© 2006 Bob Hackett, Sander Kingsepp and Peter Cundall.
5 February 1942:
Tamano. Laid down at Mitsui Engineering and Shipbuilding’s
yard as kaibokan No. 315.
5 February 1943:
Launched and named
IKI.
31 May 1943:
Completed and registered in the Kure Naval District. LtCdr Nakao Kushuo is the Commanding Officer. Assigned to the Kure Guard Unit.
1 June 1943:
Arrives at Kure.
7 June 1943:
At Kure. [1]
10 June 1943:
Departs Kure for Saeki. That same day, fleet oiler IRO is torpedoed by LtCdr Lawrence R. Daspit's USS TINOSA (SS-283) S of Bungo Suido.
E 11 June 1943:
IKI and minelayer NUWAJIMA are dispatched to find and destroy the submarine that attacked IRO. A contact is made and depth-charged after 0900, but the results are unknown. Later that day, IKI joins convoy P-607 consisting of HOFUKU, HIYOSHI and SAIPAN MARUs escorted by patrol boat P-31, torpedo boat HATO, minelayers NUWAJIMA and YURISHIMA. [2]
13 June 1943:
Arrives at Moji.
20 June 1943:
At 0630, IKI departs Saeki for Palau with minesweeper
W-18 and torpedo boat HATO escorting convoy O-007 consisting of KAZUURA, RYOYO,
NISSHU, TOKO, SHOHO, TAIRIN and UMEKAWA MARUs.
E 22 June 1943:
W-18 is detached at latitude 29N.
29 June 1943:
Arrives at Palau.
July to December 1943:
Undergoes
repairs and remodeling at an undetermined location.
10 December 1943:
At 1000, IKI departs Palau for Fukujima escorting
convoy FU-004 consisting of NIKKI, WALES, KANTO and YAMABATO MARUs.
20 December 1943:
At 1300, convoy FU-004 arrives at Fukujima. IKI
departs for Saeki.
11 January 1944:
At 1400, IKI departs Palau for Saeki with minelayer
NUWAJIMA escorting convoy FU-203 consisting of CHOSEN and RYUA MARUs and KOSHU
MARU No. 2.
24 January 1944:
Near Fukujima light house. At 0225, in bad
weather, LtCdr Charleton L. Murphy’s old USS STURGEON (SS-187) torpedoes and
sinks CHOSEN MARU. IKI does not counter-attack. NUWAJIMA is detached.
25 January 1944:
The remainder of the convoy arrives at Saeki.
19 February 1944:
At 1500, IKI departs Mutsure for Takao, Formosa
escorting convoy MOTA 05 consisting of HOREI, GYOKO, SHONAN and TEIKON MARUs.
23 February 1944:
At 0510 LtCdr Ralph M. Metcalf’s USS POGY (SS-266)
torpedoes TEIKON MARU, but she does not sink. A few minutes later, Metcalf also
torpedoes HOREI MARU that goes dead in the water. IKI does not counter-attack.
SHONAN MARU takes HOREI MARU in tow, but she splits in two and sinks off Naha
harbor, Okinawa. That same day, GYOKO MARU is attacked by ten aircraft and sunk.
26 February 1944:
The remainder of the convoy arrives at Takao.
27 February 1944:
At midnight, IKI departs Takao for Singapore with
kaibokans ETOROFU and SADO escorting convoy HI-47 consisting of oilers AMATSU,
OMINESAN, OTOWASAN and KYOKUHO MARUs and NOSHIRO MARU and five unidentified
merchants.
4 March 1944:
LtCdr Charles M. Henderson's USS BLUEFISH (SS-222)
torpedoes and sinks OMINESAN MARU at 05-29N, 108-46E.
5 March 1944:
At 1100, the remainder of the convoy arrives at
Singapore.
11 March 1944:
At 0730, IKI departs Singapore with kaibokans MIYAKE
and ETOROFU escorting convoy HI-48 consisting of transport/cargo liners SANUKI,
TEIA, HOKUROKU and AWA MARUs and tankers OMUROSAN, OTOWASAN, TATEKAWA,
ITSUKUSHIMA, SEIYO, NICHIEI and KUROSHIO MARU and two unidentified ships.
14 March 1944:
Gulf of Thailand. SANUKI MARU is damaged by a mine or
torpedo that causes her to drop out of the convoy on the Indochina coast. At
1700, convoy HI-48 arrives at Ban Phong Bay, Indochina.
15 March 1944:
At 1100, HI-48 departs Ban Phong Bay.
18 March 1944:
At 0114, HOKUROKU MARU is hit by four torpedoes fired
by LtCdr Lowell T. Stone's USS LAPON (SS-260) and sinks at 19-24N, 116-50E.
Later that day, KASHII MARU joins the convoy.
19 March 1944:
At 0600, SHIMUSHU runs aground, but later that day she
is refloated. At 1600, the convoy arrives at Takao.
20 March 1944:
At 1300, departs Takao.
25 March 1944:
At 0500, arrives at Moji.
1 April 1944:
IKI departs Moji with escort carrier KAIYO, kaibokans
ETOFORU, CD-8, CD-9 and torpedo boat SAGI escorting convoy HI-57 consisting of
oilers ITSUKUSHIMA, OTOWASAN, RYOEI and OMUROSAN MARUs, troop transports SHINSHU
and MAYASAN MARUs and three unidentified ships.
2 April 1944:
The convoy encounters extremely severe weather and
returns to Moji.
3 April 1944:
At 0600, the unchanged convoy departs Moji.
7 April 1944:
At 1450, arrives at Takao.
8 April 1944:
At 1000, departs Takao.
12 April 1944:
At 1930 arrives at Camranh Bay.
13 April 1944:
At 1200, departs Camranh Bay.
16 April 1944:
At 1240, arrives at Singapore.
20 April 1944:
IKI is reassigned to the General Escort Command’s First
Surface Escort Division.
21 April 1944:
At 0700, IKI departs Singapore with escort carrier
KAIYO, kaibokans ETOFORU, CD-8 and CD-9 escorting convoy HI-58 consisting of
oilers ITSUKUSHIMA, RYOEI, OMUROSAN and OTOWASAN MARUs, troop transport SHINSHU
MARU, and probably ZUIHO and MAYASAN MARUs.
That same day, one of KAIYO's attack planes sights LtCdr Manning M. Kimmel's (son of former CINCPAC, ADM H. E. Kimmel) USS ROBALO (SS-273) on the surface about 15 miles behind the convoy. The plane drops two bombs on ROBALO and calls for assistance. IKI and CD-9 arrive and depth charge ROBALO. The submarine is damaged in the attacks, but escapes.
3 May 1944:
HI-58 arrives at Moji.
13 May 1944:
At 0400, Rear Admiral, the Baron, Ijuin Matsuji’s
(43)(former CO of KONGO) 1st Escort Convoy Command’s IKI (F) departs Moji for
Singapore with kaibokans MATSUWA, CD-9 and CD-15 escorting convoy HI-63
consisting of cargo liners/transports SANUKI, AWA, TEIA, TAMATSU, KIBITSU,
USSURI and NISSHO MARUs, tankers KYOKUHO, SANYO, RYOEI and OTOWASAN MARUs.
SANUKI MARU and other transports, except TAMATSU, KIBITSU and NISSHO MARUs carry
troops bound for Burma.
18 May 1944:
At 1800, arrives at Manila. TAMATSU, KIBITSU and NISSHO
MARUs are detached for Cagayan, Philippines.
20 May 1944:
At 2000, the remaining eight ships in HI-63 depart Manila
with the same escort.
24 May 1944:
150 miles W of Sarawak, Borneo. LtCdr James W. Davis' USS RATON (SS-270) attacks the convoy. At about 0220 (JST), IKI is by two torpedoes. One hits aft, one hits below the bridge. IKI breaks into three sections and sinks in less than twenty minutes. A total of 160 sailors, including IKI’s skipper Cdr Nakao are KIA; 18 are rescued by ETOROFU. Rear Admiral Ijuin is also KIA. He is promoted Vice Admiral, posthumously. [3]
LtCdr Davis also torpedoes and lightly damages MATSUWA at 01-17N 107-53E. The rest of HI-63 escapes unscathed and arrives at Singapore on 27 May.
10 July 1944:
Removed from the Navy List.
Authors' Notes:
[1] Some sources place IKI in the escort of convoy P-607 that departed Palau for Moji on 7 Jun '43, but this is clearly in error since she was not completed until 31 May '43.
[2] KAHOKU MARU was also in the convoy, but was sunk by USS FINBACK on 8 June.
[3] Australian diver/photojournalist Kevin Denlay reports that in 2004 divers from the M/V EMPRESS out of Singapore located the bow section of IKI laying on its starboard side in about 50m/165ft of water. However, although they searched nearby they did not find the rest of the wreck.
Thanks for assistance go to Dr. Higuchi Tatsuhiro of Japan.
-Bob Hackett, Sander Kingsepp and Peter Cundall.
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