- Japanese submarine I-17
"I-17" was a Japanese
B1 type submarine of theImperial Japanese Navy which saw service duringWorld War II . She was the first Axis ship to shell the United States mainland.ervice
Pearl harbor
During the
attack on Pearl Harbor on7 December 1941 "I-17" patrolled north ofOahu . Its mission was to reconnoiter and engage any ships that tried to sortie from Pearl Harbor.Tabular Record of Movement: [http://www.combinedfleet.com/I-17.htm HIJMS Submarine I-17] ]helling the US mainland
On
23 February 1942 "I-17" achieved some notability as the first Axis ship to shell the United States mainland. A few minutes after 7 pm she surfaced a few hundred yards off a beach convert|10|mi|km west ofSanta Barbara, California , within theEllwood Oil Field . Over 20 minutes she fired 17 shells from her 140 mm gun at the giant Richfield aviation fuel storage tanks on the blufftop behind the beach. The shots were mostly wild, one landing more than a mile inland. The closest shell exploded in a field convert|30|yd|m from one of the tanks. The shelling did only minor damage to a pier and a pumphouse, but news of the shelling triggered an "invasion" scare along the West Coast.Tabular Record of Movement: [http://www.combinedfleet.com/I-17.htm HIJMS Submarine I-17] ] [California State Military Museum: [http://www.militarymuseum.org/Ellwood.html The Shelling of Ellwood] ]The following night the anti-aircraft defences in
Los Angeles exploded into action in response to an imagined invasion (later to be known asthe Battle of Los Angeles , against a supposedUFO ). During a 30 minute fusillade, guns hurled 1,440 rounds of convert|3|in|mm|sing=on and 37 mm ammunition into the night sky, and about ten tons ofshrapnel and unexploded ammunition fell back on the city. [Young, Donald J. [http://www.historynet.com/magazines/world_war_2/3031956.html Phantom Japanese Raid on Los Angeles] Word War II Magazine, September issue 2003]upply missions to Guadalcanal
In November 1942 "I-17's" 140 mm deck gun was removed and she set out for
Guadalcanal on the first of many supply missions.Tabular Record of Movement: [http://www.combinedfleet.com/I-17.htm HIJMS Submarine I-17] ]Battle of the Bismarck Sea
On
2 March 1943 in thebattle of the Bismarck Sea a Japanese convoy carrying troops toLae was bombed and strafed by USAAF andRAAF planes for three successive days. All of the eight transports and cargo vessels in the convoy and four of the eight escortingdestroyer s were sunk. The Japanese in lifeboats, rafts and in the water were strafed by planes andPT boat s. The "I-17" was directed to the area.On
5 March two PT boats, "PT-143" and "PT-150", discovered "I-17" with three lifeboats full of survivors from the Bismarck Sea battle. The submarine was taking them on board. The "I-17" crash dived as the PT boats strafed and fired torpedoes at her. The PT boats then sank the lifeboats with machine gun fire and depth charges. Several hours later, the "I-17" resurfaced and picked up 33 surviving soldiers.The following day "I-17" rescued another 118 soldiers and 4 sailors. She then sailed to Lae and disembarked her 155 passengers.Tabular Record of Movement: [http://www.combinedfleet.com/I-17.htm HIJMS Submarine I-17] ] Official Chronology of the US Navy in World War II: [http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/USN-Chron/USN-Chron-1943.html Chapter V: 1943] ]
Torpedoing the "Stanvac Manila"
On
24 May 1943 convert|100|mi|km south offNoumea coord|23|45|S|166|30|E. "I-17" sighted the 10,169 tonPanama nian flagged tanker "Stanvac Manila". The tanker had six PT boats on board as cargo. At 0407, "I-17's" torpedo hit the tanker, flooding the engine and fire room and disabling all power and communications. At 1205 the "Manila" sank, taking the two PT boats "PT-165" and "PT-173" with her.Official Chronology of the US Navy in World War II: [http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/USN-Chron/USN-Chron-1943.html Chapter V: 1943] ] About 1300 the destroyer USS "Preble" arrived and towed three of the surviving PT boats, "PT-167", [http://www.pt171.org/ "PT-171"] and [http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-p/pt174.htm "PT-174"] to Noumea. The remaining boat, "PT-172", made Noumea under her own power. One life was lost.Tabular Record of Movement: [http://www.combinedfleet.com/I-17.htm HIJMS Submarine I-17] ]Loss
On
19 August 1943 convert|40|mi|km SE off Noumea. The "I-17's" Glen floatplane reconnoitered and spotted a convoy that has just cleared the harbour. After stowing the plane, the "I-17" set out after the convoy. TheNew Zealand armed trawler HMNZS "Tui", escorting the convey, picked up a submarine contact. She made an initial run over it without usingdepth charge s, a second run dropping two depth charges, and a third run throwing another two depth charges. Then "Tui" lost contact.Waters, Sydney David (1956) "The Royal New Zealand Navy", [http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/tei-WH2Navy-c21.html#n327 Page 327-328] , Official History.]OS2U Kingfisher floatplane s of the US Scouting Squadron VS-57, fromNew Caledonia , joined the search [Carr, Jess W [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0IAX/is_6_83/ai_80321229 "Vs-57 and the sinking of japanese submarine I-17"] , Naval Aviation News, Sept-Oct issue, 2001] one of these planes indicated that "Tui" should investigate smoke on the horizon. The submarine was sighted on the surface and "Tui" opened fire at maximum range, scoring one and possibly two hits. The two shells exploded ahead of the periscope, with the submarine severely damaged and slid down beneath the waves, leaving a trail of bubbles and oil marking her path.The submarine surfaced quickly five minutes later with the bow exiting at a steep angle. The floatplane strafed the deck of the large submarine keeping the submarine crew from manning the deck gun, briefly, and when the submariners reached their gun stations the sky was filled with anti-aircraft fire.
The Kingfishers then dropped further depth charges and the submarine sank at coord|23|26|S|166|50|E.Official Chronology of the US Navy in World War II: [http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/USN-Chron/USN-Chron-1943.html Chapter V: 1943] ] Ninety-one crewmen were lost. The "Tui" rescued six survivors who said that "Tui's" depth charge attacks had damaged the submarine and forced it to the surface and that the Kingfisher depth charges had finally sunk her.Waters, Sydney David (1956) "The Royal New Zealand Navy", [http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/tei-WH2Navy-c21.html#n327 Page 327-328] , Official History.]
Notes
References
* McDougall, R J (1989) "New Zealand Naval Vessels." Page 59-61. Government Printing Office. ISBN 9780477013994
*cite web
last = Parshall
first = Jon
coauthors = Hackett, Bob and Kingsepp, Sander
year =
url = http://www.combinedfleet.com/I-17.htm
title = Imperial Japanese Navy Page: HIJMS Submarine I-17: Tabular Record of Movement
format =
work =
accessdate = 2008-01-04
* Official Chronology of the US Navy in World War II: [http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/USN-Chron/USN-Chron-1943.html Chapter V: 1943]
* Waters, Sydney David (1956) [http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/tei-WH2Navy.html "The Royal New Zealand Navy"] , Official History.Further reading
*Harker, Jack (2000)"The Rockies: New Zealand Minesweepers at War." Silver Owl Press. ISBN 0959797998
External links
* [http://www.combinedfleet.com/type_b1.htm B1-type submarines]
* [http://www.pt171.org/PT171/writeups/stanvac.htm The sinking of the "Stanvac Manila"]
* [http://www.aukevisser.nl/others/id396.htm Photo of the "Stanvac Manila"]
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