© 2001-2003 Bob Hackett & Sander Kingsepp
10 March 1943:
The I-37 is completed at the Kure Navy Yard, commissioned in the IJN and assigned to the Kure SubRon in the Kure Naval District. Cdr (later Captain) Otani Kiyonori, the former CO of the I-18, is assigned as the Commanding Officer.
April 1943:
The I-37 is in SubDiv 11, undergoing work-up.
May 1943:
Participates in Unkato cargo container towing tests in the Inland Sea.
23 May 1943:
The I-37 is reassigned to the Sixth Fleet in SubRon 8's SubDiv 14.
25 May 1943:
Departs Kure to operate in the Indian Ocean.
4 June 1943:
Arrives at Penang, Malaya.
June 1943:
In Rear Admiral Ishizaki Noboru's (former CO of HYUGA) SubRon 8 with the I-8, -10, -27 and the I-29 based at Penang.
8 June 1943:
Departs Penang for her first war patrol in the Indian Ocean.
16 June 1943:
Indian Ocean, Palk Strait. The I-37 torpedoes, shells and sinks the 8,078-ton British tanker SAN ERNESTO at 09-18S, 80-20E.
19 June 1943:
Indian Ocean. 750 miles SE of Ceylon. The I-37 torpedoes and sinks the 7,176-ton American "Liberty" ship HENRY KNOX at 01-00N, 71-15E.
19 August 1943:
ComSubRon 8 Rear Admiral Ishizaki Noboru is relieved by Rear Admiral Ichioka Hisashi (former CO of CL YURA).
20 September 1943:
Departs Penang on her second war patrol,
carrying an E14Y1 "Glen" floatplane.
11 October 1943:
The Glen conducts a recce flight over
Diego Suarez.
17 October 1943:
The Glen conducts a recce flight over
Mombasa.
23 October 1943:
Indian Ocean. The I-37 torpedoes and sinks the 3,404-ton Greek merchant FANEROMENI NW of Madagascar.
27 November 1943:
Indian Ocean, SW of One and Half Degree Channel. The I-37 torpedoes and shells the 9,972-ton Norwegian tanker SCOTIA en route from Bahrein carrying diesel oil to Melbourne, Australia. Hit by two torpedoes, she breaks in two and sinks at 03S, 69-03E. The SCOTIA's captain is taken prisoner. Cdr Otani orders his men to machine-gun a lifeboat and a raft.
5 December 1943:
The I-37 returns to Penang. She is later transferred to Singapore for an overhaul that lasts until late January 1944.
27 December 1943:
Cdr Nakagawa Hajime (the former CO of the I-177) is assigned as the Commanding Officer.
1 January 1944:
The I-37 based at Penang in SubRon 8 with the I-8, -26, -27 and the I-29.
February 1944:
Departs Penang on her third war patrol.
22 February 1944:
Indian Ocean, SW of One and Half Degree Channel. The I-37 torpedoes and shells the 7,118-ton British tanker BRITISH CHIVALRY that is en route from Melbourne to Abadan with a cargo of 420 tons of grain, sinking her at 00-50S, 68-00E. One crewmember is taken prisoner. Cdr Nakagawa orders his men to machine-gun the survivors in two lifeboats and four rafts. Twenty crewmen are
killed.*
26 February 1944:
Indian Ocean. The I-37 torpedoes the 5,189-ton British merchant SUTLEJ en route from Kosseir and Aden to Fremantle with a cargo of 9,700 tons of phosphates and mail. The SUTLEJ sinks at 08S, 70E. Cdr Nakagawa orders his men to machine-gun the wreckage and survivors.*
29 February 1944:
Indian Ocean. The I-37, torpedoes, shells and sinks the 7,005-ton British merchant ASCOT. After the ship is abandoned and sinks at 05S, 63E, the I-37 rams the lifeboats. Cdr Nakagawa again has his crew machine-gun the lifeboats, rafts and men in the water killing 44 of the ASCOT's 52 crewmen.*
27 April 1944:
The I-37 departs Penang but grazes a mine, most likely a Mk. 13, S of the harbor that was laid by B-24's of the 10th Air Force's 7th Bomb Group. Cdr Nakagawa returns to Penang.
10 May 1944:
Cdr Nakagawa is relieved by Cdr Kono Masamichi (former CO of I-122).
21 July 1944:
Lingga anchorage. Between 0900 and 1330 (JST), the I-37 acts as ASW target for VAdm Kurita Takeo's fleet.
9 September 1944:
Arrives at Kure for overhaul and refit. The I-37's hangar, catapult and deck gun are removed and she is configured to carry four kaitens.
15 September 1944: American Operation "Stalemate II" - The Invasion of the Palaus:
Admiral (later Fleet Admiral) William F. Halsey's Third Fleet lands the First Marine Division on Peleliu and the Army's 81st Division on Anguar Island. The islands are taken in a bitterly fought month-long campaign.
11 October 1944:
Cdr Kono is relieved by LtCdr Kamimoto Nobuo (former CO of I-156).
7 November 1944: The First Kaiten Mission:
Otsujima Kaiten Naval Base, Tokuyama Bay. Vice Admiral Miwa Shigeyoshi, Commander, Sixth Fleet (Submarines) advises crewmen of the plans for a kaiten attack on the American Third Fleet's anchorage at Ulithi Atoll.
8 November 1944: Operation "Kikusui" (Floating Chrysanthemum) - Tokko (suicide) attack on Palau-Ulithi anchorage:
The I-36, I-37 and the I-47 depart Otsujima. The I-37 carries four kaitens to attack enemy shipping at Palau, piloted by Lt Kamibeppu Yoshinori, Lt(j.g.) Murakami Katsutomo, Ensign Kondo Kazuhiko and Ensign Utsunomiya Hideichi.
19 November 1944:
600 miles E of the Philippines. At 0858, twelve hours before the I-37 is scheduled to launch her kaitens, she surfaces at the western entrance of the Kossol Roads, Palaus. She is sighted by the USS WINTERBERRY (AN-56) that is laying a torpedo net across the entrance and also by a Consolidated PBY "Catalina" patrol plane.
At 0915, LtCdr E. L. McGibbon's USS CONKLIN (DE-439) and LtCdr E. K. Winn's McCOY REYNOLDS (DE-440) are ordered to find and destroy the I-37. Navy planes are also dispatched from Peleliu to assist. The ships begin a 180-degree sonar box search.
At 1504, the destroyer escorts make sound contact at 1600 yards. At 1539, the McCOY REYNOLDS makes an attack with Mark 10 "hedgehog" projector charges, then a second attack, but both are unsuccessful. She drops 13 depth charges, but because of their explosions loses sound contact.
At 1603, the CONKLIN relocates the I-37. At 1615, she makes a hedgehog attack. Her sonar operator hears an explosion that would only occur if a hedgehog contacts its target. At 1700, almost eight hours after the hunt began and after eight attacks by both ships, the destroyer escorts' crews feel a deep underwater explosion. A huge air bubble rises to the surface. The CONKLIN's crew spots fuel oil, cork and decking debris in the oil slick. The I-37 sinks with her full complement of 106 officers and men at 08-07N, 134-16E.
6 December 1944:
Presumed lost off Palau.
10 March 1945:
Removed from the Navy List.
Authors' Notes:
*In 1949, Cdr Nakagawa is tried by a military war crimes tribunal. He admits the killing of survivors, but claims he did so under orders. He is found guilty and sentenced to eight years in Sugamo prison. He serves four years, but when the Allied occupation ends, the Japanese authorities release him.
Special thanks for help in preparing this TROM go to Dr. Higuchi
Tatsuhiro of Japan. – Bob Hackett and Sander Kingsepp.
