The was one of the first classes of submarine in the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) to serve during the

Second World War 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 ...

. ''Type-C'' submarines were better armed than the ''Type-A'' and ''Type-B''. The ''Type-C''s were also utilized as '' Kō-hyōteki'' or ''

Kaiten were crewed torpedoes and suicide craft, used by the Imperial Japanese Navy in the final stages of World War II. History In recognition of the unfavorable progress of the war, towards the end of 1943 the Japanese high command considered s ...

'' mother ships, for this reason they were not equipped with aviation facilities.

Class variants

The ''Type-C'' submarines were divided into three classes: * * * . However, the ''Vessel number 379''-class was never built.

''Type-C'' (''I-16'' class)

Project number S38 and S38B (Latter batch). They were based on the ''I-7'' class. Eight boats were built between 1937 and 1944 under the Maru 3 Programme (Boats 44 - 48) and the Maru Kyū Programme (Boats 376 - 378). *Boats in class

''Type-C Mod.'' (''I-52'' class)

Project number S37D. Twenty boats were planned under the Maru Tsui Programme (Boats 625 - 632) and the Kai-Maru 5 Programme (Boats 5141 - 5155). According to their Project number, they were one of the variants of the ''Type-B'' submarine. Seventeen boats were cancelled in late 1943, because the IJN was planning to build the which was to become the primary submarine in 1945. *Boats in class

''Type V22B''

Project number S49B. Twenty eight boats were planned under the Maru Kyū Programme (Boats 379 - 381) and the Kai-Maru 5 Programme (Boats 5156 - 5180). All boats were cancelled in late 1943, because the IJN was planning to build the . *Boats in class

Characteristics

Footnotes

Bibliography

*'', History of Pacific War Vol.17 I-Gō Submarines'',

Gakken is a Japanese publishing company founded in 1947 by Hideto Furuoka, which also produces educational toys. Their annual sales is reported at ¥ 90 billion ($789 million US). Gakken publishes educational books and magazines and produces other ...

(Japan), January 1998, *''Rekishi Gunzō, History of Pacific War Vol.35 Kō-hyōteki and Kōryū'', Gakken (Japan), April 2002, *''Rekishi Gunzō, History of Pacific War Vol.36 Kairyū and Kaiten'', Gakken (Japan), May 2002, *''Rekishi Gunzō, History of Pacific War Extra, "Perfect guide, The submarines of the Imperial Japanese Forces"'', Gakken (Japan), March 2005, *''Model Art Extra No.537, Drawings of Imperial Japanese Naval Vessels Part-3'', Model Art Co. Ltd. (Japan), May 1999, Book code 08734-5 *''The Maru Special, Japanese Naval Vessels No.31 Japanese Submarines I'', Ushio Shobō (Japan), September 1979, Book code 68343-31