 I-29 on sea trials, 15 February 1942 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Japan | |
| Name | I-29 |
| Builder | Yokosuka Naval Arsenal |
| Launched | 29 September 1940 |
| Commissioned | 27 February 1942 |
| Nickname(s) | Matsu |
| Fate | Sunk byUSS Sawfish, 26 July 1944 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Type B1submarine |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 108.5 m (356 ft) |
| Beam | 9.3 m (31 ft) |
| Draught | 5.12 m (16.8 ft) |
| Propulsion | 2-shaft diesel (12,400 hp (9,200 kW)) and electric motor (2,000 hp (1,500 kW)) |
| Speed | 23.5 knots (44 km/h) surface, 8 knots (15 km/h) submerged |
| Range | 14,000 nautical miles (26,000 km) at 16 knots (30 km/h) |
| Test depth | 100 m (330 ft) |
| Complement | 101 officers and men |
| Armament | 6 × 533 mmtorpedo tubes forward (17torpedoes) + 1 ×14 cm/40 11th Year Type naval gun[1] |
| Aircraft carried | oneYokosuka E14Y "Glen"'Type 0' reconnaissance seaplane |
I-29, code-namedMatsu (松, Japanese for "pine tree"), was aB1 type submarine of theImperial Japanese Navy used duringWorld War II on two secretYanagai missions with Germany, sinking seven cargo ships. She was sunk while returning from the second mission.
This was the most numerous class of Japanese submarines – almost 20 were built, of which only one (I-36) survived. These boats were fast, had a long range, and carried a seaplane, launched via a forwardcatapult.
The keel ofI-29 was laid on 20 September 1939 at theYokosuka Naval Arsenal and launched on 29 September 1940. She was commissioned on 27 February 1942, into the 14th submarine squadron under the command of Lieutenant Commander (later Captain) Izu Juichi (伊豆壽市).
TheYanagi missions fell under theTripartite Pact which provided for an exchange of personnel,strategic materials and manufactured goods between Germany, Italy and Japan. Initially, cargo ships were used to make the exchanges, but when that was no longer possible submarines were used.
Few submarines attempted this trans-oceanic voyage during World War II:I-30 (April 1942),I-8 (June 1943),I-34 (October 1943) and the German submarinesU-511 (August 1943) andU-234 (May 1945). Of these,I-30 was sunk by amine andI-34 by the British submarineHMS Taurus. Later, the famous Japanese submarineI-52 would also share their fate. In 1945 the GermanU-234 had completed part of the voyage to Japan when news of Germany's surrender to theAllies was announced, and the submarine was intercepted and boarded offNewfoundland; this marked the end of the German-Japanese submarine exchanges.
I-29 was completed on 27 February 1942, a few months after Japan's entry intoWW2. After a series of training missions,I-29 departed Japan later that April in support of theIndian Ocean raid for her first operational mission, but did not manage to engage in combat before returning to Japan. On the 18th,I-29 attempted to track down the American aircraft carriers responsible for theDoolittle raid, but again did not see action. In May,I-29 supported theinvasion of Port Moresby, where on the 14th she spotted the battleshipHMSWarspite, but failed to engage in time.[2]
Two days later, however,I-29 finally saw her first combat when she located the Russian armed steamshipUelen transportingtin andwool, and deciding to pounce on the ship,I-29 fired two torpedoes, but both missed. Surfacing, the submarine damagedUelen with her deck gun and machine gunfire beforecrash diving due to counter attacks by the enemy ship. Later,I-29's reconnaissance ofSydney harbour on 23rd resulted in theattack on Sydney Harbour by Japanesemidget submarines.I-29 then saw a series of patrol duties and failed sweeps for enemy ships throughout the next few months.[2]
On 2 September,I-29 saw her first truly successful action when her crew located the British armed merchant shipGazcon, promptingI-29 to fire her torpedo battery at the target. At least one torpedo hit its target, sinking the vessel with ease. The next day,I-29 unsuccessfully attacked the British freighterBritish Genius, but made up for it on the 10th when she torpedoed and sank British freighterHaresfield.I-29's kill streak still wasn't over, as six days later she spotted the British armed freighterOcean Honour, which she promptly blasted with her 14 cm (5.5 in) deck gun and sank with the loss of 15 sailors and 5 gunners. Then on the 22nd,I-29 spotted the American armed steamshipPaul Luckenbach, enabling the submarine to cripple the enemy ship with a torpedo hit that flooded her entire bow. About an hour later,I-29 finished offPaul Luckenbach with a second torpedo hit. The steamship sank with 18tanks and 10B-25 bombers onboard.I-29 returned to Japan for a refit before departing on yet another raid, culminating on 23 November when she tracked down theBritish-India company owned armed cargo shipSS Tilawa.I-29 torpedoed and sank theTilawa with the loss of 280 men and over 6,472 tons of cargo. Finally on 3 December,I-29 crippled the Norwegian armed fleet oilerBelita with a torpedo hit, then finished her off with shellfire from her deck gun.[2]
In April 1943,I-29 was tasked with aYanagi mission. She was commanded by Captain Masao Teraoka, submarine flotilla commander – indicating the importance of the trip. She leftPenang with a cargo that included two tons of gold as payment from Japan for weapons technology. She metFregattenkapitän Werner Musenberg's Type IXD-1 U-boat,U-180 on 26 April 1943 off the coast ofMozambique.[2]
During this meeting that lasted over 12 hours due to bad weather, the two submarines swapped several important passengers.U-180 transferred NetajiSubhas Chandra Bose, a leader of theIndian Independence Movement who was going fromBerlin to Tokyo, and his adjutant,Abid Hasan.I-29 in turn transferred two Japanese Navy personnel who were to study U-boat building techniques in Germany: Commander (later posthumously promoted to rear admiral)Emi Tetsushiro, and Lieutenant Commander (later posthumously promoted to captain)Tomonaga Hideo (who was later connected with the German submarineU-234). Both submarines returned safely to their bases.I-29 landed her important passengers atSabang onWeh Island, located to the north ofSumatra on 6 May 1943, instead ofPenang, to avoid detection by British spies. Bose and Hasan's transfer is the only known record of a civilian transfer between two submarines of two different navies in World War II.[2]
On the way home,I-29 torpedoed and sank the British freighterRahmani.[2]
On 17 December 1943,I-29 was dispatched on a secondYanagi mission, this time toLorient,France, under star Japanese submarine CommanderTakakazu Kinashi, Japan's highest-scoring submarine "ace".[note 1] AtSingapore she was loaded with 80 tons of raw rubber, 80 tons oftungsten, 50 tons oftin, two tons ofzinc, and three tons ofquinine,opium and coffee.
In spite of AlliedUltra decrypts of her mission,I-29 managed to reach Lorient on 11 March 1944. On her way she was refueled twice by German vessels. Also, she had three close brushes with Allied aircraft tracking her signals. One of which was an attack by sixRAF aircraft including twoMosquito F Mk. XVIII fighters equipped with 57 mm cannon fromNo. 248 Squadron RAF off Cape Peñas,Bay of Biscay, at43°40′N5°51′W / 43.66°N 5.85°W /43.66; -5.85, and the protection provided to her during the entry into Lorient by the Luftwaffe's only long range maritime fighter unit,V Gruppe/Kampfgeschwader 40 usingJunkers Ju 88s. At least one Ju 88 was shot down by British fighters over Spanish waters. TheKriegsmarine also provided an escort of two destroyers and two torpedo boats.[3]
She left Lorient 16 April 1944 for the long voyage home with a cargo of 18 passengers, torpedo boat engines,Enigma coding machines, radar components, aWalter HWK 509A rocket engine, andMesserschmitt Me 163 andMesserschmitt Me 262 blueprints for the development of the rocket planeMitsubishi J8M. After an uneventful trip she arrived at Singapore on 14 July 1944, disembarking her passengers, though not the cargo.
On her way back toKure, Japan, she was attacked atBalintang Channel,Luzon Strait, near thePhilippines by Commander W. D. Wilkins' "Wildcats" submarine task force:Tilefish,Rock andSawfish, usingUltra signal intelligence. During the evening of 26 July 1944, she was spotted bySawfish which fired four torpedoes at her. Three hitI-29, which sank immediately at20°06′N121°33′E / 20.10°N 121.55°E /20.10; 121.55. Only one of her crewmen survived. Kinashi was honored by a rare two-rank posthumous promotion to rear admiral.
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in July 1944 | |
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| Shipwrecks |
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| Other incidents |
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