Chapter 18 Chapter Thirteen Operations in the Northern Sea Area

As long as the northern sea area is mentioned, blinding snowstorms, rolling waves and heavy fog will immediately appear in people's minds.In winter, the weather there is fickle.On a calm sea, stormy waves will appear in the blink of an eye.This is also an area where storms often occur, and warships are often blown over by strong winds.In spring, the weather is slightly warmer, and the sea is often shrouded in thick fog. Passing through the northern sea area is the shortcut from Japan to the United States.But since it is suitable for ships and aircraft only a few days a year, it has never been a major naval theater.For submarines and smaller ships, it is even more difficult to operate there.When the submarine sails in northern stormy conditions, the glass on the bridge will be shattered by sea water.In order to protect the glass, a steel water deflector was installed.The hands of the watchmen holding the binoculars will freeze in a short while; the cold clothes they wear on their bodies cannot block the biting cold wind.Even underwater, the temperature inside the boat was only around zero, and the crew seemed to be in an ice bank. Although they were all wearing thick clothes that made it difficult to move around, they were still shivering from the cold.Therefore, when activities in the northern sea area, the life on the boat is very difficult.

Submarine crews (whether officers or sailors) differ from surface ship crews in that most of their personal belongings are left on base or on supply ships, and only a small portion of what is necessary to go to sea is brought aboard.Therefore, when a submarine comes from the warm south to the cold north for activities, it must sail back to its own base and let the crew bring winter clothes.Winter clothes take up more space inside the boat than ordinary military uniforms, which again creates difficulties for submarines.The Japanese navy was originally used mainly in the southern seas, so when the situation changed and it was necessary to fight in the north, the equipment and uniforms needed for submarines must have been insufficient.

One of the difficulties with submarines is the difficulty of submerging in a storm.When submerged, waves can lift the submarine out of the water.When diving in cross waves, the heel reaches 40°｜50°, making it difficult to maintain balance.Generally speaking, at a depth of about 30 meters, the submarine is no longer affected by wind and waves; but in severe storms, even at a depth of 55 meters, the submarine is still swaying.Fog can also cause a lot of difficulties, especially for navigators.In dense fog, even the capital of the boat cannot be seen, even using the special telescope of the Japanese Navy will not help.The fog increased the temperature inside the boat, and condensed water vapor flowed down the hull in rows.

Shortly before the war broke out, that is, on November 25-30, 1941, Japanese submarines operating in the northern sea area, including the newly built I-26, carried out raids near Kiska Island, near Dutch Harbor and the Adak Strait. scouting.Afterwards, Yi｜174 and Yi｜175 also sailed from Kwajalin to the northern sea area in January 1942.The submarines were tasked with patrolling the vicinity of the islands of Naraska, Amukta and Atka, as well as close to the surface on Kiska Island.They sailed back to Japan in mid-February. In April｜May 1942, the 1st Diving Squadron, composed of six submarines (I｜9, I｜15, I｜17, I｜19, I｜25 and I｜26), was in Under the command of Rear Admiral Yamazaki, he participated in the preparations for the capture of fortification points on the Aleutian Islands and conducted patrols in the waters near the islands.Their main task is reconnaissance.To do this, they take full advantage of fog-free days and bright nights (when there are only two or three hours of darkness in a day and night).On the 25th, a cruiser and two destroyers were spotted in the waters off Kodiak Island; on the 26th, two heavy cruisers were spotted sailing from the Gulf of Alaska to Seattle.The remaining submarines also provided information about Dutch Harbor and other places, waiting for the Japanese main force to launch an assault. In June 1942, the main force of Japan successfully landed on the island.During this period, I|25 and I|26 each sank a transport ship. At the end of June, the first diving team returned to Japan.

Later, the 2nd diving team composed of seven submarines (I｜1, I｜2, I｜3, I｜4, I｜5, I｜6 and I｜7) replaced the 1st Diving Team.The 2nd Squadron was active in the northern sea area until the beginning of August 1942. In June and July, extremely dense fog caused great difficulties for submarine activities.Even so, Yi|7 sank a transport ship in the waters south of the Unimark Strait in mid-July. In a newly established diving team active in the northern sea area, there are some old medium-sized Lu-type submarines.They had fought in the southern seas when the war began, but they were not suited to the stormy northern seas.However, they are still tasked with defending Kiska Island. At the beginning of August 1942, the submarines of the team were all in position.Most of the captains of these submarines have studied in the submarine captain class with me.Before sailing, they met me in Yokosuka. They were very depressed, because they knew that in the stormy northern seas, the wind and waves could wash away the submarine.

On August 28, 1942, one of our planes spotted enemy ships, including a cruiser, in Nazan Bay, Atka Island.Submarines and seaplanes were ordered to attack enemy ships.Lv｜61, Lv｜62 and Lv｜64 headed for the waters of Nazan Bay. On August 31, Lu｜61, commanded by Lieutenant Tokunomiya, entered the bay and conducted a torpedo attack on a seaplane supply ship. After the attack, the boat left the bay in time, but was later unfortunately attacked by enemy planes and destroyers. pursued and was finally sunk.Lu｜61 is a very old L｜4 submarine that participated in World War I.This was the boat's first and only attack on the enemy.Other submarines also sailed into the bay and fired torpedoes at the enemy.They also failed to escape pursuit from enemy surface ships and aircraft.The diving depth of old-style submarines cannot exceed forty meters. Once discovered, it is very difficult to escape.It should be pointed out that the danger zone of a depth charge explosion, i.e. the distance over which an explosion can damage or sink a submarine, is 18 to 23 meters.If the depth charge explodes at a depth of 28 meters, then a submarine navigating at a depth of 15 to 30 meters is within the danger zone.Therefore, the old Lu-type submarine, which has a diving limit of only 40 meters, is extremely vulnerable to damage.All in all, this kind of submarine is too old, even if it is not attacked by depth charges, it may sink; a very small vibration is to put it to death.

On September 28, 1942, Lu｜6 dived underwater during an enemy air raid, but never surfaced again.However, most of the crew escaped safely.The remaining Lü-type submarines soon sailed back to Japan for repairs.Therefore, in the military formation in the north, there were no submarines for a time. At the end of 1942, two Iraqi-type submarines under the command of the Northern Forces Command were ordered to go to Amchitka Island. The task was to prevent the enemy from building an airport on the island.However, due to bad weather, they were unable to move, and they finally had to return to the base.

In February 1943, boats such as Yi｜31, Yi｜168, Yi｜169 and Yi｜171 came to the northern sea area to strengthen the submarine force in this sea area.They are not afraid of huge waves and cold winds, and persist in carrying out transportation and patrol tasks until mid-March. On March 12, when the enemy began to land on Attu Island, another reinforcement force consisting of twelve Iraqi submarines came to the northern sea area.Before these submarines arrived, in order to quickly build bases on Kiska Island and Attu Island, transport ships were sent to deliver supplies to the above-mentioned islands.However, due to the obstruction of the enemy, the two transports of the transport ship were unsuccessful.After this, it was decided to replace the transport ships with submarines.Seven submarines have been designated exclusively for transport duties.

On May 21, 1943, the enemy landed on Attu Island, and I｜7, I｜31, I｜34 and I｜35 were ordered to sail quickly to this sea area.At 13:30 the next day, Yi｜31 launched a torpedo attack on an enemy ship in the Huolutu waters, and two torpedoes hit the target.In addition, it damaged an enemy ship of unknown type.On the third day, the Yi｜31 submarine severely damaged an enemy cruiser, but after that, there was no news of the boat (Note for the US version: Yi｜31 was in Kiss on June 31, 1943. Sunk by artillery fire from USS Frazier in waters off Ka Island.). At 18:30 on May 16, 1943, Yi｜35 carried out a torpedo attack on an enemy light cruiser near the north shore of Attu Island, resulting in serious damage to the enemy ship.After the attack, the boat was pursued, but the depth charges dropped by the enemy did not seriously damage it. On May 14, Yi｜34 was also attacked 30 nautical miles west of Attu Island. Although it was seriously injured, it still escaped the enemy's pursuit.

In February 1943, I was appointed as the captain of I|158.At this time, the boat was equipped with radar, but in the first few trials, the effect was not good, and it could only detect at a distance of 1800 meters, either in the bow or stern of the own boat A submarine on the surface.This kind of radar has been tried on surface ships, and the effect is still good.According to certain characteristics, it is not suitable for submarines.When we were discussing whether to install this kind of radar on the submarine, we got the news that the US military had landed on Attu Island, and the two submarines of our team immediately sailed to the north, while our boat stayed behind for underwater radio reception. Experiment further.

Later, we heard the news that Yi｜157, which was of the same type as ours, ran aground. On June 16, while sailing towards the coast of Kiska Island in thick fog at a speed of fourteen knots, it suddenly ran aground in enemy-controlled waters.In order to reduce the weight of the submarine, the captain ordered to throw away six torpedoes, one hundred and thirteen batteries, twelve tons of lubricating oil and seventy-four tons of fuel.It is not easy to throw away so many torpedoes and batteries.Under normal circumstances, loading and unloading the battery only needs to open part of the hull.But in the event of a crash, the battery must be smashed and thrown overboard piece by piece.At 13:20 the next day, Yi｜157 finally got out of the shallows and returned safely to Wugang on June 26.During the voyage, of course, the boat could not dive. Fortunately, no enemies were encountered along the way.If the boat is equipped with radar, the above-mentioned accidents can be avoided.Other submarines operating in this area continued to play hide-and-seek in the fog because they had no radar.They obviously cannot successfully attack American ships equipped with radar. Of the seventeen submarines belonging to the Northern Force Group, three submarines were tasked with evacuating personnel and technical equipment from Kiska Island.They sailed more than thirteen times, evacuated a total of 820 personnel from Kiska Island to the Thousand Islands, and delivered 100 tons of food, 125 tons of equipment and ammunition to Kiska Island. At this time, Yi｜24 (I served on this boat at the beginning of the war) was ordered to go to Chechagov Bay to pick up the members of the liaison team that had been evacuated from Attu Island.The submarine approached the bay three times but found no sign of the liaison team, so the mission was called off.But Yi|24 has been missing since then, and no news about it has been heard since then (Note: According to American data, Yi|24 was sunk near the Admiralty Islands on June 27.). I|9 was sunk by the enemy on the second sailing to Kiska Island.We heard after the war that it was sunk by an American anti-submarine ship near Kiska Island on June 10 while sailing in the fog (Note: According to American sources, sonar and radar of PC|Submarine No. 487 Spotted I|9 and dropped five depth charges on it, lifting it out of the water. The boat sank after being hit twice by the submarine hunter.). On its third voyage to Vega Bay, Kiska Island, the I|7 encountered an enemy patrol ship on the surface and engaged in an artillery battle.The command room of the submarine was hit, and the commander and captain of the diving team were killed.Later, the boat ran aground in the bay; after shedding water the next day, it sailed to Yokosuka. On the night of 21 June, while sailing through the fog, she was bombarded by three more American destroyers.The deputy commander who had just taken over the command the day before also died.Later, under the command of the gunnery chief, Yi｜7 tried to get rid of the pursuit, but unfortunately ran aground again and sank. (Note: According to U.S. data, the Yi｜7 submarine was initially damaged by the U.S. destroyer USS Monaghan and ran aground. After escaping, it attempted to escape, but was spotted by three U.S. patrol ships and was attacked again. Forced to run aground and sink, most of the crew died.). In fact, this is equivalent to a blind man fighting a sighted man.Enemies can follow us even in fog and open fire suddenly.Once the enemy's shell hits the command room, the submarine cannot dive.After the misfortune of Yi｜7, the submarines operating in the northern sea area were released from the task of withdrawing personnel and equipment, and the destroyer began to perform this task smoothly.After studying the report of this kind of blind combat, the Tokyo Operations Department was shocked and asked why our submarines have not yet installed radars!It is precisely because of the change in the attitude towards this issue that the immediate installation of sea-warning radars on submarines was ordered. The rest of the submarines, I|2, I|26, and I|109 also came under sudden shelling in the fog, but they all dived to avoid pursuit and returned safely to base. After our troops withdrew from Kiska Island, I｜2 and I｜56 were left in the northern sea area to perform patrols and destroy the enemy's sea line of communication.However, due to the very low temperature here (minus 10°) and strong winds, the submarine hull was severely damaged.In fact, the bad weather here is more difficult to deal with than the enemy. In mid-November, Yi|2 sank an enemy transport ship in the waters of Amchitka Island. We lost a total of six submarines in the northern sea area, including Yi｜7, Yi｜9, Yi｜31, Yi｜24, Lu｜61 and Lu｜65, but we also sank an enemy battleship, Two light cruisers, a seaplane supply ship, four transport ships and a warship of unknown type. Five pocket submarines were dispatched to the waters of Kiska Island, but due to various reasons (including storms), they were all damaged and no combat activities were conducted in this area.The equipment in our northern base is very simple. If compared with the German base with submarine shelters, then our northern base is too primitive (Note: According to American data, the Japanese submarine on Kiska Island was once moored in the United States in shelters that can be observed by reconnaissance aircraft.).Despise defense and focus on offense. This can be said to be the strong side of the Japanese navy, but it is also its weak side.Today, when aviation has become a major weapon, a base cannot play its due role without defensive facilities.Under such conditions, weapons produced with a lot of time, money and material resources are practically useless. Some of the crew who lost the submarine were supplemented by land troops, and some were transferred to the anti-aircraft gun company.