9 January 1941:
Sasebo Navy Yard. Laid down as
Submarine No. 147.
24 September 1941:
Launched as I-43.
1 November 1941:
Renumbered I-34.
20 May 1942:
Cdr (later Captain) Tonozuka Kinzo (50)(former CO of
I-3) is appointed the Chief Equipping Officer (CEO).
31 August 1942:
I-34 is completed, commissioned in the IJN and
attached to Kure Naval District. Cdr Tonozuka Kinzo is the Commanding
Officer. Departs Sasebo for Kure.
1 September 1942:
Assigned to Kure SubRon, activated on that day,
for working-up with I-35 and submarine tender SANTOS MARU.
2 September 1942:
Arrives at Kure.
4 September 1942:
At 0800, the flag of ComKure SubRon, Rear
Admiral (later Vice Admiral) Daigo Tadashige is transferred from I-35 to
I-34.
5 September 1942:
The flag of ComKure SubRon is transferred to
SANTOS MARU.
14 September 1942:
Commences working-up in Harima Nada Sea with
I-35.
21 September 1942:
Departs Harima Sea for Kure in company of I-35.
23 September 1942:
Arrives at Kure.
6 October 1942:
Departs Kure in company of I-35 and SANTOS MARU to
conduct joint exercises in Suo Nada-Iyo Nada Sea.
13 October 1942:
Returns to Kure.
18 October 1942:
Conducts torpedo attack exercises against a
moving target. On that same day, conducts refueling exercises with SANTOS
MARU.
19 October 1942:
Departs Kure in company of I-35 and SANTOS MARU to
conduct joint exercises in Iyo Nada Sea and Bungo Suido Channel areas.
28 October 1942:
Returns to Kure.
11 November 1942:
Conducts torpedo attack exercises against a
simulated target.
15 November 1942:
Reassigned to the Fifth Fleet with I-34 and I-36.
28 November 1942:
Departs Kure for Ominato in company of I-35.
1 December 1942:
I-34 and I-35 arrive at Ominato.
2 December 1942:
Departs Ominato in company of I-35 to patrol off
Kiska and to deliver supplies there.
10 December 1942:
I-34 arrives at Kiska, departs on that same day
after unloading her cargo.
13 December 1942:
Patrols N of Near Islands.
23 December 1942:
Patrols S of Near Islands.
26 December 1942:
Departs her patrol area for Paramushiro.
1 January 1943:
Arrives at Paramushiro.
6 January 1943:
Departs Paramushiro for Kiska with IGHQ staff officer
(supplies) LtCol Iwakoshi Shinroku aboard.
9 January 1943:
Arrives at Kiska, departs for Attu on the next day.
11 January 1943:
Arrives at Attu, departs for Paramushiro on that same
day.
15 January 1943:
Arrives at Paramushiro.
20 January 1943:
Departs Paramushiro for Kiska with a cargo of
supplies.
25 January 1943:
I-34 arrives at Kiska, unloads her cargo and departs
immediately to reconnoiter Amchitka on her way back.
26 January 1943:
I-34 arrives off Constantine Harbor, Amchitka.
29 January 1943:
Patrols N of Near Islands.
13 February 1943:
Patrols S of Near Islands.
23-24 February 1943:
I-34 carries out the periscope reconnaissance of
the airfield on Amchitka. Cdr Tonozuka sights four enemy destroyers but fails
to attack them. After serving as a radio beacon for Nakajima A6M2-N "Rufe" and
Aichi E13A1 "Jake" floatplanes raiding Amchitka, I-34 proceeds to reconnoiter
Adak and Attu.
25 February 1943:
Departs her patrol area for a scheduled overhaul at
Yokosuka.
28 February 1943:
I-34 is ordered to proceed to Paramushiro.
2 March 1943:
Arrives at Paramushiro.
4 March 1943:
Departs Paramushiro to patrol in the area 10 miles N of
Semichi Islands.
12 March 1943
Departs her patrol area for Yokosuka.
18 March 1943:
I-34 arrives at Yokosuka, where she is overhauled
until mid-April.
20 March 1943:
Cdr (Captain, posthumously) Irie Tatsushi
(51)(former instructor at submarine school) is appointed the CO.
22 April 1943:
Reassigned to the Northern District Force.
25 April 1943:
Departs Yokosuka for Ominato.
28 April 1943:
Arrives at Ominato, then departs for a supply run to
Kiska.
Early May 1943:
I-34 departs Ominato for a supply run to Kiska.
8 May 1943:
I-34 arrives at Kiska.
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 elements of
the Army's 4th and 7th Infantry Divisions under the command of Maj Gen Eugene
M. Landrum at Holtz Bay and Massacre Bay that later capture the island.
12 May 1943:
Departs Kiska to patrol in Attu area.
13 May 1943:
Attu. LtCdr John E. Edwards' USS PHELPS (DD-360) is
screening Captain William A. Corn's USS PENNSYLVANIA. PHELPS makes a sound
contact and drops two depth charges. The contact appears stationary during the
destroyer's approach, but at the last minute there is a sudden shift in bearing
rate and a perceptible change in relative speed, as if the submarine is
attempting to escape.
At 1530, contact is regained. LtCdr Edwards drops five 600-lb. depth
charges and four 300-lb depth charges. Nearby, LtCdr Richard C. Williams, Jr.'s
fast minelayer USS PRUITT (DM-22) reports that a metal drum has been brought to
surface and that there is a slight diesel oil slick. A depth charge may have
knocked the drum off the submarine's deck. The identity of the submarine is
unknown, but I-34 is depth-charged that day by two enemy vessels SE of Attu.
15 May 1943:
Holtz Bay, Attu. In the foggy morning, Cdr John B.
McGovern's transport USS J. FRANKLIN BELL (APA-16) is completing unloading
slowly onto the narrow, rocky beach. PENNSYLVANIA is standing nearby. A
submarine, probably I-35, launches a salvo of torpedoes at the battleship. At
1140, four torpedoes pass on either side of BELL and not far from PENNSYLVANIA.
Attempts to destroy the submarine are unsuccessful. BELL is withdrawn
temporarily from the area to avoid further attacks.
21 May 1943: Operation "KE" - The Evacuation of Kiska:
Imperial
General Headquarters decides to abandon Attu and evacuate the garrison at Kiska.
26 May 1943:
The evacuation from Kiska to Paramushiro via submarines
begins.
29 May 1943:
I-34 returns to Paramushiro.
30 May 1943:
I-34 participates in the evacuation of Kiska with SubRon
1's I-2, I-7, I-21, I-24, I-36, I-155, I-156, I-157, I-168, I-169 and I-171. All
submarines involved in the operation eventually extricate 820 men, but at a cost
of three I-boats sunk and three damaged.
9 June 1943:
Arrives at Kiska, delivering 9 tons of ammo and 5 tons
food. Departs hat same evening at 2015 (JST), carrying 9 sailors and 71 members
of gunzoku personnel.
13 June 1943:
At 1900 (JST) arrives at Paramushiro. Oiler TEIYO MARU
refuels I-34.
17 June 1943:
Departs Paramushiro for a supply run to Kiska.
21 June 1943: Operation KE:
I-34's mission is canceled and she is
recalled to Paramushiro.
22 June 1943:
At 1200 (JST) returns to Paramushiro.
28 June 1943:
TEIYO MARU refuels I-34.
2 July 1943:
Departs Paramushiro in company of I-36 to support the
"KE-GO" operation.
8 July 1943:
I-34 is chased and briefly depth-charged S of Constantine
Harbor.
10 July 1943:
Arrives to the area E of Kiska, providing distant cover
during the "KE-GO" operation.
16 July 1943:
I-34 is ordered to proceed an area N of Kiska.
18 July 1943:
Reassigned to the Vanguard Unit.
23 July 1943:
Returns to Paramushiro.
24 July 1943:
Departs Paramushiro for Kure.
29 July 1943:
Arrives at Kure. She is subsequently transferred to
Kobe for repairs.
15 September 1943:
Attached to SubRon 8 Headuarters at Penang,
Malaya.
13 October 1943:
I-34, still under Cdr Irie, departs Kure on the first
leg of a "Yanagi" mission to Nazi-occupied France. She is the third IJN
submarine to undertake such a mission. The Japanese code name I-34 "Momi" (Fir)
and the Germans code name her the "U-Tanne". Radio traffic between Tokyo and
Berlin concerning I-34's mission is transmitted in diplomatic code, but is
intercepted and deciphered by Allied code-breakers.[1]
22 October 1943:
I-34 arrives at Singapore. Her five passengers,
including Rear Admiral Kojima Hideo (former CO of CL KASHII) and two Mitsubishi
engineers, have already arrived there by plane. Rear Admiral Kojima visits Cdr
Irie aboard I-34 to discuss the details of the sortie.
4 November 1943:
Seletar Naval Base, Singapore. I-34 embarks a cargo
of tin, tungsten, raw rubber and opium. Tin ingots are inserted into submarine's
keel as ballast, bales of rubber are loaded below the upper deck planking.
Tungsten bars are loaded to forward and aft crew spaces and opium stored in
wooden boxes in the floatplane hangar. The initial diving tests reveal that the
additional cargo has upset I-34's trim, preventing crash-dives. Her departure
is delayed. Rear Admiral Kojima and I-34's other passengers decide to take a
train and rejoin the submarine in Penang except Constuctor LtCdr Arima Masao,
who attempts to cure the trim problems en route to Penang.[2]
11 November 1943:
Early in the morning I-34 departs Seletar for
Penang. The Germans plan to refuel I-34 in the Indian Ocean from the supply ship
BOGOTA on 25 November and 4 December 1943 before the submarine enters the South
Atlantic.
13 November 1943:
30 miles S of Penang. Alerted by an "Ultra" special
intelligence signal, LtCdr (Later Captain) Mervyn R. G. Wingfield's submarine
HMS TAURUS sights I-34 running on the surface at 14 knots. At 0730, Wingfield
sets up and fires six torpedoes. One hits I-34's starboard side just below her
conning tower. She sinks at 115 ft, 10 nm NW of the Muka lighthouse at 05-17N,
100-05E.
Some twenty sailors in the forward crew space survive the attack and are
trapped inside the submarine. CPO Miyake Kazumasa manages to open a deck hatch,
allowing them to escape. Of these, 14 are picked up by a native junk and arrive
at Penang that evening, but 84 crewmembers are KIA. I-34 is the first IJN
submarine that is sunk by a Royal Navy submarine. Following the loss of I-34 the
IJN diverts all Europe-bound submarines away from Penang.
14 November 1943:
Subchaser CH-20 from Penang attacks TAURUS in the
morning. Wingfield dives deep, but TAURUS hits bottom. Her bow sticks in the
soft mud. The sub chaser drops a pattern of depth charges. The exploding charges
shake TAURUS's bow free. Wingfield comes to periscope depth, then surfaces and
engages the sub chaser with his deck gun. TAURUS severely damages CH-20. A plane
arrives and forces LtCdr Wingfield to dive before he can finish off the
subchaser.
5 January 1944:
Removed from the Navy List.
4 December 1962:
The three sections of I-34's wreck are salvaged by
the Singaporean Great Eastern Salvage Company. Over 50 bodies found inside
are cremated in a specially erected shrine in Penang. The bell of I-34 is
currently on display in the local Mariners Club; some of the recovered documents
(described as "code books") are on display in the Royal Navy Submarine Museum
in Gosport.
Author's Notes:
[1] When Japan entered the war, the Axis Tripartite agreement
was amended to provide for an exchange of strategic materials and manufactured
goods between Europe and the Far East. Cargo ships made the initial "Yanagi"
exchanges, but when that is no longer possible submarines were used.
[2] Lucky Rear Admiral Kojima and I-34's other passengers departed Penang
aboard I-29 on 16 December 1943, arriving safely at Lorient, France on 11 March
1944. Kojima later became the Naval Attaché to Germany.
Thanks go to Dr. Higuchi Tatsuhiro of Japan. Special thanks go to Bill
Somerville of the USA for info on the encounter between CH-20 and HMS TAURUS.
– Bob Hackett and Sander Kingsepp.
