''I-364'' 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 July 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 was sunk during her first transport mission in September 1944.

Construction and commissioning

''I-364'' 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 26 July 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. 5464''. She was renamed ''I-364'' 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 15 February 1944 and was completed and commissioned on 14 June 1944.

Service history

Upon commissioning, ''I-364'' was attached formally 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, ...

11 for workups. With her workups complete, she was reassigned to Submarine Squadron 7 on 6 September 1944. On 14 September 1944, she departed

Yokosuka is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city has a population of 409,478, and a population density of . The total area is . Yokosuka is the 11th most populous city in the Greater Tokyo Area, and the 12th in the Kantō region. The city ...

bound for

Wake Island Wake Island ( mh, Ānen Kio, translation=island of the kio flower; also known as Wake Atoll) is a coral atoll in the western Pacific Ocean in the northeastern area of the Micronesia subregion, east of Guam, west of Honolulu, southeast of To ...

on her first transport mission, expecting to reach Wake in late September. ''I-364'' was on the surface in the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

east of

Honshu , historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island separ ...

′s

Boso Peninsula Boso may refer to: People * Boso of Provence (850–887), Frankish nobleman and king * Boso the Elder (c. 800–855), a Frank from the Bosonid dynasty *Boso, Margrave of Tuscany (885–936), Italian nobleman * Boso II of Arles (d. 967), Frankish co ...

on a base course of 90 degrees (i.e., due east) and making when 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 ...

submarine detected her on

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 ...

at 04:32 on 16 September 1944. ''Sea Devil'' began to track ''I-364'', and ''Sea Devil''′s

commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitu ...

observed a large Rising Sun insignia painted on ''I-364''′s

conning tower A conning tower is a raised platform on a ship or submarine, often armored, from which an officer in charge can conn the vessel, controlling movements of the ship by giving orders to those responsible for the ship's engine, rudder, lines, and gro ...

and misidentified her as an "''I-58''-class" submarine. At dawn, began to

zigzag A zigzag is a pattern made up of small corners at variable angles, though constant within the zigzag, tracing a path between two parallel lines; it can be described as both jagged and fairly regular. In geometry, this pattern is described as a ...

and ''Sea Devil'' began an approach for an attack position. As ''I-364'' passed in front of ''Sea Devil'' at a range of , ''Sea Devil'' fired four Mark 18 Mod 2 electric

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, su ...

es. Two of them hit, and ''I-364'' sank with the loss of her entire crew of 77 at , leaving behind a large pall of brown smoke. On 31 October 1944, the Imperial Japanese Navy declared to be presumed lost with all hands. She was stricken from the Navy list on 10 December 1944.

Notes

Sources

* Hackett, Bob & Kingsepp, Sander.
IJN Submarine I-364: Tabular Record of Movement
Retrieved on September 17, 2020. {{DEFAULTSORT:I-364 Type D submarines Ships built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries 1944 ships World War II submarines of Japan Japanese submarines lost during World War II Maritime incidents in September 1944 Warships lost in combat with all hands Submarines lost with all hands World War II shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean Submarines sunk by submarines Ships sunk by American submarines