Wreck of HIJMS I-18 | Second World War 1939-1945, military, shipwreck, submarine

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

HIJMS I-18 was a Type C-1 Class Submarine built for the Imperial Japanese Navy, laid down in mid 1940 and commissioned into service with Submarine Squadron 1, Division 2 in the IJN Sixth Fleet in January 1941. Spending much of the year engaged in crew training and maneuvers, the I-18 and her crew were selected along with four of their sisterships to form a Special Attack Unit in November 1941, and began intensive training aimed at launching and recovering two-man Type A Midget Submarine.

Less than a month after training began, I-18 and the Special Attack Force departed Japanese Waters and set a course for the Hawaiian Islands, being informed enroute that hostilities against the United States would commence at first light on December 7th, 1941. Taking her position roughly 13 miles South of Pearl Harbor, the I-18 launched her Midget Sub at 0215hrs and remained at periscope depth as the Surprise Attack on Pearl Harbor was carried out. Facing intense anti-submarine patrols during the next several days, the I-18 and her crew did their best to remain undetected while they waited for their Midget Sub to return however after five days it became clear the sub and its two-man crew were lost and I-18 withdrew from Hawaiian waters on December 12th. Quickly refueling at Kwajalein, I-18 returned to Hawaiian waters in January 1942 and conducted recon of both the American Fleet and shoreside installations, including a brief shelling of Midway Atoll before returning to Japan in late February.

Instead of beginning patrols in the Pacific against American Forces as they may have expected, I-18 and her crew were ordered to join Submarine Squadron 8 and proceed at once to the Indian Ocean, where she reloaded a Midget Submarine and proceeded to the British Naval Base at Diego Suarez in company with her fellow Squadronmates. Taking no direct part in the successful Raid on Diego Suarez due to a faulty engine in her Midget Sub, the I-18 jettisoned their troublesome cargo and began hunting merchant ships in the Indian Ocean, successfully sinking three merchant vessels before terminating her patrol at Penang in August. After returning to Japan for an overhaul period, the I-18 and the boats of Squadron 8 were ordered to the Solomon Islands, where their Midget Submarine carrying apparatus would be used to transport supplies to the beleaguered Japanese force fighting on the island of Guadalcanal.

Engaged in regular supply runs from Truk to Cape Esperance through January 1943, the efforts of I-18 and her fellow resupply Submarines were not sufficient to support the Japanese Army’s needs, so after her final supply run on January 26th, the I-18 took a position to cover the withdrawal of Japanese Troops from Guadalcanal. Ordered to the Coral Sea when reports were received that an American Carrier force had been spotted off Rennel Island, the I-18 joined eight other Submarines in an unsuccessful hunt for the next two days until the morning of February 11th, when I-18’s crew spotted several American ships roughly 200 miles South of San Cristobal Island. After reporting her contact, the I-18’s crew rigged their Sub for battle in the predawn darkness and began a submerged stalk of the American formation shortly before sunrise.

Steadily encroaching on the American ships throughout the day, the I-18 got to within nine miles of her targets before she was spotted at periscope depth by a floatplane launched by the USS Helena (CL-50) on anti-submarine patrol shortly after 1500hrs. The American aircrew quickly identified the Submarine as Japanese and sent a flash message to the US Force and began guiding the Destroyer USS Fletcher (DD-445) to the I-18’s location. After the floatplane began dropping smoke flares around the I-18’s position, the crew aboard the Sub would have easily realized they had been spotted, and shortly thereafter her sonarmen would have been able to pick up the sounds of the high-speed screws aboard the Fletcher as she sped in to attack. Crash-diving the Sub and rigging for silent running, the I-18’s Skipper did his best to elude his attacker however the sonar crew aboard the Fletcher made contact with the I-18 at 2,900 yards and the American Destroyer began dropping depth charges at 1527hrs. Though I-18 managed to evade the first spread as they detonated around her, the Fletcher’s crew quickly adjusted their depth charge settings as the ship came around for a second run. A second depth charge barrage at 1539hrs brought a large amount of oil, air and debris to the surface, followed four minutes later by a tremendous underwater explosion and more debris, signifying the loss of I-18 with all 102 of her crew at this location at 1543hrs on February 11, 1943.

www.combinedfleet.com/I-18.htm