A1 Class, Japanese Submarines

Specifications:

Tonnage

2434 tons standard

Dimensions

367'5" by 31'4" by 17'7"
111.99m by 9.55m by 5.36m

Maximum speed      

23.5 knots (surfaced)
8 knots (submerged)
Dive to 330 feet
to 100 meters

Complement

114
Aircraft 1 seaplane

Armament

1 5.5"/50 gun
2 25mm/60 machine gun
6 21" torpedo tubes (18 torpedoes)
Range 16,000 nautical miles (26,000 km) at 16 knots surfaced
60 nautical miles (100 km) at 3 knots submerged

The A1s were based on the J3s and were fitted to serve as flagships. They were among the most modern submarines in the Imperial Navy, incorporating all the lessons of prewar submarine design and operation.

These boats had a pressure cylinder to the front of their conning tower that could hold a single seaplane. Just forward of this hangar was a bow catapult for launching the seaplane.


Units in the Pacific:

I-9      

Approximately 80 miles north of Oahu      

Sunk 1944-6-13 off Kiska by Frazier
I-10 Off Christmas Island       Sunk 1944-7-4 off Saipan by Riddle and David W. Taylor
I-11 Completed 1942-5-16 (Kawasaki-Kobe)       Missing from 1944-1-11 off Samoa

References

CombinedFleet.com (accessed 2007-12-19)

Boyd and Yoshida (1995)

Jentschura, Jung, and Mickel (1977)

Worth (2001)