''I-34'' was a ''Kaidai Junsen''

Type B1 submarine The , also called was the first group of boats of the Type B cruiser submarines built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during the 1940s. In total 20 were built, starting with , which gave the series their alternative name. Design and descr ...

of the

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, Potsdam Declaration, when it was dissolved followin ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, while on a ''Yanagi'' mission between Japan and Germany carrying strategic raw materials and information, she was sunk by the British submarine using

Ultra Ultra may refer to: Science and technology * Ultra (cryptography), the codename for cryptographic intelligence obtained from signal traffic in World War II * Adobe Ultra, a vector-keying application * Sun Ultra series, a brand of computer work ...

intelligence.

Service history

Commissioning

Her keel was laid down at the

Sasebo is a core city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. It is the second-largest city in Nagasaki Prefecture, after its capital, Nagasaki. , the city had an estimated population of 230,873 in 102,670 households, and a population density of 540 per ...

Dockyard on 1 January 1941; she was launched on 24 September. She was commissioned and assigned to the Kure Naval District on 31 August 1942, with

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

Tonozuka Kinzo in command. Commander Tatsushi Irie (入江達) took command in March 1943. During early 1943, she took part in supply missions and the eventual evacuation of the garrison of

Kiska Kiska (, ) is one of the Rat Islands, a group of the Aleutian Islands of Alaska. It is about long and varies in width from . It is part of Aleutian Islands Wilderness and as such, special permission is required to visit it. The island has ...

in the

Aleutian Islands The Aleutian Islands ( ; ; , "land of the Aleuts"; possibly from the Chukchi language, Chukchi ''aliat'', or "island")—also called the Aleut Islands, Aleutic Islands, or, before Alaska Purchase, 1867, the Catherine Archipelago—are a chain ...

. On 15 September 1943, she was assigned to a ''Yanagi'' (exchange) mission to

Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town (''Communes of France, commune'') and Port, seaport in the Morbihan Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginn ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. She arrived in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

on 22 October 1943 to take on passengers and cargo for her mission. ''I-34'' loaded a cargo of raw rubber,

tungsten Tungsten (also called wolfram) is a chemical element; it has symbol W and atomic number 74. It is a metal found naturally on Earth almost exclusively in compounds with other elements. It was identified as a distinct element in 1781 and first ...

, tin,

quinine Quinine is a medication used to treat malaria and babesiosis. This includes the treatment of malaria due to ''Plasmodium falciparum'' that is resistant to chloroquine when artesunate is not available. While sometimes used for nocturnal leg ...

, medicinal

opium Opium (also known as poppy tears, or Lachryma papaveris) is the dried latex obtained from the seed Capsule (fruit), capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid mor ...

and samples of Japanese weapons. She departed for

Penang Penang is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia along the Strait of Malacca. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay Peninsula. Th ...

to load passengers on 11 November 1943. Due to a delay in loading the cargo, her passengers opted to meet her at Penang, thus saving them from death. Unknown to Commander Irie or the crew, her movements were being tracked by

intelligence, and a British submarine was sent to sink her.

Sinking

She was spotted running on the surface in a rain squall by HMS ''Taurus'' (commanded by veteran Captain Mervyn R. G. "Dillinger" Wingfield, DSO, DSC), on 13 November 1943 in the Malacca Straits, off the coast of Penang at 07:30. ''Taurus'' fired a salvo of six

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, such ...

es of which one struck ''I-34'' below the

conning tower A conning tower is a raised platform on a ship or submarine, often armoured, from which an officer in charge can conn (nautical), conn (conduct or control) the vessel, controlling movements of the ship by giving orders to those responsible for t ...

, she sank in of water at . Of her 94 crew, only 14 survived to be picked up by a local junk. Following the loss of ''I-34'', the IJN rerouted all Europe-bound submarines away from Penang. ''I-34'' was removed from the Imperial Japanese Navy list in January 1944. Her wreck was salvaged on 4 December 1962 by the Singaporean Great Eastern Salvage Company. Over 50 bodies were found in the wreck and were cremated in a specially erected shrine in Penang. Her bell is on display at the local Mariners Club and some of the recovered documents ("code books") are on display at the Royal Navy Submarine Museum in Gosport.

Notes

Bibliography

HIJMS I 34
*

Service history

Commissioning

Sinking

Notes

Bibliography

Further reading