124 on 20 January 2022.[23]
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1935 | |
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Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in January 1942 | |
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