Recognition Guide Warships of the Second World War
Imperial Japanese Navy — Submarine

Japanese submarine I-401

I-400-class submarine

Japanese submarine I-401
Unknown author — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons Plate

Service

  1. Imperial Japanese Navy as I-4018 January 1945 — 15 September 1945237 days of the war
I-400-class submarine Particulars
Name
I-401
Builder
Sasebo Naval Arsenal, Sasebo, Japan
Laid down
26 April 1943
Launched
11 March 1944
Commissioned
8 January 1945
Struck
15 September 1945
Fate
Surrendered 29 August 1945
Sunk as target 31 May 1946 (1945)
Status
Wreck

Specifications

Displacement, surfaced
5,223 long tons (5,307 t)
Displacement, submerged
6,560 long tons (6,665 t)
Length
122 m (400.3 ft)
Beam
12 m (39.4 ft)
Draught
7 m (23 ft)
Speed
18.8 knots (34.7 km/h, 21.6 mph)
Range
37,500 nmi (69,450 km)
Complement
144
Main gun
140 mm (5.5 in)

I-401 was a I-400-class submarine built for the Imperial Japanese Navy. Her keel was laid at Sasebo Naval Arsenal, Sasebo, Japan on 26 April 1943. Launched on 11 March 1944, she entered service on 8 January 1945.

Her class ran to three ships.

The boat displaced 5,223 long tons surfaced and 6,560 long tons submerged. She measured 122 m (400 ft) long with a beam of 12 m (39 ft). Her designed speed was 18.8 knots, and she carried a complement of 144.

Her main battery was one 140 mm (5.5 in) guns. She carried three aircraft.

She was in commission for 237 days of the Second World War. She was struck from the register on 15 September 1945.

She was expended as a target on 29 August 1945. The wreck survives.

Written from the harvested record. Every figure above is sourced; the wording is this site's own.

Armament and machinery

Armament and machinery
Propulsion
  • Diesel-electric
  • 4 diesel engines, 7700 hp
  • Electric motors, 2400 hp
Armament
  • 8 × 533 mm forward torpedo tubes
  • 20 × Type 95 torpedoes
  • 1 × 14 cm/40 11th Year Type naval gun
  • 3 × 25 mm triple-mounted Type 96 autocannon (9 barrels total)
  • 1 × single-mounted 25 mm Type 96 autocannon
Aircraft
  • 3 × Aichi M6A1 Seiran sea-planes

Sister ships

Sources