Wreck of HIJMS RO-40 | Second World War 1939-1945, navy, shipwreck, submarine

 Second World War 1939-1945, navy, shipwreck, submarine

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Laid down in late 1942 at the Mitsubishi Shipyard in Kobe, HIJMS RO-40 was a Kaichū Type VII submarine which commissioned into service with the Imperial Japanese Navy in September 1943 as a member of Submarine Division 34, IJN Sixth Fleet. Following nearly three months of intensive training, the RO-40 and her crew departed Maizuru for combat on January 20th, 1944 and sailed for Truk.

Arriving at her new homeport of Truk nine days later, the RO-40 provisioned and prepared for her first war patrol, an effort hastened by the American Invasion of the Marshall Islands two days after her arrival. After completing her load up, the RO-40 put to sea on February 12th, bound for the area around Makin Atoll. Four days out of Truk, the RO-40 sighted her quarry some 45 miles North of Kwajalein Atoll as a US resupply convoy steamed across her path. Hastily closing in on the American ships to make her attack, the RO-40's propeller sounds were picked up by sonar operators aboard the USS Phelps (DD-360), a Destroyer escorting the convoy. With the submerged contact only 1700 yards away, the US Ship quickly charged at the submarine and began dropping depth charges.

Sonar operators RO-40 would have likely heard the unmistakable sounds of high speed screws closing on their position as one, then two US Destroyers came after them. With no chance of outrunning the US ships while underwater, the RO-40 went deep and ran silent, hoping to elude her attackers as they began pinging away with their sonar and dropping depth charges. On the surface, the USS Phelps was joined in the hunt by the Destroyer USS MacDonough (DD-351) and the Minesweeper USS Sage (AM-111) and the three ships began making coordinated depth charge attacks around and over the submerged contact on their sonar screens. After an hour of bombardment, the contact had disappeared and the sea surface became littered with oil and debris, marking the sinking of the RO-40 with all 69 hands at this location at approximately 1845hrs on February 16th, 1944.


www.combinedfleet.com/RO-40.htm