next »

TRAILBLAZERS
for students

ArchaeoFind
Archaeology News
Articles
Browse Attachments
Calendar
Downloads
Forum
Gallery
Links
Member Map
Our News Feeds
Submit Article
Tag Cloud
Video Channel

Trailblazers
Play Phaos
Chat
Trailblazers: Virtual Tours
History's Hinge - 'Ain Jalut

[Bart]

Japanese midget sub found after 64 years

A Japanese midget submarine that disappeared during a wartime raid in Sydney Harbour more than 60 years ago has been discovered by a group of amateur divers.



The story of the accidental discovery and pictures of the submarine ? still containing the remains of two Japanese sailors ? will be aired on 60 Minutes this Sunday.

"It's really nice to see that there's this amazing mystery that has been solved by ordinary Australians," 60 Minutes' Liam Bartlett told ninemsn. "It's not a question of hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of hi-tech electrical search gear or anything like that. You've just got these seven amateur scuba divers who have lucked onto this amazing mystery."

Twenty-one Australian sailors were killed by the sub known as M24 when it entered Sydney Harbour with two similar craft on May 31, 1942. The other subs were recovered soon after the attack, but mystery has surrounded the location of the third craft ever since.

Australian and Japanese diplomats are now in dicussions over the M24 and the remains of the two sailors inside.

"Whether they want to raise the vessel, or whether they want to recover the remains of the two Japanese submariners inside and leave the rest of the vessel there, is up to them," Bartlett said.

The government, divers and 60 Minutes staff are still reluctant to discuss the exact location of the craft.

"These guys are really worried that if it becomes public, every man and his dog will want to go and dive on it," Bartlett said.

Although the Australian Navy believed the sub was located south of the Sydney Harbour heads, the sunken craft actually lies in the other direction.

"In terms of solving the mystery I can tell you that the submarine as it came out of the heads on that fateful night, turned north," Bartlett said.

"I can also tell you it's closer to Sydney than you think. It will surprise some people."

As for the condition of the sub after 60 years under water, Bartlett says it's still intact.

"It's sitting up quite proud on the surface of the ocean bed. There's a bit of sand and silt gathered over time as you'd expect. But it's unmistakable it's the submarine. You'll be really interested when you see the pictures on Sunday night."

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=165529

[Solomon]

I sometimes wondered what happened with that sub, having lived overlooking Wellington harbour, which was the mother sub's (the I-25) next stop. The Japanese sure rang the alarm bells, over-flying both Sydney and Wellington.

JAPANESE SUBMARINE I-25 IN AUSTRALIAN WATERS DURING WW2

Japanese submarine I-25 was under the command of Lieutenant Commander Meiji Tagami who had graduated from Class 51 at Etajima. 26 year old Lieutenant Tatsuo Tsukudo was the Executive Officer on I-25.

I-25 of 2,600 tons was 108 metres long, with a range of 14,000 miles, a maximum surface speed of 23.5 knots and a maximum submerged speed of 8 knots.

Submarine I-25 carried a 2 seater Yokosuka E14Y reconnaissance floatplane know as a "Glen". It was disassembled and stowed in the front of I-25.

I-25 and 3 other submarines had patrolled a line 120 miles north of Oahu during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour. After the Japanese aircraft carriers sailed west after Pearl Harbour, I-25 and 8 other submarines sailed eastwards to patrol the west coast of the United States. I-25 attacked a cargo ship 10 miles of the US coast. The ship managed to escape but ran around at the mouth of the Columbia River. I-25 then returned to Kwajalein atoll, arriving on 11 January 1942 to refuel and be refurbished.

Submarine I-25 left Kwajalein atoll in the Marshall Islands on 5 February 1942 for its next operational patrol in the south Pacific. Lt. Commander Tagami's orders were to reconnoitre the Australian harbours of Sydney, Melbourne and Hobart followed by the New Zealand harbours of Wellington and Auckland.

I-25 travelled on the surface for 9 days, but as it approached the Australian coastline, it only travelled on the surface under the cover of night.

On 13 February 1941, I-25 sunk the UK merchant ship "Derrymore" at 05⁰ 18' S, 166⁰ 20' E. On Saturday 14 February 1942, I-25 was within a few miles of the coast near Sydney. The searchlights in Sydney could clearly be seen from the bridge of I-25. Tagami then took I-25 to a position 100 miles south east of Sydney.

A number of days of rough swell prevented an immediate launch of the "Glen" floatplane. They stayed submerged during the day and back to the surface at night.

Finally on Tuesday 17 February 1942 Warrant Flying Officer Nobuo Fujita took off in the "Glen" for a recce flight over Sydney Harbour. The purpose was to look at Sydney's airbase.

By 7.30 am they had returned to I-25 and disassembled the "Glen" and stowed it in the water tight hangar. Commander Tagami then pointed I-25 southwards on the surface at 14 knots.

By midday on Wednesday 18 February 1942 they were nearly 400 miles south east of Sydney still heading southwards.

Their next mission was a similar flight over Melbourne. Tagami decided to launch the aircraft from Cape Wickham at the northern end of King Island at the western end of Bass Strait about half way between Victoria and Tasmania.

The float plane was launched on 26 February 1942 for its recce flight to Melbourne over Port Phillip Bay.

Fujita's next reconnaissance flight in Australia was over Hobart on 1 March 1942.

I-25 Then headed for New Zealand where Fujita flew another reconnaissance flight over Wellington on 8 March 1942.

Fujita then flew over Oakland on 13 March 1942, followed by Fiji on 17 March 1942.

Submarine I-25 returned to its base at Kwajalein on 31 March 1942.

REFERENCE
Jenkins, David, "Battle Surface - Japan's Submarine War against Australia 1942 - 44", Random House Australia, 1992

[Diving Doc]

Solomon,
I am sorry that I missed this post. Thanks so much.
This is a very interesting piece of history and I am very much into subs.
Cheers,
Doc