THE O-CLASS SUBMARINES OF THE IJN

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Steve E
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THE O-CLASS SUBMARINES OF THE IJN

#1

Post by Steve E » 15 Jun 2017, 13:04

THE O-CLASS SUBMARINES OF THE IJN
At the end of world war 1 the IJN received seven German U-Boats as war-reparations, namely U-125; U-46; U-55; UC-90; UC-99; UB-125 and UB-143. They were handed over on the 20/11/1918 (UB-125); 22/11/1918 UC-99); 26/11/1918 (U-125,U-46,U-55,UB-143); 01/12/1918 (UC-90);
All seven were commissioned into the IJN on the 19/12/1918 at Harwich, Great Britain and were formed into the Temporary Submarine Boat Division. (臨時特別潜水艇隊)
They left Harwich in two sections: O-1; O-5; O-6 on the 18/02/1919 and O-2; O-3; O-4; O-7; on the 06/03/1919 and arrived in Malta in late March 1919, escorted by the Cruiser Izumo and the Submarine Tender Kanto. They were towed by the Destroyers of Des. Div.22 (ex Des. Div.10) and Des. Div.23(ex Des. Div.11).
In Malta the U-Boats were serviced by the Submarine Tender Kanto in preparation for the voyage to Japan.
The O-1, O-3, O-5, O-7 left for Japan on the 06/04/1919 escorted by the cruiser Nisshin and towed by the Destroyers Katsura; Kaede; Ume; Kusunoki (DD 22). The O-2, O-4, O-6 followed on the 08/04/1919, escorted by the Tender Kanto and towed by the Destroyers Sakaki; Matsu; Sugi; (DD 23). They all sailed via the Suez Canal and joined up on the 31/05/1919 in Singapore. They arrived in Yokosuka on the 18th of June 1919 after an incident- free voyage.
In Japan they went on an exhibition tour to the major ports. The Japanese Navy thoroughly investigated the U-Boats before they were partially dismantled and eventually disposed.
U-125 served as a blueprint for the KRS class (I-121 (ex I-21) to I-124 ex I-24) mine laying submarines.
For details of the O-Class see my website: http://www.ijnsubsite.info/
Last edited by Steve E on 16 Jun 2017, 01:20, edited 1 time in total.

Shane6969
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Location: Bendigo, Australia

Re: THE O-CLASS SUBMARINES OF THE IJN

#2

Post by Shane6969 » 16 Jun 2017, 01:03

Great info, thanks for sharing.


Steve E
Member
Posts: 175
Joined: 27 Nov 2006, 21:39
Location: Australia
Contact:

Re: THE O-CLASS SUBMARINES OF THE IJN

#3

Post by Steve E » 21 Jun 2017, 07:38

I would like to thank Ms Nishizawa Yoko for her help translating some Japanese text for this post.
Domo arigato gozaimasu Yoko san.
Steve.

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