B1 Class, Japanese Submarines

Photograph of B1-class submarine

Wikipedia Commons

Specifications:

Tonnage

2198 tons standard displacement
2584 tons surfaced
3654 tons submerged

Dimensions

350'8" by 30'6" by 16'10"
106.88m by 9.30m by 4.90m

Maximum speed

23.6 knots (surfaced)
8 knots (submerged)

Complement
94

Dive to 330 feet (100m)

Aircraft 1 seaplane

Armament

1 5.5"/50 gun
2 25mm/60 machine gun
6 21" torpedo tubes (17 torpedoes)

Machinery
2-shaft diesel (12,400 shp) or electric (2000 shp)

Bunkerage
800 tons diesel fuel

Range 14,000 nautical miles (23,000 km) at 16 knots surfaced
96 nautical miles (154 km) at 3 knots submerged

Modifications From 1941, some units replaced the seaplane facilities with a second 5.5" gun.

1944-7: Surviving units began receiving Type 13 air search radar and Type 22 surface search radar.

1944: I-36 and I-37 were converted to Kaiten carriers. I-36 could carry 6 Kaiten and I-37 could carry four.

The B1s (Otsu-gata) were based on the K6As. However, their conning towers were streamlined to improve their underwater performance. They were designed for long-range scouting and were equipped with an E14Y1 "Glen" seaplane. The latter is credited with the only conventional air attack carried out against the U.S. mainland during the Second World War, when a "Glen" from I-25 dropped incendiary bombs on the forests of Oregon in an attempt to start a forest fire.

The B1s were part of a balanced fleet of submarines to be completed by October 1941. The A1s were intended to direct scouting operations by B1 and C1 class submarines, the former specialized to locate targets and the latter to carry out attacks. However, the only time the boats operated in a manner that much resembled this prewar plan was in the attack on Pearl Harbor. Six B1s were initially ordered, and they were completed on schedule. Later, an additional 14 B1s were completed, suggesting the Japanese were pleased with the design. No other class of I-boat was built in such numbers.

The B1s achieved some important successes against the Americans, including damage to Saratoga by I-26 on 31 August 1942 that took her out of the Guadalcanal campaign, and the sinking of Wasp by I-19 just two weeks later. The same torpedo salvo that sank Wasp also damaged North Carolina and sank O'Brien, making it arguably the most devastating single torpedo salvo in history. I-26 later was responsible for the sinking of Juneau after the cruiser had been badly damaged in the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, 12-13 November 1942.

Because of their excellent range, these boats were sometimes used to exchange diplomats and supplies between Japan and the other Axis. For example, I-30 left Kure in May 1942 for Europe, arriving at Lorient on 6 August 1942, and returned on 22 August 1922 but was sunk by a British mine off Singapore and was lost along with the Würzburg radar she was carrying.

Towards the end of the war, two of the boats began modifications to allow them to launch balloon bombs, but the work was not completed before the surrender.