''I-23'' was a

Type B1 submarine The , also called was the first group of boats of the Type B cruiser submarines built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during the 1940s. In total 20 were built, starting with , which gave the series their alternative name. Design and descri ...

of the

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 ...

during

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 ...

. After a raid on the West Coast of

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

she participated in an attempt at a second attack upon

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...

. After surviving an American air attack on

Kwajalein Kwajalein Atoll (; Marshallese: ) is part of the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). The southernmost and largest island in the atoll is named Kwajalein Island, which its majority English-speaking residents (about 1,000 mostly U.S. civilia ...

''I-23'' was lost in early 1942 with all hands somewhere off the

Oahu Oahu () (Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering place#Island of Oʻahu as The Gathering Place, Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over t ...

coast of

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

.Carpenter, Dorr ''Submarines of the Imperial Japanese Navy'' p.101

Service history

The submarine was laid down at the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal on 8 December 1938, as Submarine No. 41. She was launched on 24 November 1939 with Shibata Genichi as Chief Equipping Officer, and Commander Shibata as Commanding Officer. She was then assigned to Rear Admiral Sato Tsutomu's ''SubRon 1'' Division, along with and .

Attack on a Lexington-class aircraft carrier

On 9 December 1941 ''I-6'' reported sighting a , as well as two

cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several roles. The term "cruiser", which has been in use for several hu ...

s, off

. Vice Admiral Shimizu in ordered all of SubRon 1's boats, except the Special Attack Force, to pursue and sink the carrier. By the next day, while proceeding surfaced, ''I-23''s lookouts reported sighting an American patrol plane. While crash diving, ''I-23'' accidentally descended to the depth of .

Attack on the West Coast

On 11 December 1941 ''I-23'' was redirected to the West Coast of the United States to raid American shipping in the Monterey Bay area, arriving within 100 miles of its destination on 18 December.

20 miles off
Cypress Point Cypress Point Club is a private golf club located in Pebble Beach, California, at the northern end of the Central Coast. Its single 18-hole course has been named as one of the finest in golf, best known for a series of dramatic holes along th ...
, Monterey Peninsula, California. After 1415, ''I-23'' battle-surfaced on the
Richfield Oil Company Richfield Oil Corporation was an American petroleum company based in California from 1905 to 1966. In 1966 it merged with Atlantic Refining Company to form the Atlantic Richfield Company (later renamed ARCO). History The Richfield Oil Corporat ...
's 6,771-ton tanker SS Agwiworld at 37N, 122W, firing a total of 14 shells, but missed the zigzagging target in rough seas. The ''Agwiworld'' then escaped to safety.

On December 24, 1941 ''I-23'' attacked the SS ''Dorothy Phillips'', a cargo ship, off Monterey. The attack damaged the rudder and ''Dorothy Phillips'' ran aground. militarymuseum.org, SS Dorothy Phillips
/ref>

On 25 December ''I-23'' departed from the West Coast for the Palmyra Island area.

Second attack on Pearl Harbor

In January, 1942, the IJN General Staff began to develop a plan to raid Pearl Harbor a second time. The objective of the attack was to disrupt ship repair activities.

At Kwajalein, five submarines were selected to participate in Operation K-1, the planned second air attack on Pearl Harbor. The objective of the attack was to bomb the ''Ten-Ten Dock'' and disrupt ship repair activities. The plan called for the airplanes to depart from the
Marshall Islands The Marshall Islands ( mh, Ṃajeḷ), officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands ( mh, Aolepān Aorōkin Ṃajeḷ),'' () is an independent island country and microstate near the Equator in the Pacific Ocean, slightly west of the Internati ...
and fly to French Frigate Shoals in the Hawaiian Islands (500 miles WNW of Pearl Harbor) where they were to be refueled by I-class submarines. ''I-9'' was assigned to take up station midway between Wotje and the Shoal and act as a radio beacon for two Kawanishi H8K1 "Emily" flying boat bombers. ''I-19'', ''I-15'' and ''I-26'' were to refuel the flying boats at the Shoal. ''I-23'' was then to standby 10 miles south of
Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...
, providing weather reports and acting in an air-sea rescue capacity.

As part of the mission, after sundown on 1 January, ''I-23'' attempted to conduct periscope reconnaissance off Palmyra Island, but came under gunfire. Cdr Shibata decided to withdraw the ''I-23'' and make another try next evening. On 3 January the ''I-23'' arrived at the Hawaiian islands, two days later departing for

American air raid on Kwajalein

On 1 February 1942 Vice Admiral

William F. Halsey Jr. William Frederick "Bull" Halsey Jr. (October 30, 1882 – August 16, 1959) was an American Navy admiral during World War II. He is one of four officers to have attained the rank of five-star fleet admiral of the United States Navy, the others ...

Task Force 8 Task may refer to: * Task (computing), in computing, a program execution context * Task (language instruction) refers to a certain type of activity used in language instruction * Task (project management), an activity that needs to be accomplished ...

, which include the aircraft carrier , began an air raid on Kwajalein and Wotje in the Marshall Islands. ''Enterprise''s airplanes sank a transport and damaged a light cruiser, '' Katori'', flagship of the Sixth Sensuikan Fleet. The submarine depot ship, '' Yasukuni Maru'', and several other important ships were also damaged during the raid.

At the time, ''I-23'' was taking on supplies while anchored between tender, the ''Yasukuni Maru'', and ''I-26''. She returned fire while attempting to dump her deck cargo into the sea. After the ''Yasukuni Maru'' received a bomb hit, one of her 25-mm AA gunners was injured by bomb fragments. Her floatplane ''avgas'' tank ignited, causing a small fire. By the time the Dauntlesses of VS-6 and VB-6 arrived, all of the submarines had submerged. After the attack ''I-23'' briefly participated in an unsuccessful pursuit and hunt of Halsey's ''Task Force,'' but later returned.

Loss of ''I-23''

On 24 February 1942, at 23:30 ''I-23'' transmitted her last report from the Hawaii area. Presumed lost with all of her ninety-six sailors somewhere off the Oahu coast of Hawaii, including the Combined Fleet staff officer LtCdr Konishi Masayoshi, she was removed from the

Navy List A Navy Directory, formerly the Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of naval officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval author ...

on 30 April 1942.Boyd, Carl ''The Japanese Submarine Force and World War II'' p.210

References

Bibliography

External links

Location of sunk remains of I-23 (map)

{{DEFAULTSORT:I-023 Type B1 submarines Warships lost with all hands Submarines lost with all hands Submarines of the Imperial Japanese Navy Naval battles of World War II involving Japan World War II submarines of Japan Japanese submarines lost during World War II Maritime incidents in February 1942 World War II shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean Missing submarines of World War II Ships built by Kure Naval Arsenal