View source for Japanese submarine I-152

{{redirect|Japanese submarine I-52 (1922)|other submarines with the name|Japanese submarine I-52}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
| Ship image=I-52.jpg
| Ship caption=''I-52'' in 1930.
}}
{{Infobox ship career
| Hide header=
| Ship country=Japan
| Ship flag= {{shipboxflag|Empire of Japan|naval}}
| Ship name= ''Submarine No. 51''
| Ship ordered=1919 [[fiscal year]]
| Ship awarded=
| Ship builder=[[Kure Naval Arsenal]], [[Kure, Hiroshima|Kure]],&nbsp;[[Japan]]
| Ship original cost=
| Ship yard number=
| Ship way number=
| Ship laid down=14&nbsp;February&nbsp;1922 or 2&nbsp;April&nbsp;1922 (see&nbsp;text)
| Ship launched=12 June 1923
| Ship renamed=''I-52'' on 1&nbsp;November&nbsp;1924
}}
{{Infobox ship career
| Hide header=yes
| Ship completed=20 May 1925
| Ship acquired=
| Ship commissioned=20 May 1925
| Ship renamed=''I-152'' on 20&nbsp;May&nbsp;1942
}}

{{Infobox ship career
| Hide header=yes
| Ship decommissioned=14 July 1942
| Ship struck=1 August 1942
}}
{{Infobox ship career
| Hide header=yes
| Ship renamed=''Haikan No. 14'' on 1&nbsp;August&nbsp;1942
}}
{{Infobox ship career
| Hide header=yes
| Ship homeport=
| Ship identification=
| Ship motto=
| Ship nickname=
| Ship honours=
| Ship fate=*[[Hulk (ship)|Hulked]] 1&nbsp;August&nbsp;1942
* Scrapped 1946-1948
| Ship notes=
| Ship badge=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
| Hide header=
| Header caption=
| Ship class={{sclass|Kaidai|submarine}} (Type II)
| Ship displacement=
*{{Convert|1500|LT|t|0|lk=on|abbr=on}} surfaced
*{{Convert|2500|LT|t|0|abbr=on}} submerged
| Ship length= {{Convert|100.85|m|ftin|abbr=on}} 
| Ship beam= {{Convert|7.64|m|ftin|abbr=on}} 
| Ship height=
| Ship draught= {{Convert|5.14|m|ftin|abbr=on}} 
| Ship propulsion=
*2 × [[Sulzer (manufacturer)|Sulzer]] diesel engines, {{Convert|6800|hp|MW|abbr=on}}
* 2 x Electric motors, {{Convert|2000|hp|MW|abbr=on}} 
| Ship speed= 
*{{Convert|21.5|kn|lk=in}} (surfaced)
*{{Convert|7.7|kn|abbr=on}} (submerged)
| Ship range= 
*{{Convert|10000|nmi|km|abbr=on}} @ {{Convert|10|kn|abbr=on}} (surfaced)
*{{Convert|100|nmi|km|abbr=on}} @ {{Convert|4|kn|abbr=on}} (submerged)
| Ship endurance= 
| Ship test depth= {{Convert|45.7|m|ft|0|abbr=on }}
| Ship complement=58 [[Commissioned officer|officers]] and [[Enlisted personnel|men]]
| Ship sensors=
| Ship EW=
| Ship armament=
* 6 × {{Convert|533|mm|in|0|abbr=on}} forward [[torpedo tube]]s
* 2 × {{Convert|533|mm|in|0|abbr=on}} aft torpedo tubes
* 1 x [[12 cm/45 10th Year Type naval gun]] <br/>16 × [[naval mine]]s
| Ship notes=
}}
|}
{{nihongo|'''''I-52'''''|伊号第五十二潜水艦|I-go dai-go-jyuni sensuikan}}, later {{nihongo|'''''I-152'''''|伊号第百五十二潜水艦|I-go dai-hyaku-go-jyuni sensuikan}}, was the second [[prototype]] of the {{sclass|Kaidai|submarine}} of the [[Imperial Japanese Navy]]. Commissioned in 1925, she became a [[training ship]] in 1935 and was decommissioned in 1942 during the early months of the [[Pacific War|Pacific campaign]] of [[World War II]]. She subsequently served as the stationary training [[Hulk (ship)|hulk]] '''''Haikan No. 14''''' and was scrapped after the war.

==Background==
Following [[World War I]], the [[Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff]] began to re-consider [[submarine warfare]] as an element of fleet strategy. Before the war, the Imperial Japanese Navy regarded submarines as useful only for short-range coastal point defense.<ref name=Peatty>Peatty, ''Kaigun'', p. 114, 212-214</ref> However, based on the success of the [[Imperial German Navy]] in the deployment of long-range [[cruiser submarine]]s for [[commerce raiding]] Japanese strategists came to realize possibilities for using the weapon for long range reconnaissance, and in a [[war of attrition]] against an enemy fleet approaching Japan.<ref name=Peatty/> Although a large, long-range Japanese submarine had already been authorized in fiscal 1918 under the [[Eight-eight fleet|Eight-six fleet program]] as ''Project S22'' (later designated {{ship|Japanese submarine|I-51||2}}), a second prototype with a different design (the future ''I-52'') was authorized in [[fiscal year]] 1919.
 
==Design==

The first ''Kaidai'' prototype, ''Project S22'', was based on the latest [[Royal Navy]] design, the [[British K class submarine]]; it became the ''Kaidai'' I type submarine ''I-51''. The second ''Kaidai'' prototype, the ''Kaidai '' II type, was based on the [[German Type U 139 submarine]].<ref name=Stille>Stille, ''Imperial Japanese Submarines 1941-45'', p. 4</ref> This second prototype was designated ''Project S25''.

With improved [[Sulzer (manufacturer)|Sulzer]] [[diesel engine]]s, ''I-52'' was had a single [[Hull (ship)|hull]] and two engines, rather than the [[Double hull|double-hull]], four-engine design of ''I-51''. The greater power and more streamlined shape gave a slightly higher surface speed than that of ''I-51'', or even the [[Imperial German Navy]] submarine ''[[SM U-135|U-135]]'', but with reduced range.<ref name=Peatty/> ''I-52'' had a design speed of {{convert|22|kn}} on the surface and {{convert|10|kn}} submerged, but as completed, achieved only {{convert|19.5|kn}} on the surface. Her unrefueled range on the surface was {{convert|10,000|nmi|lk=on}}, only half that of ''I-51''.<ref name= Jentsura/>

The Japanese did not regard ''I-52'' as a completely successful design despite the various technical achievements her design and construction represented and her superior performance to that of ''I-51''. They planned several more submarines of the same ''Kaidai'' II design, but cancelled all of them before formally signing contracts for their construction after the arrival of seven Imperial German Navy [[U-boat]]s Japan received as war reparations at the end of World War I prompted a review of Japanese submarine design concepts.<ref name=Boyd>Boyd, ''The Japanese Submarine Force in World War II'', p. 17-18</ref> ''I-52'' thus was the only ''Kaidai'' II-type submarine constructed.

==Construction and commissioning==
Project S25 was [[Keel-laying|laid down]] as {{nihongo|'''''Submarine No.51'''''|第五十一号潜水艦 |Dai-go-jyu-ichi-go sensuikan}} at the [[Kure Naval Arsenal]] in [[Kure, Hiroshima|Kure]], [[Japan]], on either 14 February<ref name=ijnsubsiteI152>[http://www.ijnsubsite.info/I-Sub%20Details/I-152.htm I-152 ijnsubsite.com August 9, 2018 Accessed 16 January 2021]</ref><ref name=combinedfleetI152>{{cite web |url= http://www.combinedfleet.com/I-152.htm |title=IJN Submarine I-152: Tabular Record of Movement |first1=Bob |last1=Hackett |first2=Sander |last2=Kingsepp |work=combinedfleet.com |date=1 March 2016|access-date=16 January 2022}}</ref> or 2 April 1922,<ref name= Jentsura >Jentsura, ''Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869-1945'', p. 190.</ref> according to different sources, and she was [[Ceremonial ship launching|launched]] on 12 June 1923.<ref name=ijnsubsiteI152/><ref name=combinedfleetI152/> Renumbered '''''I-52''''' {{nihongo|伊号第五十二潜水艦|I-go dai-go-jyuni sensuikan}} on 1 November 1924,<ref name=ijnsubsiteI152/><ref name=combinedfleetI152/> she was completed and [[Ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 20 May 1925.<ref name=ijnsubsiteI152/><ref name=combinedfleetI152/><ref name= Jentsura/>

==Operational history==
===Pre-World War II===
On the day of her commissioning, ''I-52'' was attached to the [[Kure Naval District]].<ref name=ijnsubsiteI152/><ref name=combinedfleetI152/> On 1&nbsp;December&nbsp;1925, she was assigned to Submarine [[Division (naval)|Division]] 17 in Submarine [[Squadron (naval)|Squadron]] 2 in the [[2nd Fleet (Imperial Japanese Navy)|2nd Fleet]], a component of the [[Combined Fleet]].<ref name=ijnsubsiteI152/> On 25 October 1926, she was in [[Hiroshima Bay]] when the [[Hakata Bay Railway Company]] [[train ferry]] ''Fukuoka Maru'' accidentally rammed her in her [[Port and starboard|port]] side, damaging her.<ref name=ijnsubsiteI152/><ref name=combinedfleetI152/> She participated in the Grand Naval Maneuvers ("Special Great Maneuvers") of August to October 1927.<ref name=ijnsubsiteI152/><ref name=combinedfleetI152/>

Submarine Division 17 was reassigned to the Kure Naval District on 10 December 1928,<ref name=ijnsubsiteI152/> and while assigned to the district had two stints in the Kure Defense Squadron, from 30 November 1929 to 1 December 1930 and from 1 October 1932 to 1 January 1933.<ref name=ijnsubsiteI152/> Unsuccessful in fleet service due to problems with her diesel engines, ''I-52'' never returned to the fleet after Submarine Division 17′s reassignment to the Kure Naval District in 1928. Instead, she was retained as part of Submarine Division 17 at the Kure Naval Arsenal for crew training. Submarine Division 17 was deactivated on 15 November 1935,<ref>[https://www.ijnsubsite.info/Subdivs/subdiv17.htm Submarine Division 17 ijnsubsite.com Accessed 16 January 2021]</ref> and ''I-52'' was assigned directly to the Kure Naval District that day.<ref name=ijnsubsiteI152/>

Sources are unclear on ''I-52''′s status in the latter half of the 1930s and at the beginning of the 1940s. She may have become a stationary [[training ship]] at the [[Maizuru]] Naval Engineering School as early as mid-1935,<ref name=combinedfleetI152/> or her assignment to the school may not have occurred until 15 December 1938.<ref name=ijnsubsiteI152/> She also was reassigned to the [[Maizuru Naval District]] for this duty, but sources disagree on whether this reassignment took place on 15 December 1938<ref name=ijnsubsiteI152/> or 1 February 1939.<ref name=combinedfleetI152/> She was reattached to the Kure Naval District either on 31 July 1941<ref name=combinedfleetI152/> or 8 December 1941.<ref name=ijnsubsiteI152/>

===World War II===
On 8 December 1941 — the day the [[Pacific War|Pacific campaign]] of [[World War II]] began in [[East Asia]], which was 7 December 1941 on the other side of the [[International Date Line]] in [[Hawaii]], where Japan began the war in the Pacific with its [[attack on Pearl Harbor]] — ''I-52'' was assigned to the Kure Guard Force in the Kure Naval District for duty as a training ship in the [[Seto Inland Sea]], based at Kure.<ref name=ijnsubsiteI152/><ref name=combinedfleetI152/> Sometime after 10 April 1942, she also took part in testing different submarine garbage disposal units.<ref name=combinedfleetI152/> She was renumbered {{nihongo|'''''I-152'''''|伊号第百五十二潜水艦|I-go dai-hyaku-go-jyuni sensuikan}} on 20 May 1942.<ref name=combinedfleetI152/>

''I-152'' was placed in [[Reserve fleet|reserve]] on 14 July 1942<ref name=ijnsubsiteI152/><ref name=combinedfleetI152/> and removed from the [[navy list]] on 1 August 1942.<ref name=ijnsubsiteI152/><ref name=combinedfleetI152/> Renamed ''Haikan No. 14'' ("Hulk No. 14"), she became a stationary training [[Hulk (ship)|hulk]] at the submarine school at Kure.<ref name=ijnsubsiteI152/><ref name=combinedfleetI152/> She later was transferred to the [[Hirao]] branch of the [[Ōtake, Hiroshima|Ōtake]] Submarine School in [[Yamaguchi Prefecture]].<ref name=combinedfleetI152/> When hostilities with the [[Allies of World War II]] ended on 15 August 1945, she was laid up at Hirao.<ref name=combinedfleetI152/> ''Haikan No. 14'' was scrapped at the former Kure Naval Arsenal between 1946 and 1948.<ref name=ijnsubsiteI152/><ref name=combinedfleetI152/>

==References==
===Footnotes===
{{Reflist}}
===Bibliography===
* {{cite book|last=Boyd|first=Carl|title=The Japanese Submarine Force in World War II|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, MD|year=2002|isbn=1557500150 }}
* {{cite book|last=Peattie|first=Mark R.|title=Kaigun: Strategy, Tactics, and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1887-1941|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, MD|year=1997|isbn=0-87021-192-7}}
* {{cite book|last=Jentsura|first=Hansgeorg|title=Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869-1945|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, MD|year=1976|isbn=0-87021-893-X}}
* {{cite book|last=Stille|first=Mark|title=Imperial Japanese Navy Submarines 1941-45|publisher=Osprey|year=2007|isbn=978-1846030901 }}

==External links==
*{{cite web| last = Nishida| first = Hiroshi| url = http://admiral31.world.coocan.jp/e/stc0521.htm | title = Materials of IJN|  work = Imperial Japanese Navy}}
*{{cite web | last = Hackett | first = Bob | author2=Sander Kingsepp | url = http://www.combinedfleet.com/I-152.htm  |publisher= CombinedFleet.com| title = IJN Submarine I-152: Tabular Record of Movement | access-date = 25 August 2017}}

{{Kaidai type submarine}}
{{1926 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:I-152}}
[[Category:1923 ships]]
[[Category:Ships built by Kure Naval Arsenal]]
[[Category:Kaidai-class submarines]]
[[Category:World War II submarines of Japan]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1926]]

[[ja:伊号第五二潜水艦]]