KUSENTEI!
IJN Subchaser CH-8:
Tabular Record of Movement
© 2005-2010 Bob Hackett, Sander Kingsepp and Peter Cundall
Revision 3
10 January 1938:
Laid down at Tama Shipbuilding.
9 August 1938:
Launched and numbered CH-8.
30 November 1938:
Completed and registered in the IJN.
November 1941:
Camranh Bay, Indochina. CH-8 is assigned to SubChasDiv 11 with CH-7 and CH-9 in Rear Admiral (later Vice Admiral) Hiraoka Kumeichi's (former CO of HIEI) Ninth Base Force of Vice Admiral Ozawa Jisaburo’s Southern Fleet.
8 December 1941: Opening of Hostilities with the Western Allies:
CH-8 is at sea off Singora, Siam (Thailand) escorting the Malay Invasion Force.
19 December 1941:
10 miles NNE of Kota Bharu, Malaysia. Dutch submarine Hr. Ms. O-20 is spotted and attacked by a Kawanishi E7K2 “Alf” floatplane from SENDAI. AMAGIRI, AYANAMI and URANAMI are detached to keep the submarine down until the Japanese troop convoy has cleared the area. CH-8 joins the hunt for O-20, dropping a number of depth charges.
January 1942:
South China Sea. CH-8 participates in the capture of the Dutch island of Natuna Besar.
9 February 1942: Operation "L" - The Invasion of Palembang, Sumatra:
SubChasDiv 11's CH-8 and CH-7 depart Camranh Bay for Palembang with kaibokan SHIMUSHU and MineSweepDiv 1's W-1, W-2, W-3, W-4 and W-5 escorting eight transports. Rear Admiral (later Vice Admiral) Hashimoto Shintaro's DesRon 3's light cruiser SENDAI with DesDiv 11's FUBUKI, HATSUYUKI and SHIRAYUKI and DesDiv 20's ASAGIRI provide close cover.
16 February 1942:
The transports land troops near Palembang.
March 1942:
Arrives at Penang, Malaya.
April 1942:
Escorts convoys between Penang and Singapore.
14 July 1942:
Singapore. CH-8 is assigned to the Southwest Area Fleet's 1st Southern Expeditionary Fleet in the 10th Special Base Force's SubChasDiv 11 with CH-7 and CH-9.
September 1942:
Escorts convoys between Singapore and Penang.
9 January 1943:
CH-8 departs Singapore for Rangoon, Burma with auxiliary netlayer CHOKO MARU escorting convoy S-23 consisting of MOJI and NICHIMEI MARUs carrying IJA troops.
15 January 1943:
170 miles NW of Mergui, Burma. Convoy S-23 is attacked several times by Allied bombers. NICHIMEI MARU
suffers several bomb hits and near misses. At 1550, she sinks. 97 troops and five crewmen and gunners are lost.
19 January 1943:
Arrives at Rangoon.
3 November 1943:
At 1400, CH-8 departs Penang escorting fleet oiler KAMOI.
5 November 1943:
Indian Ocean. At 1900, arrives at Port Blair, Andaman Islands with KAMOI.
E 19 December 1943:
CH-8 escorts KAMOI between Sabang, Sumatra and Singapore.
12 February 1944:
NW of Penang. Auxiliary subchaser CHOKO MARU and CH-8 chase British submarine HMS STONEHENGE after her unsuccessful attack on a vessel identified as a seaplane tender. At 1943, following a depth-charge atack by CHOKO MARU, STONEHENGE surfaces in position 05-43N, 99-51E. She is immediately targeted by CH-8, but manages to torpedo CHOKO MARU at 05-46N, 99-52E. CH-8 chases the submarine, but inflicts only some slight damage.
20 April 1944:
CH-8 departs Keelung destroyers ASAGAO and HASU, and auxiliary subchaser TAKUNAN MARU No. 3 escorting convoy TAMO-17 consisting of SUGIYAMA and KYOKUZAN MARUs and 22 unidentified merchant ships.
E 2 April 1944:
ASAGAO is detached.
27 April 1944:
Arrives at Moji.
1 May 1944:
CH-8 departs Moji with kaibokan CD-1, CD-8, CD-20 and auxiliary netlayer KAINAN MARU escorting convoy TE-05 consisting of eight unidentified merchant ships.
22 October 1944:
CH-8 and CH-7 depart Singapore escorting convoy SHIMA-03 consisting of six unidentified merchant ships.
25 October 1944:
Arrives at Miri.
27 October 1944:
Departs Miri.
5 November 1944:
Arrives at Manila.
7 November 1944:
At 2000, CH-8 departs Manila for Singapore with CH-7 escorting convoy MASHI-03 consisting of tankers NICHINAN MARU No. 2 and SHIMOTSU MARU.
8 November 1944:
At 2257, after the convoy avoids one torpedo attack, LtCdr Marshall H. Austin's USS REDFIN (SS-272) torpedoes and sinks NICHINAN MARU No. 2 at 14-10N 116-37E. The forepart of the wreck sinks at 1030 the following day.
9 November 1944:
At 0055, LtCdr Irvin S. Hartman's USS BARBERO (SS-317) torpedoes and sinks SHIMOTSU MARU 14-32N, 116-53E. The convoy is dissolved.
10 November 1944:
Arrives at Manila.
19 November 1944:
CH-8 and CH-7 depart St Jacques escorting convoy SASHI-34 consisting of nine unidentified merchant ships.
22 November 1944:
Arrives at Singapore.
E 1-21 January 1945: Operation M5 – Anti-submarine sweep in the Malacca Strait:
CH-8 is attached to the Southern Expeditionary Fleet’s 15th Base Force’s Subchaser Division 11 also consisting of CH-7, CH-9, CH-34 and CH-35 plus auxiliary subchasers WAKATAKE and MIYAKO MARUs. SubChaDiv 11 is supported by the 331st and 936th Air Groups.
5 January 1945:
Departs Penang for Port Swettenham (Port Klang).
6 January 1945:
Arrives at Port Swettenham for refueling; departs the following morning.
9 January 1945:
W of Penang. British LtCdr H. B. Turner’s submarine HMS PORPOISE, out of Trincomalee, Ceylon (Sri Lanka), lays two minefields consisting of fifty moored-contact and twelve magnetic ground mines. Turner radios Trincomalee to report the successful end of this mission. Japanese radio directional finders at Penang pickup PORPOISE's transmission and locate the submarine's position. [1][2]
11 January 1945:
CH-8, conducting a sonar search SSE of Penang, discovers a submerged target and, at 0206, attacks it. Following the attack, the submarine is observed to stop. A second attack follows at 0317; in all 15 depth charges are dropped at 04-15N, 100-14E. CH-8's CO lodges a claim for a sinking, but does not receive any such credit.
98 miles W of Penang. At 0757, a Nakajima B6N2 "Jill" attack bomber of the 331st Naval Air Group discovers a surfaced submarine at 05-30N, 98-39E. Before the submarine can dive, the pilot drops two 132-lb bombs; one nearly misses the bow, the second is a direct hit. The attack brings an oil slick to the surface with a diameter of about 100 feet. The B6N2 pilot is credited with a kill and his attack is so recorded by the IJN. HMS PORPOISE was the 74th and last British submarine lost in World War II. [3]
By evening, a steadily increasing oil slick appears, measuring 3.8 nm in length and 330 ft in diameter. CH-8 makes an additional sonar search and finds the target still sitting on the bottom. A different ship passes the same location on 14 January; by that time the oil slick is 10 nm long and 330 ft in diameter.
That same day, the area off Penang is temporarily closed for merchant traffic due to the presence of the magnetic mines.
14 January 1945:
CH-8 and CH-41 are ordered to proceed to Port Swettenham for refueling.
15 January 1945:
Returns to Penang.
March 1945:
CH-8 departs Sabah, Sumatra escorting an unidentified convoy.
4 March 1945:
85 nms S of Penang. Working together, British LtCdr (later Vice Admiral, Sir) Arthur R. Hezlet’s submarine HMS TRENCHANT and British Lt Robert H. H. Brunner’s submarine HMS TERRAPIN jointly attack and sink CH-8 by gunfire in the central Malacca Strait, 04-04N, 110-35E.
6 March 1945:
At 1430, USN codebreakers intercept and decrypt a message that reads: “At 1700 March 4th ---- in position 04-08N, 100-35E, subchaser No. 8 while carrying out hunter killer operations engaged two surface enemy submarines. Sank at 1740 --.”
Fleet Radio Unit Melbourne intercepts and decrypts a message that says that subchaser No. 8 reported being "shelled by 2 allied submarines at 1720 on 4th in Dindings Channel (4.08N 100.35E). 101 survivors were subsequently rescued"... by an unidentified Japanese ship.
3 May 1947:
Removed from the Navy List.
Author's Notes:
[1] Several submarines were lost during the war because of the demands of admirals and their staffs for routine information. Notably the Japanese, but also ComSoWesSubPac and the Kriegsmarine. Such officers were either technically ignorant of the capabilities of radio directional finding, or worse, unmindful of the safety of the ships and crews entrusted to them.
[2] On 18 May '45, off Penang, subchaser CH-57 hit a mine laid by HMS PORPOISE on 9 Jan '45 at 05-20N, 100-08E and was lightly damaged.
[3] HMS PORPOISE carried fuel oil in external tanks.
Little data were found detailing CH-8's movements for 1943 and 1944. Readers with access to additional data are requested to post the information on the Discussion and Questions board or at j-aircraft.org's IJN
Ship Message Board
Thanks go to John Whitman of the USA and Hans Mcilveen of the Netherlands for info on intercepts of Japanese messages.
-Bob Hackett, Sander Kingsepp and Peter Cundall.
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