SENSUIKAN!

© 2001-2002 Bob Hackett & Sander Kingsepp

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31 March 1929:
The 1-56 is completed at the Kure Navy Yard, commissioned in the IJN and based in the Kure Naval District.

November 1941:
The 1-56 is in Rear Admiral Yoshitami Setsuzo's SubRon 4 under Captain Ota Nobunosuke's SubDiv 19 with the I-57 and the I-58. LtCdr Ohashi Katsuo is the Commanding Officer.

1 December 1941:
Departs Samah, Hainan Island, China on what will be her first war patrol.

7 December 1941:
The I-56 sights and attacks a Dutch submarine (probably LtCdr Henri C. Besançon's K-XVII) off the east coast of Malaya, but misses.

11 December 1942:
The I-56 shells and sinks the 1,186-ton Norwegian merchant HAI TUNG that was en route from Bangkok, Siam (now Thailand) with a cargo of rice and general supplies for Singapore at 05-08N, 104-32E with all of her 50-man crew.

14 December 1941:
In the early morning, the hydrophone operator on LtCdr Henry C. J. Coumou's Dutch submarine K-XII picks up a faint trace of a propeller. About 1100 hours, a periscope is sighted to starboard. Coumou heads straight for it in an attempt to ram the Japanese submarine. The K-XII gets to within 100 metres. Suddenly, the enemy's periscope appears to port! LtCdr Coumou gives up his attack and zig-zags away.

20 December 1941:
The I-56 arrives at Camranh Bay, Indochina.

28 December 1941:
Departs Camranh on her second war patrol to form a picket line against Allied shipping in the area of Tjilatjap, Java.

5 January 1942:
Indian Ocean, S of Java. The I-56 shells and sinks the 2,626-ton British freighter KWANGTUNG.

6 January 1942:
40 miles S of Tjilatjap. Early in the morning, the I-56 surfaces and shells the 8,169-ton Dutch merchant TANIMBAR. The TANIMBAR fires back and Ohashi dives to escape damage.

8 January 1942:
In the afternoon, the I-56 sinks the 3,000-ton Dutch merchant VAN REES. In the evening, the I-56 shells and sinks the 2,263-ton Dutch merchant VAN RIEBEECK at 08-11S, 108-47E. 13 seamen are killed.

12 January 1942:
Off Bali. In the afternoon, the I-56 fires a torpedo at the 2,065-ton Dutch merchant PATRAS that is en route from Surabaya to Tandjong Priok. The PATRAS' skipper spots and manages to dodge the torpedo. LtCdr Ohashi surfaces and opens fires with his deck gun. The PATRAS tries to outrun the sub at her maximum speed of 13 knots, but is hit several times in the stern and a fire starts.

Suddenly, a Dutch Dornier Do-24K patrol plane appears. Ohashi crash-dives, but the plane had no depth charges. After the Dornier departs, the I-56 again surfaces and fires two fragmentation shells at the PATRAS as she approaches the harbor at Banjoewangi. The damage to the PATRAS is minor, no one is killed, but some crewmen are wounded.

18 January 1942:
Returns to Camranh.

4 February 1942:
Indian Ocean, near Koepang, Timor. The I-56 shells and damages the 979-ton Dutch merchant TOGIAN that is sailing with convoy JS.1 bound for Singapore that departed Colombo the previous day. The TOGIAN is later scuttled at Koepang.

8 February 1942: The Invasions of Sumatra and Java, Netherlands East Indies:
Vice Admiral Takahashi Ibo's (former CO of KIRISHIMA) Netherlands East Indies Eastern Force invades Bali (19 February). The Western Force under Vice Admiral Ozawa Jisaburo (former CO of HARUNA), together with an airborne assault, captures the oil refineries at Palembang, Sumatra (14 February), then lands troops at Bantam Bay, Merak and Eretenwetan and takes the capital of Batavia (5 March).

February 1942:
The I-56 arrives at Staring Bay at Kendari, Celebes for repairs and reprovisioning.

March 1942:
The I-56 departs Staring Bay for the area off Tjilatjap, Java on her third war patrol.

10 March 1942:
SubRon 4 is disbanded. The 1-56 is reassigned to SubRon 5 in SubDiv 19 with the I-57 and the 1-58.

March 1942:
The I-56 returns to Staring Bay.

20 May 1942:
The I-56 is renumbered as the I-156.

24 May 1942:
Arrives at Kwajalein. The I-156 is Vice Admiral, the Marquis, Komatsu Teruhisa's Advance Expeditionary Force (Sixth Fleet) in SubRon 5 with the I-157, -158, -159, -162, -165, and the I-166.

26 May 1942:
Departs Kwajalein on her fourth war patrol. SubRon 5 is deployed between 28-20N, 162-20W and 26-00 N, 165W.

4 June 1942:
Operation MI - The Battle of Midway:
Vice Admiral Komatsu orders the 15 submarines in the patrol line to move westwards.

5 June 1942:
Admiral (Fleet Admiral posthumously) Yamamoto Isoroku, CINC, Combined Fleet, aboard the flagship YAMATO, orders Komatsu to deploy his submarines between the retreating Japanese fleet and Rear Admiral (later Admiral) Raymond A. Spruance's carriers. The I-156's patrol line moves gradually NNW, travelling at 3 (by day) to 14 knots (by night).

550 miles E of Midway. About 0400 (I), the I-156 sights the fleet oiler USS GUADALUPE (AO-32) escorted by two destroyers but fails to reach a favorable firing position. Except for the I-168, the I-156 is the only submarine that makes a contact with the Americans during the battle.

14 July 1942:
SubRon 5 is disbanded. The I-156 is reassigned in the Kure Naval District to SubDiv 19 with the I-157, -158 and the I-159. The I-156, -157 and the -158 were also reassigned as training boats at the Kure Submarine School.

1 January 1943:
The 1-156 is in SubDiv 26 of the Kure SubRon with the 1-157, -158 and the 1-159.

11 May 1943: American Operation "Sandcrab"- The Invasion of Attu, Aleutians:
Rear Admiral (later Admiral) Thomas C. Kinkaid's Task Force 16, covered by Rear Admiral Francis W. Rockwell's Task Force 51, lands the Army's 7 th Division that captures Attu Island, Aleutians.

21 May 1943: Operation "KE" - The Evacuation of Kiska:
The Imperial General Headquarters decides to abandon Attu and evacuate the garrison at Kiska Island, Aleutians. The I-156 is temporarily attached to the Kiska Evacuation Force with the Northern District Force, Fifth Fleet's SubRon 1: I-2, -7, -21, -24, -34, -36, -155, -157, -168, -169 and the I-171.

26 May 1943:
The evacuation from Kiska to Paramushiro Island, Kuriles via submarines begins.

The I-156 make one run to Kiska. 28 July 1943:
The Japanese complete the evacuation of Kiska.

1 January 1944:
The 1-156 is in the Kure SubRon's SubDiv 19 with the 1-157, -158 and the 1-159.

May-August 1945:
The I-156 is configured to carry two "kaiten" human-torpedoes. She makes three transport runs carrying kaitens from Ozushima to shore bases along the Kyushu coast.

July 1945:
The crews of the I-156, -157, -158, -159 and the -162 are trained to launch kaitens in combat against the anticipated American invasion fleet.

15 August 1945:
Tokyo. The Emperor Hirohito (Showa) broadcasts an Imperial Rescript that calls for an end to the hostilities and the war.

2 September 1945:
The I-156 is surrendered.

30 November 1945:
Removed from the Navy List.

1 April 1946: Operation "Roads End":
The I-156 is stripped of all usable equipment and material and towed from Sasebo to an area off Goto Retto by the submarine tender USS NEREUS (AS- 17). The NEREUS scuttles the I-156 by gunfire at 32-37N, 129-17E.

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Authors' Note: Thanks for help in preparing this TROM go to Dr. Higuchi Tatsuhiro of Japan and Mr. Jan Visser of the Netherlands. – Bob Hackett and Sander Kingsepp.

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