1905, Japan introduced five submarines from the United States. On this basis, Japan absorbed the advanced technology of American submarines and independently developed and manufactured a variety of submarines. So far, Japan has a large number of submarine troops. These "chrysanthemum sea wolves" are rampant in the Pacific Ocean and Indian Ocean for a while. However, compared with the German submarines belonging to the Axis countries, the Japanese ocean-going submarines have a mediocre record. Is it inferior technology or bad timing? ? There are many kinds of strategic needs. 1922, the United States, Britain, Japan, France and Italy, five naval powers, concluded the United States Treaty on the Limitation of Naval Arms. According to the treaty, the number of Japanese battleships is 60% of that of the United States and Britain. In order to make up for the disadvantage of the number of battleships, Japan has formulated a large submarine construction plan, intending to use submarines to consume the advantages of the number of American and British battleships. 1937, Japan introduced three kinds of hybrid submarine design schemes: the submarine designed according to the flagship standard, with a displacement of 4 150 tons, can be equipped with a water reconnaissance plane; A B-type submarine with a displacement of 3,654 tons can also be equipped with a water reconnaissance plane; The displacement of the C-type submarine with enhanced weapon system also reached 356 1 ton. ? Japan also divides submarines into three categories: 1 class is an ocean-going submarine with a displacement of over 1000 tons, such as Iraqi submarine; class 2 is an offshore submarine with a displacement of between 1000 and 500 tons, such as a land submarine; and class 3 is a pocket submarine with a displacement of less than 500 tons, such as a wave submarine. In addition, according to the different division of labor, Japanese submarines are also divided into patrol submarines, mine-laying cruises, transport submarines and aircraft motherships. It is rare for Japan to subdivide submarine functions in this way, which is unique among the belligerents in World War II. In addition, the Japanese navy also developed the I-400 underwater aircraft carrier. The boat has a total length of 122 m, a width of 12 m, and an underwater displacement of 6560 tons, twice that of the destroyer at that time. The submarine is driven by two 7700 HP 10 diesel engines of No.22 ship, with a surface speed of 18.7 knots, 6.5 knots underwater and a cruising range of 37500 nautical miles/14 knots. The special feature of the I-400 is that it can carry three "Jinglan" water attack aircraft. The design of the Japanese navy's brain hole has made the I-400 a "submarine plus" in the world. ? During World War II, the Japanese Navy owned 63 ocean-going submarines, including 52 submarines with a displacement of over 3,000 tons. At that time there were only 56 submarines of the same size in the world. It can be said that the ocean-going strength of Japanese submarines is the first in the world. During the war, Japan built11ocean-going submarines with a total scale of 174. Generally speaking, Japanese submarines sank two US main aircraft carriers, 1 escort aircraft carriers, two cruisers and 18 destroyers in World War II. In the attack on civilian targets, Japanese submarines sank allied merchant ships 179 with a total tonnage of 900,000 tons, while German submarines sank allied merchant ships 2,603 with a total tonnage of13.57 million tons. Compared with each other, it is a mass of mud. ? There are many reasons for the poor performance of Japanese submarines, and strategic contradiction is one of them. The original intention of the Japanese submarine force was to fight against the British and American battleships. However, in 1942, 165438 10, the Japanese transport fleet known as Tokyo Express was unable to carry out the replenishment task, and the Japanese troops stationed in Guadao were caught in a shortage of supplies, so the local area was named "Hungry Island". Isoroku Yamamoto, commander of the Japanese Joint Fleet, ordered that except for a few pocket submarines to carry out special attack missions, other submarines should take advantage of stealth and undertake the task of secretly transporting munitions. 1942 65438+from February 2 6th to1942 65438+1October 30th, the Japanese army dispatched 26 submarines, of which 17 completed the task, and 6 basically completed the task, transporting 974 tons, only I-/kloc-. On the surface, submarines should be praised for carrying out transportation tasks. In fact, the use of main battle submarines to transport materials itself is contrary to Japan's submarine strategy and cannot give full play to the true value of submarines. ? The poor performance of endless submarines after blind expansion lies in the uneven quality of Japanese navy personnel. 1939 In February, the Japanese I63 submarine arrived at the exercise area 6 nautical miles north of Hou Feng Shuidao Island and entered a drifting state. At that time, there were light waves on the sea, and the visibility was about 5 nautical miles. The current ship, the Iraq -60 submarine, was ordered to rendezvous with the Iraq -63. Due to the failure of the host computer of Iraq 60 the day before, the repaired Iraq 63 accelerated to the exercise area. However, the captain and the duty officer of Iraq 60 mistakenly recorded the drifting position of Iraq 63 as their own position. Although I -63 warned many times, I -60 still crashed into the center of I -63 starboard at a speed of 12 knots at a 90-degree angle, causing the latter to sink, killing all 8 1 officers and men on board. I-60 was mainly responsible for the accident, and the submarine did not perform the specified speed when sailing at night. After I-60 was discovered, the submarine did not take measures to slow down and avoid. Iraq [63] also bears secondary responsibility. After it found that the Iraqi 60 was abnormal, it did not take the initiative to avoid it, but passively asked the other party to avoid it, causing a shipwreck. The root cause of this accident lies in the rapid expansion of Japanese armaments, resulting in a shortage of experienced veterans. When dealing with emergencies, recruits are generally unfamiliar and slow to respond, and Iraq 63 paid the price of sinking. ? There is a close positive correlation between the slow technology update and the backward technology of Japanese submarines, and they are caught in the quagmire of being beaten. In the 1930s, influenced by the idea of "giant naval gun", the Japanese navy executives shifted the focus of naval construction to large warships, ignoring the development of submarine technology, which objectively had a certain impact on the use of submarines. The diesel engine independently developed by Japan pursues power output unilaterally, which leads to a significant increase in its noise. A US sonar sergeant said frankly, "Japanese submarines sail like drums. The constant noise has aroused great concern of American destroyers and anti-submarine aircraft. In the Pacific War, Japan was sunk by 127 ocean-going submarines, including 67 surface ships and 60.63% anti-submarine aircraft 10. ? Tactical mistakes, combined with tactical mistakes, made the loss of Japanese submarines even more serious. The Japanese army's use of submarines stayed in the decisive battle stage of the fleet, and the US military's anti-submarine tactics had already advanced by leaps and bounds. The American B-24 Liberator long-range bomber stayed in the air 18 hours. Equipped with 10cm wavelength H2S radar and depth charge, the anti-submarine capability has been greatly improved. The anti-submarine capability of a B-24 is equivalent to six frigates, which is very cost-effective. In addition, the appearance of American MK24 acoustic torpedo can have a fatal effect on submarines. In the face of the ever-changing anti-submarine technology, the Japanese navy is still in a rut, and the navy's top management fantasizes about using submarines with backward technology to fight against the excellent anti-submarine US navy. At the same time, the Japanese navy ignored the importance of breaking the game and thought that this move was not in line with the spirit of courage. What is even more ridiculous is that the Japanese navy insists on implementing a periodic floating report system for submarines regardless of actual needs, resulting in additional losses for submarines. ? Throughout World War II, the characteristics of Japanese submarines can be described as "high starting point, many types, many tasks, small record and great losses". Japanese submarines, which started earlier, became accomplices of fascism in an attempt to use sneak attack and blitzkrieg tactics. Facts have proved that the outdated equipment of rigid strategic command is a cloud. Japanese submarines went up and down, all the way to the end. In the end, like the German U-submarine, it will be doomed to extinction and become a lingering shame in the history of human civilization, so as to warn future generations and take a warning. Text: white as black reference:

"Chrysanthemum Sea Wolf: Complete Biography of Japanese Type B Submarine" Tong Feng's text was created by the team of History University Hall, and the picture originated from the network copyright and belongs to the original author.