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

Japanese submarine I-44

Type B2 submarine

Japanese submarine I-44
Imperial Japanese Navy — The Maru Special No.110 Submarine Operations of the Imperial Japanese Navy — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons Plate HIJMS I-44

Service

  1. Imperial Japanese Navy as Submarine No. 37431 January 1944 — 10 June 1945499 days of the war
Type B2 submarine Particulars
Name
I-44
Builder
Yokosuka Naval Arsenal, Yokosuka, Japan
Laid down
11 June 1942
Launched
5 March 1943
Commissioned
31 January 1944
Struck
10 June 1945
Fate
Missing after 4 April 1945
Probably sunk 29 April 1945 (1945)
Status
Wreck

Specifications

Displacement, surfaced
2,624 long tons (2,666 t)
Displacement, submerged
3,700 long tons (3,759 t)
Length
108.66 m (356.5 ft)
Beam
9.3 m (30.5 ft)
Draught
5.18 m (17 ft)
Speed
23.5 knots (43.5 km/h, 27 mph)
Range
14,000 nmi (25,928 km)
Complement
114
Main gun
140 mm (5.5 in)

I-44 was a Type B2 submarine built for the Imperial Japanese Navy. Her keel was laid at Yokosuka Naval Arsenal, Yokosuka, Japan on 11 June 1942. Launched on 5 March 1943, she entered service on 31 January 1944.

The class followed the Junsen Type A and was succeeded by the Junsen Type C.

The boat displaced 2,624 long tons surfaced and 3,700 long tons submerged. She measured 108.7 m (356 ft) long with a beam of 9.3 m (31 ft). Her designed speed was 23.5 knots, and she carried a complement of 114.

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

She was in commission for 499 days of the Second World War. She was struck from the register on 10 June 1945.

She was sunk on 4 April 1945, at 27°02′N 151°00′E. 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
  • 2 diesels: 11000 hp
  • Electric motors: 2000 hp
Armament
  • 6 × 533 mm forward torpedo tubes
  • 17 torpedoes
  • 1 × 14 cm deck gun (removed October 1944–February 1945)
  • 6 × kaiten suicide attack torpedoes (added October 1944–February 1945)
Aircraft
  • 1 x floatplane (removed October 1944–February 1945)

Sister ships

Sources

  • Facts harvested from Japanese submarine I-44 on Wikipedia. Figures only — no wording is taken from it.
  • Photograph: Imperial Japanese Navy — The Maru Special No.110 Submarine Operations of the Imperial Japanese Navy — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons