Chapter 15 Chapter 10 Maritime Transportation Under Conditions that the Enemy Has Dominance of the Sea and the Air

On September 4, 1943, under the command of Lieutenant Orita, the submarine No. 177 delivered food to Lae, New Guinea.After arriving at the destination, the boat surfaced at the stipulated time.At this time, the situation in Lae City is very critical. It seems that our garrison will abandon this place after unloading the food transported by the submarine.Before the submarine arrived in Lae, it knew from the report that some areas of Lae had been occupied by the enemy, and the city was on fire.Therefore, it can be considered that the garrison will not last long.The submarine's supplies were unloaded onto two barges, and eighteen seriously wounded were picked up on board.While unloading and picking up people, the submarine came under shelling from the shore.Yi｜177 returned to the voyage immediately after quickly picking up the wounded on board.But before five minutes had elapsed, the watchman reported: a torpedo boat was found on the starboard side!The submarine dived immediately to avoid encountering the enemy torpedo boat.Five minutes later, the sub surfaced again, still with two torpedo boats on the starboard side.The submarine dived into the water again, searched the water surface with a noise direction finder, and found that there were five destroyers around it.The submarine is effectively surrounded.

At this time, if the submarine engages the enemy, the lives of the wounded will be threatened, so the submarine quietly avoids the enemy chasing it. Subsequently, Yi｜177 delivered supplies to Finschhaven again.Due to the frequent activities of American aircraft in this area, the boat was unable to unload the cargo.On the third and subsequent shipments, the unloading location was shifted from Lae to Theo between Lae and Madan.This change must be strictly kept secret. During the full moon period, submarines are prohibited from carrying out transportation tasks. A total of three to five submarines participated in the transportation at the same time. Each submarine can carry forty to fifty tons of materials in its solid shell and twenty to thirty tons on its deck.Submarines usually set sail from Rabaul and sail along the north coast of New Britain on their first day on the surface.In the daytime of the next day, in order not to be attacked by enemy planes, the submarine must sail underwater, and it can only surface at night or at dawn to recharge.Three hours before sunset on the third day, the submarine should be ready for unloading.Then sail to the unloading site at sunset, raise the periscope, and use the lights to signal the arrival of the submarine to the shore garrison.An answering signal should be given from shore.

Half an hour after sunset, the submarine surfaced, waiting for barges to transfer supplies and personnel.It usually takes 20 minutes to unload all the materials on the barge. After the materials are unloaded, the submarine can dive into the water.If enemy aircraft or patrol ships appear during unloading, the situation of the submarine will be very dangerous.All personnel on the boat must participate in the unloading work. In order to detect the sudden appearance of the enemy in time, the boat organized strict observation. After unloading, the submarine left the unloading site at full speed on the surface, then sailed first underwater and then on the surface as it had come, and returned to the site on the seventh day after leaving Rabaul.

But this kind of transport activity did not last long. From October 20, 1943, the enemy intensified air raids on Rabaul during the day.As soon as 10 o'clock in the morning, enemy planes came to bomb.Therefore, just before 10 o'clock, our naval fighter jets stationed at the airfield east of Rabaul took off to intercept the enemy aircraft, the submarines were ready to dive, and the cruisers and destroyers were all anchored to resist the enemy air attack.When the fleet of B|17, B|25 and P|38 appeared over Rabaul, the submarines quickly dived under the water at the anchorage.The seawater layer at a depth of 26 meters is a good natural protective barrier for submarines.However, even in this case, the bombs falling nearby still shook the submarine violently, making the occupants very uncomfortable.

After that, the submarine sailed from Rabaul to Sio every day before the air raid, and returned to Rabaul in the afternoon.The briefings from Headquarters about the enemy's daily air raids on Rabaul weighed heavily on our hearts.At this time, the number of fighter jets and ships in the port capable of resisting the enemy's air attacks was decreasing day by day. At the end of November, the United States occupied part of Bougainville Island, so Rabaul was completely within the radius of enemy fighter jets.Although our soldiers still hear the propaganda that the final victory must belong to me, the fact that the front is retreating steadily is no longer concealed from them.

On November 25th we returned from Theo to the port of Rabaul.While we were resting, the battle siren sounded suddenly.We were called to headquarters.It turned out that three destroyers of our side were retreating from Bougainville to Rabaul with troops that night, but were surrounded by the enemy and sunk ninety nautical miles west of Cape St. George.We were ordered to sail to the place to rescue those who fell into the water.The submarine sailed towards the accident site at full speed and took necessary safety measures to avoid detection by enemy reconnaissance aircraft and patrol ships.After arriving at the accident site, we found many people floating on the sea.In fact, the sub floats above the crowd.

After organizing a close observation of the sky, we set out to save lives.We threw life buoys into the water and helped the injured get into the boat.By evening, not a single victim could be seen on the water.We rescued a total of 227 people, and the boat was so crowded that it was difficult for everyone to move.On our way back to Rabaul, radar-equipped enemy planes spotted us and dropped two bombs on us.We immediately dive under the water.The boat was so overcrowded that it was difficult for military doctors and nurses to care for the wounded.The heat and the smell of oil are very uncomfortable.Due to lack of fresh air we surfaced after two hours and sailed towards Rabaul.At 8 o'clock in the morning on the second day (November 26), we arrived at the port of Rabaul.After disembarking those who were rescued, we sailed again to the scene of the accident in order to rescue those who might still be alive.

By December, Confederate troops landed on the west of New Britain, and our sea route to Theo was cut off thereafter.The enemy's torpedo boats were very active at this time.Our torpedoes pose no danger to them, but their depth charges can kill us. January 1, 1944.While we were praying for the Emperor, Rabaul was hit by a heavy air raid.As always, we sit and dive under the sea.At that time, there were often only one or a few submarines in the port of Rabaul, and there were no other ships (when the Lu｜101 submarine first came here, there were 200 ships parked in the port).While the few submarines were submerged by the air strikes, not a single ship was in sight in the harbor.

On January 2, we learned that the 18th Army Command and the 18th Naval Base Command were surrounded by the enemy.So a plan of action to rescue them began.It takes two months to break through the tropical jungle to Mactan by land.This plan was rejected.The headquarters decided to take a submarine to retreat by sea, and asked the submarine to go to the rescue as soon as possible. On the evening of January 3, we left the port of Rabaul with the good wishes of those who saw us off, and sailed to Sio.As usual, we should arrive at the prescribed location half an hour after sunset.But we encountered a very strong countercurrent, and we were five nautical miles from Theo by the appointed time.So we sailed on the surface at maximum speed, and we were only twenty minutes late.Two motorboats approached the submarine with officers from the headquarters.At this moment, the watchman reported: Two enemy torpedo boats were found!We hurriedly prepared to dive and told the command officer that we will come back tomorrow.After that, we dived underwater and headed out to sea.The torpedo boat circled above the submarine, and thirty minutes later we heard the explosion of two depth charges dropped by the torpedo boat as it left here, where the submarine spent the night thirty miles from Theo.The next morning we reached the rendezvous point again and received a signal from the shore.But at this time another torpedo boat appeared, and we had to postpone the rendezvous time by another day.This time, the submarine stayed in place overnight, preparing to surface as soon as the torpedo boat left.But the enemy discovered the submerged position of the submarine and dropped four depth charges.Fortunately, the submarine dived very deep and was not damaged.

On January 8, we made up our minds: Even if we start a battle with the torpedo boat, we must realize the established action plan.We reached the required rendezvous point again and signaled to the shore that we are all well and please prepare to load.The submarine surfaced at the stipulated time, and the motorboat quickly approached the submarine. All the officers of the headquarters got on the boat and went down to the cabin.Just as we started loading equipment on the submarine, the watchman reported: Torpedo boat found!They just appeared on the horizon, and it took two or three minutes before they could attack us.The submarine quickly dived under the water, and at the same time the explosion of shells hitting the target (probably our launch) and the sound of intensive fire were heard.After the submarine had dived to a depth of fifty-five meters, it headed for Madan.The enemy did not pursue us.We have lifted the battle alert.As usual, the crew is divided into three shifts to take turns.This would allow time to rest and welcome those Army and Navy officers who expressed their gratitude for our rescue.

After dark, the submarine surfaced and sailed at full speed under the cover of a thunderstorm.At dawn the next day, it dived into the water and sailed to the entrance of Mactan Harbor at sunset.At this time, the enemy P｜38 aircraft were carrying out heavy bombing on Madan.After the raid, we surfaced and took our passengers ashore.This time, we successfully completed the task. Yi | Submarine No. 177 has been away from the mainland for nearly a year and is in urgent need of repairs.In addition, the port of Rabaul is no longer a safe anchorage.Many Japanese submarines used the port as a base for combat missions, and at least eight of them never returned. On January 10, 1944, I|177 left this unforgettable port and sailed for Turok in the Caroline Islands.