''I-362'' was an

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...

Type D1 transport

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

. Completed and commissioned in May 1944, she served in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and conducted transport missions between Japan and outlying islands until she was sunk in January 1945.

Construction and commissioning

''I-362'' was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

on 17 March 1943 by

Mitsubishi The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries. Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group historically descended from the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company which existed from 1870 ...

Kobe Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whic ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, with the name ''Submarine No. 5462''. She was renamed ''I-362'' on 20 October 1943 and provisionally attached to the

Yokosuka Naval District was the first of four main administrative districts of the pre-war Imperial Japanese Navy. Its territory included Tokyo Bay and the Pacific coasts of central and northern Honshū from the Kii Peninsula to Shimokita Peninsula. Its headquarters, a ...

that day. She was launched on 29 November 1943 and was attached to the

Kure Naval District was the second of four main administrative districts of the pre-war Imperial Japanese Navy. Its territory included the Seto Inland Sea, Inland Sea of Japan and the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coasts of southern Honshū from Wakayama prefecture, Wakayam ...

on 23 April 1944. She was completed and commissioned on 23 May 1944.

Service history

Upon commissioning, ''I-362'' again was attached to the Yokosuka Naval District and was assigned to Submarine

Squadron Squadron may refer to: * Squadron (army), a military unit of cavalry, tanks, or equivalent subdivided into troops or tank companies * Squadron (aviation), a military unit that consists of three or four flights with a total of 12 to 24 aircraft, de ...

11 for workups. With her workups complete, she was reassigned to Submarine Squadron 7 on 15 August 1944.

Transport missions

On 21 August 1944, ''I-362'' departed Yokosuka bound for

Nauru Nauru ( or ; na, Naoero), officially the Republic of Nauru ( na, Repubrikin Naoero) and formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island country and microstate in Oceania, in the Central Pacific. Its nearest neighbour is Banaba Island in Ki ...

on her first transport mission. She arrived at Nauru on 14 September 1944, loaded 22 tons of ammunition and embarked 85 passengers, and got back underway the same day. She proceeded to Truk, which she reached on 21 September 1944. She unloaded her cargo and disembarked her passengers, then took aboard 83

Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service The was the Naval aviation, air arm of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN). The organization was responsible for the operation of naval aircraft and the conduct of aerial warfare in the Pacific War. The Japanese military acquired their first air ...

personnel and departed on 22 September 1944. She returned to Yokosuka on 3 October 1944. ''I-362'' got underway from Yokosuka on 24 October 1944 for her second transport voyage, this time setting course for

Marcus Island , also known as Marcus Island, is an isolated Japanese coral atoll in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, located some southeast of Tokyo and east of the closest Japanese island, South Iwo Jima of the Ogasawara Islands, and nearly on a straight line ...

, which she reached on 30 October 1944. After unloading supplies, she left the same day bound for Yokosuka, where she arrived on 6 November 1944. She then began an overhaul. With the overhaul complete, ''I-362'' put to sea from Yokosuka on 1 January 1945 for her third supply voyage. She was scheduled to call at Truk, then proceed to Meleyon Island at

Woleai Woleai, also known as Oleai, is a coral atoll of twenty-two islands in the western Caroline Islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district in the Yap State in the Federated States of Micronesia and is located approximately west-n ...

in the Caroline Islands, where she was scheduled to arrive on 21 January 1945.

Loss

On 13 January 1945, the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

destroyer escort was in the eastern Caroline Islands as one of two escorts for two

merchant A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as indust ...

tankers Tanker may refer to: Transportation * Tanker, a tank crewman (US) * Tanker (ship), a ship designed to carry bulk liquids ** Chemical tanker, a type of tanker designed to transport chemicals in bulk ** Oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanke ...

making a voyage from

Ulithi Atoll Ulithi ( yap, Wulthiy, , or ) is an atoll in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, about east of Yap. Overview Ulithi consists of 40 islets totaling , surrounding a lagoon about long and up to wide—at one of the largest i ...

Eniwetok Enewetak Atoll (; also spelled Eniwetok Atoll or sometimes Eniewetok; mh, Ānewetak, , or , ; known to the Japanese as Brown Atoll or Brown Island; ja, ブラウン環礁) is a large coral atoll of 40 islands in the Pacific Ocean and with it ...

when she established

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...

contact on an unidentified vessel at a range of . ''Fleming'' closed the range and challenged the vessel at a range of , but the vessel did not reply. ''Fleming'' continued to close, and lost radar contact at a range of , but then immediately acquired a

sonar Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigation, navigate, measure distances (ranging), communicate with or detect o ...

contact, suggesting that the vessel was a submarine that had submerged. Closing to , ''Fleming'' illuminated the area in the direction of the contact with a

searchlight A searchlight (or spotlight) is an apparatus that combines an extremely bright source (traditionally a carbon arc lamp) with a mirrored parabolic reflector to project a powerful beam of light of approximately parallel rays in a particular direc ...

, but her crew saw nothing on the surface. She then dropped a pattern of

depth charge A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon. It is intended to destroy a submarine by being dropped into the water nearby and detonating, subjecting the target to a powerful and destructive Shock factor, hydraulic shock. Most depth ...

s, followed by four Hedgehog attacks — each of 24 projectiles — against the submarine. Her last Hedgehog attack was just after midnight on 14 January 1945, and resulted in three underwater explosions followed by a deep, rumbling explosion that disabled ''Fleming''′s sound gear. ''Fleming''′s crew then observed debris and an oil slick on the surface, marking the sinking of the submarine with the loss of all hands at . The submarine ''Fleming'' sank probably was ''I-362''. On 15 March 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy declared to be presumed lost with all hands off the Caroline Islands. She was stricken from the Navy list on 10 April 1945.

Notes

Sources

* Hackett, Bob & Kingsepp, Sander.
IJN Submarine I-362: Tabular Record of Movement
Retrieved on September 17, 2020. {{DEFAULTSORT:I-362 Type D submarines Ships built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries 1943 ships World War II submarines of Japan Japanese submarines lost during World War II Maritime incidents in January 1945 Warships lost in combat with all hands Submarines lost with all hands World War II shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean Submarines sunk by United States warships