KD6A Class, Japanese Submarines


IJN I-68, a KD6a-class submarine

Naval Historical Center #NH 73054


Specifications:

Tonnage

1400 tons standard

Dimensions

336'7" by 26'11" by 15'0"
102.59m by 8.20m by 4.57m

Maximum speed      

23 knots (surfaced)
8.2 knots (submerged)
Dive to nearly 250 feet (76 meters)

Complement

60-84

Armament

1 4.7"/45 dual-purpose gun
1 13mm/76 machine gun
6 21" torpedo tubes (14 torpedoes)
Bunkerage 341 tons diesel oil
Range 14,000 nautical miles (26,000 km) at 10 knots surfaced
65 nautical miles (120km) at 3 knots submerged

The KD6Bs were completed between 1934 and 1938 and were the first Japanese submarines designed outside the limitations of the naval treaties. They had stonger pressure hulls and better engines than earlier Japanese submarine classes.


Units in the Pacific:

I-68      

Southwest of Oahu      

Torpedoed 1943-7-23 off New Hanover by Scamp

I-69

Southwest of Oahu      

Sunk by aircraft 1944-4-4 at Truk
I-70 Southwest of Oahu       Sunk 1941-12-10 off Oahu by aircraft from Enterprise
I-71 Southwest of Oahu       Sunk 1944-2-1 off Buka by Guest and Hudson
I-72 Southwest of Oahu       Sunk 1942-11-10 near 161.2E 10.2S by Southard
I-73 Southwest of Oahu       Torpedoed 1942-1-27 off Midway by Gudgeon

References

Boyd and Yoshida (1995)

Jentschura, Jung, and Mickel (1977)

CombinedFleet.com (accessed 2 January 2007)

Worth (2001)

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