SENSUIKAN!
HIJMS Submarine RO-102: Tabular Record of
Movement
© 2001 Bob Hackett & Sander Kingsepp
17 November 1942:
The RO-102 is completed at Kawasaki's Yard at Kobe, commissioned in the IJN and based in the Sasebo Naval District. LtCdr Kanemoto Shoji is the Commanding Officer.
16 January 1943:
Assigned to Rear Admiral (later Vice Admiral) Harada Kaku's (former CO of CVS CHIYODA) SubRon 7 in SubDiv 13, in Vice Admiral Mikawa Gunichi's (former CO of KIRISHIMA) Eighth Fleet at Rabaul.
25 January 1943:
Departs Yokosuka.
8 February 1943:
Arrives at Truk.
11 February 1943:
Departs Truk.
15 February 1943:
Arrives at Rabaul.
22 February 1943:
Departs Rabaul on her first war patrol to patrol S of New Guinea.
15 March 1943:
Returns to Rabaul.
30 March 1943: Operation "I-GO" - The Reinforcement of Rabaul.
Admiral (Fleet Admiral, posthumously) Yamamoto Isoroku (former CO of AKAGI), CINC Combined Fleet, orders aircraft from CarDiv 1's ZUIKAKU and the ZUIHO to reinforce Vice Admiral Kusaka Jinichi's (former CO of FUSO) 11th Air Fleet's base at Rabaul. Yamamoto also orders aircraft from CarDiv 2's HIYO and the JUNYO to reinforce the base at Ballale Island, near Buin, Bougainville.
The RO-102 departs Rabaul on her second war patrol for an area SE of Guadalcanal in support of I-GO.
12 April 1943:
Returns to Rabaul.
29 April 1943:
Departs Rabaul on her third war patrol for an area off SE Rabi, New Guinea.
9 May 1943:
S of New Guinea. LtCdr Kanemoto makes a report to Rabaul in which he notes the absence of the enemy in his patrol area. It is the last signal received from the RO-102.
14 May 1943:
Five miles off Lae, New Guinea. Cdr Morton C. Mumma, Jr's (former CO of USS SAILFISH (SS-192) PT-150 is on night ASW patrol with LtCdr Barry Atkins' PT-152. They spot a surfaced submarine at 6,000 yards making 12 knots. Each PT boat fires two Mark VIII torpedoes at long-range. The submarine stops. All four torpedoes pass ahead. Closing to 4,000 yards, Mumma fires one torpedo at the stationary target, but the submarine immediately increases speed to maximum. The torpedo misses astern.
The PT boats run parallel to the submarine's course to gain another favorable firing position and then turn to cut down the range. The submarine crash-dives. As the PTs lay to, a torpedo passes under the bow of PT-150, saved only by her shallow draft. [1]
15 May 1943:
The RO-102 is ordered to return to Rabaul, but does not acknowledge the order.
2 June 1943:
Missing and presumed lost with all 42 hands S of Rabi.
15 July 1943:
Removed from the Navy List.
Authors' Notes:
[1] Some reports claim that the RO-102 is sunk during this engagement, but the circumstances surrounding her loss remain unknown.
Special thanks for help in preparing this TROM go to Dr. Higuchi Tatsuhiro of Japan. – Bob Hackett and Sander Kingsepp.
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