SENSUIKAN!
HIJMS Submarine I-176: Tabular Record of
Movement
© 2001-2003 Bob Hackett & Sander Kingsepp
Revision 1
4 August 1942:
The I-176 is completed at the Kure Navy Yard, commissioned in the IJN and based in the Kure Naval District. The I-176 is assigned to SubRon 3's SubDiv 11. Cdr Tanabe Yahachi (former CO of the I-168 and victor of the YORKTOWN) is the Commanding Officer.
7 August 1942: American Operation "Watchtower" - The Invasion of Guadalcanal, British Solomon Islands:
Rear Admiral (later Admiral) Richmond K. Turner's Amphibious Force Task Force 62, covered by Vice Admiral (later Admiral) Frank J. Fletcher's Task Force 61 and Rear Admiral (later Admiral) John S. McCain's Task Force 63's land-based aircraft, lands Maj Gen (later Gen/MOH/Commandant) Alexander A. Vandegrift's 1st Marine Division on Guadalcanal opening the campaign to take the island.
10 September 1942:
Departs Kure.
16 September 1942:
Arrives at Truk.
18 September 1942:
Departs Truk to patrol S of Guadalcanal with the I-2 and the I-5.
20 October 1942:
Coral Sea. Torpedo Junction (between San Cristobal and Espirtu Santo). Rear Admiral (later Vice Admiral) Willis A. Lee's Task Force 64 is steaming between Espirutu Santo and San Cristobal. TF 64 includes the new battleship USS WASHINGTON (BB-56), the cruisers CHESTER (CA-27), SAN FRANCISCO (CA-38), HELENA (CL-50) and the ATLANTA (CL-51) and eight destroyers.
At 1930 hours, Lee splits TF 64 into two groups. Three of his cruisers and four destroyers move 15 miles eastward. The CHESTER, zigzagging at 19 knots, takes up position at the rear of a cruiser column. Both of her Curtiss SOC "Seagull" floatplanes are trained outboard on their catapults, wings folded and fully fueled.
At 2040, the I-176 sights a column of American warships. Cdr Tanabe identifies two battleships, two cruisers and several destroyers steaming at 20 knots on a course of 170 degrees. At 2115, Tanabe fires six torpedoes at a "Texas-class battleship". At 2120, the CHESTER is hit starboard side in her No. 1 engine room below her armor belt. The second torpedo passes ahead and misses.
The CHESTER loses power, sheers to starboard and stops. The portside SOC drops and breaks up, then falls overboard. The CHESTER's crew lashes the starboard SOC's damaged wings back to its fuselage and then jettisons the Seagull by catapulting it. By 2245, steam pressure is brought back up, power restored and the CHESTER is able to make eight knots. Flooding is brought under control and her list corrected.
At 0230, after a three-hour chase by enemy destroyers, Tanabe surfaces. He finds the sea empty. Tanabe assumes correctly that his target escaped with heavy damage.*
29 October 1942:
The I-176 returns to Truk.
16 November 1942:
Truk. Vice Admiral, the Marquis, Komatsu Teruhisa, (former
CO of CA NACHI) Commander, Sixth Fleet, convenes a meeting of his submarine captains. He announces that the submarine force has been ordered by Admiral Yamamoto, CINC, Combined Fleet to organize a supply system for the IJA's 17th Army garrison on Guadalcanal.
20 November 1942:
Departs Truk.
12 December 1942:
Arrives at Rabaul.
14 December 1942:
Departs Rabaul for Buna, carrying a cargo of rubber containers and supply drums.
16 December 1942:
Arrives at Buna but fails to contact the ground troops. While proceeding in uncharted waters, the I-176 is temporarily grounded off the estuary of the Mambare River.
17 December 1942:
In the evening, the I-176 establishes contact with the IJA troops and unloads 16 tons of cargo. She finally departs, having charted the landing area.
20 December 1942:
The I-176 returns to Rabaul.
21 December 1942:
Departs Rabaul.
24 December 1942:
Arrives at Truk.
1 January 1943:
The I-176 is in SubRon 3's SubDiv 11 with the I-174 and the I-175.
14 January 1943:
Departs Truk for a supply mission to Guadalcanal, carrying a cargo of supply drums.
20 January 1943:
Arrives off Guadalcanal and releases its cargo from periscope depth. Due to the presence of enemy patrol boats, all the drums are lost.
31 January 1943: Operation "KE" - the Evacuation of Guadalcanal.
The I-176 is deployed N of Rennel Island with the I-11, -16, -17, -18, -25, -26 and the I-32.
17 February 1943:
Returns to Truk.
12 March 1943:
Departs Truk.
16 March 1943:
Departs Rabaul for a supply mission to Lae, New Guinea.
186 March 1943:
The I-176 is attacked by Douglas A-20 "Havoc" light bombers.
19 March 1943:
Lae harbor. While unloading supplies, the I-176 is attacked and strafed by three Fifth Air Force North American B-25 "Mitchell" medium bombers. A bomb hits the I-176 on her aft deck cargo of rice drums. Cdr Tanabe is hit by a machine-gun bullet and wounded severely and two helmsmen are killed .**
The I-176 submerges but cannot maintain her buoyancy due to bomb and machine-gun damage, so her Executive Officer grounds her in shallow water to carry out emergency repairs. Landing craft from Lae arrive and finish unloading their supplies.
20 March 1943:
The crew carries out repairs, plugging bullet holes with wooden plugs and rags.
21 March 1943:
The I-176 makes a test dive and later heads for Rabaul. That night, running on the surface, she is attacked by a radar-equipped flying boat that drops a bomb but misses. The I-176's twin 13.2-mm machine-guns return fire and the plane departs.
22 March 1943:
The I-176 arrives at her base at Rabaul. LtCdr Itakura Mitsuyoshi assumes temporary command of the I-176.
27 March 1943:
Departs Rabaul.
30 March 1943:
Arrives at Truk.
1 April 1943:
Departs Truk for Kure.
7 April 1943:
Arrives at Kure but is subsequently transferred to Mitsui Tamano Yard in Okayama for battle-damage repairs.
April 1943:
LtCdr Yamaguchi Kosaburo (former CO of I-154) assumes command. LtCdr Itakura is reassigned to command the I-2.
2 July 1943:
Departs Kure.
10 July 1943:
Arrives at Truk.
16 July 1943:
Departs Truk.
19 July 1943:
Arrives at Rabaul. Participates in supply missions to Lae and Sio, New Guinea while directly attached to Hq, Sixth Fleet.
25 July 1943:
Early in the morning while proceeding surfaced to Rabaul, the I-176 is attacked by a flying boat that first drops a flare, followed by two Mark 17 depth-charges. LtCdr Yamaguchi crash-dives. A weak "explosion" is heard. After surfacing the crew discovers that both depth-charges caused minor damage to the bridge's fairwater but failed to function properly.
6 August 1943:
Arrives at Lae on her second supply run.
12 August 1943:
Arrives at Lae on her third supply run.
22 August 1943:
Arrives at Lae on her fourth supply run.
29 August 1943:
Arrives at Lae on her fifth supply run.
6 September 1943:
Arrives at Finschafen, New Guinea on her first supply run there.
17 September 1943:
Arrives at Finschafen on her second supply run.
21 September 1943:
Returns to Rabaul from Finschafen, New Guinea.
22 September 1943:
Departs Rabaul for her third supply to Finschafen.
22 September 1943: The Invasion of Finschafen, New Guinea:
Rear Admiral (later Vice Admiral) Daniel E. Barbey's Task Force 76 lands Brigadier J. V. Windeyer's 20th Australian Brigade near Finschafen that captures the town within 10 days.
25 September 1943:
Arrives at Finschafen but fails to contact ground troops there. The I-176 remains in the vicinity for the next five days despite an ongoing battle on the shore.
1 October 1943:
LtCdr Yamaguchi finally establishes contact with the ground troops and unloads his cargo. The I-176 departs for Rabaul.
12 October 1943: American Air Raid on Rabaul:
LtGen (later General) George C. Kenney's 5th Air Force hits Rabaul with the biggest raid yet made in the Pacific war. Three hundred-forty nine aircraft, including 87 B-17 and B-24 bombers, 114 B-25 strafers, 12 RAAF "Beaufighters" and 125 P-38 "Lightning" fighters and others from New Guinea and Australia hit Rabaul's airfields and Simpson harbor.
The I-176, I-36, I-38, I-177, RO-105 and the RO-108 are moored in deep water. USAAF and RAAF aircraft bomb the harbor. When the attack begins the I-176 and the other submarines submerge to safety.
19 October 1943:
Arrives at Sio on her first supply run there.
30 November 1943:
Arrives at Sio on her second supply run, unloads her cargo and departs.
1 November 1943: American Operation "Shoestring II": The Invasion of Bougainville:
Rear Admiral (later Vice Admiral) Theodore S. Wilkinson's Third Amphibious Force, TF 31, lands LtGen (later General/Commandant) Alexander A. Vandegrift's 1st Marine Amphibious Corps at Cape Torokina, Empress Augusta Bay, Bougainville, Solomons.
2 November 1943: The Battle of Empress Augusta Bay:
Vice Admiral Omori Sentaro (former CO of ISE) departs Rabaul to escort 1,000 IJA troops to Empress Augusta Bay to oppose the American invasion at Cape Torokina, Bougainville. Omori's force includes the heavy cruisers MYOKO and the HAGURO and the light cruisers SENDAI and the AGANO with six destroyers. The Japanese force is intercepted by Rear Admiral (later Vice Admiral) A. S. Merrill's (former CO of INDIANA, BB-58) Task Force 39 with four radar-equipped light cruisers and eight destroyers. At 0150, all four of Merrill's cruisers take the SENDAI under 6-inch fire and set her afire. Admiral Omori withdraws with the remaining Japanese forces. The SENDAI sinks with most of her crew.
That same day, while enroute back to Rabaul, LtCdr Yamaguchi receives an order to rescue the survivors of the SENDAI. While proceeding surfaced, the I-176 is suddenly attacked by a flying boat that drops several bombs. Her port side hull is seriously damaged as a result of near misses. Yamaguchi aborts the rescue mission.
13 November 1943:
Departs Rabaul for Truk.
16 November 1943:
Cdr Roderick S. Rooney's USS CORVINA (SS-226), on her first war patrol, DRUM (SS-228) and the BLACKFISH (SS-221) receive an ULTRA message about the arrival of the I-176 and are sent to intercept her.
The I-176 arrives on time and submerges at sunset 5,000 yards south of the BLACKFISH. The BLACKFISH sights her, but does not fire thinking she may be an American sub.
17 November 1943:
At 0015 (L), LtCdr Yamaguchi sights a submarine running on the surface. He misidentifies the GATO-Class CORVINA as a "PERCH-Class" submarine. Yamaguchi dives, makes an approach and fires three torpedoes at 0220. He scores two hits. The CORVINA blows up and sinks with all 82 hands at 05-50N, 151-10E.***
Later that day. the I-176 arrives at Truk.
20 November 1943:
Departs Truk.
26 November 1943:
Arrives at Kure for an overhaul. LtCdr Okada Hideo (former CO of RO-36) assumes command. LtCdr Yamaguchi is reassigned as the Commanding Officer of the I-46. He is KIA aboard her in Oct '44.
26 December 1943: American Operation "Backhandler" - The Invasion of Cape Gloucester, New Britain:
Rear Admiral (later Vice Admiral) Daniel E. Barbey's Seventh Amphibious Force lands MajGen William H. Rupertus' 1st Marine Division after heavy preinvasion bombardment and bombings.
2 January 1944: American Operation "Michaelmas"- The Invasion of Saidor, New Guinea:
Rear Admiral Barbey's Task Force 76 lands the Sixth Army's 126th Regimental Combat Team of the 32d Division at Saidor and by-passes the Japanese garrison at Sio, 75 miles east.
31 January 1944: American Operation "Flintlock" - The Invasion of the Marshalls:
Vice Admiral (later Admiral) Marc A. Mitscher's Task Force 58 lands the 4th Marine Division and the Army's 7th Infantry Division that capture the Kwajalein, Roi-Namur and Majuro atolls.
20 March 1944:
Departs Kure on a supply mission to Mili, Marshall Islands.
20 April 1944:
Arrives at Truk.
30 April 1944:
Departs Truk for a supply mission to Buka, Bougainville.
3 May 1944:
Returns to Truk.
10 May 1944:
Departs Truk for a supply mission to Buka.
12 May 1944:
N of Buka Island. The I-176 is spotted by an American patrol plane and her position is signaled to DesDiv 94 in the Treasury Islands. Cdr J. A. Nevins, ComDesDiv 94, steams out of the Treasuries to hunt the submarine with Cdr N. A. Lidstone's USS FRANKS (DD-554), Cdr D. A. Harris' HAGGARD (DD-555), Cdr P. H. Brady's HAILEY (DD-556) and Cdr E. E. Evans' (later MOH/Posth) JOHNSTON (DD-557).
16 May 1944:
East of New Ireland, near Buka Island. DesDiv 94 is steaming in scouting line. The HAGGARD makes a sonar contact on her starboard bow at a range of 2,800 yards. The destroyers keep the submarine down for about 20 hours. The HAGGARD, FRANKS and the JOHNSTON make five separate attacks. The HAGGARD suffers slight damage from exploding depth charges. Then between the last two attacks, a heavy underwater ripple explosion is heard.****
17 May 1944:
125 miles NE of Green Island. After midnight, the FRANKS drops a pattern of 13 depth charges and sinks the submarine - probably the I-176 - at 04-01S, 156-27E, 150 miles N of Cape Alexander, Solomons. A diesel oil slick covers seven miles of ocean and various debris, including wood, cork and a geta sandal are sighted.
11 June 1944:
Presumed lost with all 103 hands NW of Buka.
10 July 1944:
Removed from the Navy List.
Authors' Notes:
*The CHESTER, escorted by four destroyers, moved southward and made Espirutu Santo safely. Later, she arrived at Sydney for extensive repairs. On 27 January 1943, she made Norfolk where she completed permanent repairs and returned to service on 15 August 1943.
**Cdr Tanabe recovered and survived the war.
***The CORVINA is the only American submarine known to be sunk by a Japanese submarine in the war.
****An IJN radio unit followed the DD attack on the I-176 on 16-17 May '44.
Special thanks for help in preparing this TROM go to Dr. Higuchi Tatsuhiro of Japan. – Bob
Hackett and Sander Kingsepp.
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