History of the Japanese Submarine Navy: Part 1 1905

Japan's first submarine of indigenous design was completed in 1912 at Kawasaki Dockyard Company. It was designated as Boat #13, later to be re-named Ha-6. The design centered around a powerful gasoline engine of advanced design, built in the USA. It was a double-acting (two pistons to a cylinder) engine with an output of 1,160 horsepower. It was expected that the boat would attain a very great surface speed. But the engine was trouble-plagued, and the boat was a miserable failure. The boat's electric motor was locally manufactured for the first time. I.J.N. learned a valuable lesson through this boat, that the choice of a reliable engine was the most important element in a good submarine design.

KAWASAKI (Ha-6) TYPE

Displacement 304/335 tons
Dimensions 38.63 x 3.84 x 3.05 meters
Engines gasoline/electric
Power
(gasoline) 1,160 hp
(electric) 300 hp
Speed
(gasoline) 10 knots
(electric) 8 knots
Fuel 17.8 tons
Range
(gasoline) 560 miles @ 10 knots
(electric) 60 miles @ 4 knots
Tubes
(fwd) two
(aft) none
Guns none
AA guns none
Crew 26
Depth of dive 30.5 meters

WWI

The GREAT WAR in Europe made technology transfer impossible, and I.J.N. built two boats on its own, which were improvements over the previous C-TYPE boats. Boat #16 (later Ha-7) was completed in 1916, and Boat #17 (later Ha-8) in 1917. The outstanding feature of these new boats were their four torpedo tubes, two of which were externally mounted.

C-3 (Ha-7) TYPE

Displacement 290/323 tons
Dimensions 43.73 x 4.14 x 3.43 meters
Engines gasoline/electric
Power
(gasoline) 600 hp
(electric) 300 hp
Speed
(gasoline) 12 knots
(electric) 8.5 knots
Fuel 18.2 tons
Range
(gasoline) 660 miles @ 12 knots
(electric) 60 miles @ 4 knots
Tubes
(fwd) 2
(deck mounts) 2
Crew 30
Depth of dive 30.5 meters

About this time the ROYAL NAVY was already mass-producing E-CLASS submarines with four 45cm torpedo tubes, diesel-powered, and capable of 15 knots on the surface. I.J.N. was running far behind other navies, both technologically and numerically in the field of submarines.

(to be continued in KTB #106)

More History of the Japanese Submarine Navy

Part 1: 1905
Part 2: 1912-17
Part 3: C-1 and C-2
Part 4: Ha-9, Ha-10 and Tsing-Tao
Part 5: Ro-11, Ro-13, Ro-16
Part 6: Ro-1, Ro-3
Part 7: Kaichu Type 4
Part 8: Batteries
Part 9: Ro-57 and Ro-60
Part 10: I-16
Part 11: O-1 (ex U-125) and O-2 (ex U-46)