JAPANESE NAVY SUBMARINE I-16 AND I-58

The I-16 was a Japanese submarine whose keel was laid in 1937, launched in August 1938, and commissioned in the Imperial Japanese Navy in March 1940. The length of the ship at the time of launching was 109.3 m, width 9 m, and the underwater displacement - approx. 3,500 tons. The maximum surface speed of the I-16 was 23.5 knots on the surface. The main armament was eight 533 mm torpedo launchers, and the secondary armament was a single 140 mm gun and two 25 mm Type 96 anti-aircraft guns. The I-16 was a type C1 ocean submarine, which was in turn a development of the I-7 type ships. It was assumed that the C1 type units, apart from the typical tasks of maritime reconnaissance or fighting enemy navigation, would also carry miniature submarines. Undoubtedly, they were ships of considerable size, a large range, and blue torpedo armament, capable of submerging up to 100 meters. The I-16 was involved in the attack on the American base at Pearl Harbor at the time of the outbreak of the Pacific War. In April 1942, the ship reaches the island of Penang in Malaya, from where it operates in the Indian Ocean, where it operates from May to August 1942, successfully combating Allied merchant shipping. Since November this year, it has been operating in the Solomon Islands, supporting Japanese operations in the Gudalcanal region. He also took part in the evacuation of Japanese troops from this island in early 1943. After this operation, the ship was sent to the port of Yokosuka for repairs. The unit returned to service in the second half of 1943, operating in the New Guinea region. I-16 was sunk on May 19, 1944 as a result of a depth charge attack by the destroyer USS EnglandThe I-58 was a Japanese submarine whose keel was laid in December 1942, launched in June 1943, and commissioned in the Imperial Japanese Navy in September 1944. The length of the ship at the time of launching was 109 m, width 9.3 m, and underwater displacement - 3,690 tons. The maximum surface speed of the I-58 was 17.8 knots on the surface. The main armament was six 533 mm torpedo tubes with 19 spare torpedoes, and the secondary armament was two 25 mm cannons. At the time of launching, I-58 also had a hangar and a catapult for 1 seaplane, but in mid-1945 these elements were dismantled. The I-58 was an ocean-going B-3 submarine, and at the time of launching it was equipped with electronic equipment that is rich by Japanese standards: airspace and sea surface search radars. It also had the ability to carry Kaiten suicide torpedoes. The most famous combat action I-58 was the sinking of the heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis, which was on its return voyage to Guam after the elements of the Little Boy atomic bomb had been delivered from San Francisco to the Tinian base in Tinian. The sinking took place on the night of July 29-30, 1945. The I-58, as one of the few Japanese submarines, survived the war in the Pacific and was sunk in the area of the Goto Islands only on April 1, 1946.