| History | |
|---|---|
 Japan | |
| Name | Submarine No. 5471 |
| Builder | Mitsubishi,Kobe,Japan |
| Laid down | 22 March 1944 |
| Launched | 21 July 1944 |
| Renamed | I-371 on 21 July 1944 |
| Completed | 2 October 1944 |
| Commissioned | 2 October 1944 |
| Fate |
|
| Stricken | 10 April 1945 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Type D1 submarine |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 73.50 m (241 ft 2 in) overall |
| Beam | 8.90 m (29 ft 2 in) |
| Draft | 4.76 m (15 ft 7 in) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed |
|
| Range | |
| Test depth | 75 m (246 ft) |
| Boats & landing craft carried | 2 xDaihatsu-classlanding craft |
| Capacity | 85 tons freight |
| Complement | 55 |
| Sensors & processing systems |
|
| Armament | |
I-371 was anImperial Japanese NavyType D1 transportsubmarine. Completed and commissioned in October 1944, she served inWorld War II and was sunk while returning from her first transport mission in February 1945.
I-371 waslaid down on 22 March 1944 byMitsubishi atKobe,Japan, with the nameSubmarine No. 5471.[2] She waslaunched on 21 July 1944 and renamedI-371 that day.[2] She was completed andcommissioned on 2 October 1944.[2]
Upon commissioning,I-371 was attached to theSasebo Naval District and was assigned to SubmarineSquadron 11 for workups.[2] She was reassigned to Submarine Squadron 7 on 6 December 1944.[2] During December 1944, she moved from theSeto Inland Sea toYokosuka and began a 20-day period of workups from there.[2]
On 30 December 1944,I-371 departed Yokosuka bound forTruk andMereyon Island atWoleai in theCaroline Islands on her first transport mission, carrying a cargo of 50metric tons of food and mail, as well asaviation gasoline, spare parts, and ammunition for the Truk-based 171st Naval Air Group, which the aviators required to resume flights byNakajima C6N1Saiun ("Iridescent Cloud";Allied reporting name "Myrt")reconnaissance aircraft over the American fleet anchorage atUlithi Atoll.[2] She arrived at Truk on 18 January 1945 and unloaded the portion of her cargo destined for Truk.[2] During her stay, anAichi E13A1 (Allied reporting name "Jake")floatplane arrived from Mereyon on 20 January 1945 with a coded message aboutI-371′s planned arrival there.[2]
On 22 January 1945I-371 got underway from Truk bound for Mereyon, which she reached at around 22:00 on 25 January 1945.[2] She unloaded 50 metric tons of food and mail, allowing an increase in the daily ration ofrice for each member of the starving Japanese garrison on Mereyon from 5 to 7 ounces (140 to 200 g).[2] She completed unloading her cargo at 03:00 on 26 January 1945 and headed back to Truk, where she arrived on 28 January 1945.[2] She embarked some passengers and put back to sea, bound for Japan, with an estimated arrival date of 21 February 1945.[2] She never arrived.[2]
The circumstances ofI-371′s loss are not clear. At 11:13 on 24 February 1945, theUnited States Navy submarineUSS Lagarto (SS-371) was operating in theBungo Strait off the coast of Japan when she detected a surfaced submarine onradar at a range of 5,000 yards (4,600 m).[2]Lagarto sank the submarine at32°40′N132°33′E / 32.667°N 132.550°E /32.667; 132.550 (I-371).[2] Her victim probably wasI-371, althoughI-371 would have been running three days behind schedule to be in that location at that time.[2] Other accounts credit thedestroyerUSS Haggard (DD-555) with sinkingI-371 offOkinawa on 23 March 1945, but that was 11 days after the Japanese had declaredI-371 missing, and it is more likely thatHaggard sank the submarineRo-41.[2]
On 12 March 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy declaredI-371 to be presumed lost in the vicinity of Truk along with all 84 crew and passengers on board.[2] She was stricken from the Navy list on 10 April 1945.[2]
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in February 1945 | |
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| Shipwrecks |
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| Other incidents |
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