Japanese Subchasers

KUSENTEI!

IJN Subchaser CH-10: Tabular Record of Movement
© 2005-2017 Bob Hackett, Sander Kingsepp and Peter Cundall
Revision 8

16 September 1938:
Osaka. Laid down at the Sakurajima Ironworks shipyard.
31 January 1939:
Launched and numbered CH-10.
15 June 1939:
Completed.
7 December 1941: Operation "M" - The Invasion of the Northern Philippines:
CH-10 is assigned to Rear Admiral (later Vice Admiral) Hirose Sueto's (39) (former CO of AOBA) 2nd Base Force of Vice Admiral Takahashi Ibo's (36) (former CO of KIRISHIMA) Third Fleet and attached to the Philippines Seizure Force in Cdr Sawamura's (49) SubChasDiv 31 with CH-11 and CH-12. At 1630, departs Mako, Pescadores.
10 December 1941:
Luzon, Philippines. Participates in the landings at Vigan, Philippines.Assigned to Rear Admiral (later Vice Admiral) Nishimura Shoji's (39) 2nd Raiding Force consisting of light cruiser NAKA (F), destroyers HARUSAME, MURASAME, YUDACHI and SAMIDARE (DesDiv 2); ASAGUMO, MINEGUMO and NATSUGUMO (DesDiv 4), MinesweepDiV 21 consisting of minesweepers W-9, W-10, W-11 and W-12; MineSweeping Div 30 consisting of W-17 and W-18, SubChaserDiv 31 consisting of CH-10, CH-11 and CH-12. CH-4 is attacched to SubChaserDiv 21 consisting of CH-4, CH-5, CH-6, CH-16, CH-17 and CH-18. This force escorts a total of 6 transports namely OIGAWA, BRISBANE, TAKAO, HAWAII, SHUNKO and SANKO MARUs.
The Six transports, carrying 2,000 men of the Kanno Detachment of the 48th Infantry Division, land troops near Vigan, but are bombed and strafed by five Boeing B-17 "Flying Fortresses" and escorting Seversky P-35A "Guardsman" and Curtiss P-40B "Kittyhawk" fighters of the U. S. Army's Far East Air Force. During the action, a minesweeper is sunk and two transports are so damaged they have to be beached.
7 January 1942: The Invasion of Dutch Borneo:
CH-10 departs Davao with SubChasDiv 31’s CH-11 and CH-12, patrol boats PB-36, PB-37 and PB-38, Minesweeper Division 11’s W-13, W-14, W-15, W-16, 30th Minesweeper Division’s W-17, W-18 and other auxiliary ships escorting Rear-Admiral Hirose’s Tarakan Occupation Force that includes Army transports TSURUGA, LIVERPOOL, HAVANA, KURETAKE, NICHIAI, HITERU, TEIRYU, HANKOW and EHIME MARUs carrying MajGen Sakaguchi Shizuo’s 56th Mixed Infantry Group and the Kure No. 2 Special Naval Landing Force (SNLF) and Navy transports KUNIKAWA, KANO, KAGU, KOKUYO and RAKUTO MARUs. Close cover is provided by Rear Admiral (later Vice Admiral) Nishimura Shoji’s DesRon 4’s light cruiser NAKA with DesDiv 2’s HARUSAME, SAMIDARE, YUDACHI and MURUSAME, DesDiv 9’s ASAGUMO and MINEGUMO, NATSUGUMO and DesDiv 24’s UMIKAZE, KAWASKAZE, YAMAKAZE and SUZUKAZE. The 21st Air Flotilla’s tenders SANUKI and SANYO MARUs provide air cover .
11 January 1942:
Rear Admiral Hirose's Force invades Tarakan, Borneo.
21 January 1942:
Rear Admiral Hirose's Balikpapan Invasion Convoy departs Tarakan departs Tarakan, Borneo with KURETAKE, HAVANA, EHIME, LIVERPOOL, KAMOGAWA, TEIRYU, HITERU, TSURAGA HANKOW, NISSHO, KANAYAMASAN, TATSUGAMI, NANA, SUMANOURA, TOEI, ASAHISAN and NITTEI MARUs carrying the Balikpapan Invasion Force consisting of the Sakaguchi Detachment (56th Regimental Group) and the Kure No. 2 SNLF escorted by patrol boats PB-36, PB-37, PB-38, minesweepers W-15, W-16, W-17, W-18 and SubChasDiv 31's CH-10, CH-11 and CH-12. Cover is provided by light cruiser NAKA with DesDiv 2's YUDACHI, SAMIDARE, MURASAME, HARUSAME, DesDiv 9's ASAGUMO, MINEGUMO, NATSUGUMO and DesDiv 24's KAWAKAZE and UMIKAZE. Seaplane tenders SANUKI and SANYO MARUs provide air cover.
Poor weather hampers air reconnaissance by ABDA (American-British-Dutch-Australian) forces, but ABDA Air finally locates the invasion force. ABDA deploys submarines USS S-40, USS PORPOISE (SS-172), USS PICKEREL (SS-177), USS STURGEON (SS-187), USS SAURY (SS-189) and USS SPEARFISH (SS-190) and Dutch submarines KNMS K-XIV and KNMS K-XVIII to intercept the IJN force.
Timor, Kupang Bay. Rear Admiral (later Vice Admiral) William A. Glassford's Task Force 5's light cruisers USS MARBLEHEAD (CL-12), USS BOISE (CL-47) and Cdr Paul H. Talbot's DesDiv 59's old destroyers USS PARROTT (DD-218), USS POPE (DD-225), USS JOHN D. FORD (DD-228) and USS PAUL JONES (DD-230) are ordered to stop the invasion force, but USS BOISE runs aground and USS MARBLEHEAD develops engine trouble. DesDiv 59 is detached and increases speed to arrive at Balikpapan at midnight on January 23rd.
23 January 1942: The Invasion of Balikpapan, Borneo:
Storms protect the invasion force until it is almost to Balikpapan. At 1525, nine Dutch Martin Model 166 (B-10) bombers from Samarinda attack and hit transports TATSUGAMI and NANA MARUs. The latter is abandoned and later sinks. TATSUGAMI MARU continues on to Balikpapan. At 2045, Hirose's invasion convoy arrives and anchors off Balikpapan. At 2130, the transports begin disembarking troops.
10 March 1942:
Reassigned to Vice Admiral Takahashi's Southwest Area Fleet's newly formed Third Southern Expeditionary Fleet in Special Base Force 31 organized at Manila. CH-10 engages in the blockade of Manila Bay.
1 April 1942:
Departs Olongapo and patrols off Manila Bay.
7 April 1942:
Arrives at Olongapo from Manila Bay blockade.
9 April 1942:
Departs Olongapo and continues patrolling off Manila Bay.
19 April 1942:
Arrives at Olongapo and returns to patrolling off Manila Bay later that day.
8 May 1942:
At 1000 CH-10 and CH-12 both cease patrolling and at 1410 arrive at Olongapo.
9 May 1942:
With the fall of Corregidor three days previous, at 0600 CH-10, CH-11 and CH-12 all depart Olongapo and at 1312 enter Manila Bay.
11 May 1942:
At 1517 CH-10, CH-11 and CH-12 all depart Manila Bay.
May 1942:
Reassigned to the Kure Guard Unit based at Saeki (nominally from 1 May). Conducts anti-submarine patrols in the Bungo Straits.
1 June 1942:
CH-10 and CH-11 and auxiliary cruiser BANGKOK MARU depart Saiki on patrol.
4 June 1942:
CH-10 and CH-11 return to Saiki.
8 June 1942:
CH-10 and CH-11 depart Saiki on patrol.
9 June 1942:
CH-10 and CH-11 return to Sukumo.
14 June 1942:
CH-10 and CH-11 transfer from Sukumo to Saiki.
19 June 1942:
CH-10 and CH-11 transfer from Saiki to Sukumo.
24 June 1942:
Transfers from Sukumo to Saiki.
25 June 1942:
CH-10 and CH-11 depart Saiki.
28 June 1942:
CH-10 and CH-11 arrive at Maizuru.
6 August 1942:
CH-10, CH-11 and CH-12 all depart Maizuru.
8 August 1942:
CH-10 and CH-11 arrive at Saiki after conducting an anti submarine sweep in the Saiki area.
11 August 1942:
CH-10 and CH-11 depart Saiki on an anti submarine sweep. They join up with CH-12 which has been on a training exercise.
12 August 1942:
CH-10, CH-11 and CH-12 all arrive back at Saiki.
13 August 1942:
CH-10 and CH-11 depart Saiki on an anti submarine. Over the following few days both ships conduct a series of sweeps and patrols of the Bungo Suido returning to Sukumo to resupply as necessary.
24 August 1942:
CH-10, CH-11 and CH-12 arrive at Saiki.
28 August 1942:
CH-10 alone departs Saiki and resumes patrols and submarine sweeps of the Bungo Suido homebasing at Sukumo as necessary.
1 September 1942:
Departs Sukumo and arrives later that day at Saiki.
4 September 1942:
Departs Saiki.
6 September 1942:
Arrives at Sukumo.
7 September 1942:
Departs Sukumo and later that day arrives at Saiki.
10 September 1942:
Departs Saiki and later that day arrives at Kure.
14 September 1942:
Departs Kure and later that day arrives at Saiki.
22 September 1942:
CH-10 and CH-11 depart Saiki on patrol.
24 September 1942:
Both CH-10 and CH-11 arrive at Sukumo and depart later that day.
30 September 1942:
CH-10 and CH-11 arrive back at Saiki.
2 October 1942:
CH-10 departs Saeki for Rabaul, New Britain with subchasers CH-11 and CH-12 escorting convoy OKI-6 consisting of HAVANA, TOYO, EHIME, YASKUNI and SUMIYOSHI MARUs.
14 October 1942:
LtCdr Lucius H. Chappell's (USNA ’27) USS SCULPIN (SS-191) torpedoes and sinks SUMIYOSHI MARU at 03-15S, 149-50E. Eight crewmen are KIA.
15 October 1942:
Arrives at Rabaul.
16 October 1942:
Reassigned to the 4th Base Force at Truk. Escorts convoys near Truk.
2 November 1942:
At 0600 CH-10, CH-11 and CH-12 depart Truk on an anti submarine sweep.
4 November 1942:
At 1820 CH-10, CH-11 and CH-12 arrive back at Truk.
6 November 1942:
At 1225 CH-10, CH-11 and CH-12 depart Truk on a further anti submarine sweep.
9 November 1942:
At 1604 CH-10 and CH-11 return to Truk.
12 November 1942:
At 1940 CH-10 and CH-11 depart Truk on an anri submarine sweep.
15 November 1942:
At 1325 CH-10 and CH-11 arrive back at Truk.
17 November 1942:
At 1244 CH-10 and CH-11 depart Truk on an anti submarine sweep.
18 November 1942:
At 1700 CH-10 and CH-11 arrive back at Truk.
19 November 1942:
At 1020 CH-10 and CH-11 depart Truk on an anti submarine patrol.
20 November 1942:
At 1600 arrives back at Truk.
23 November 1942:
At 0400 CH-10 and CH-11 depart Truk on an anti submarine patrol.
26 November 1942:
At 1900 CH-10 and CH-11 anchors at Namonuito.
27 November 1942:
At 0500 CH-10 amnd CH-11 departs Namonuito.
28 November 1942:
At 1045 CH-10 and CH-11 arrive at Palau.
1 December 1942:
At 1200 CH-10 departs Palau on an anti submarine sweep.
5 December 1942:
At 1440 arrives back at Truk.
8 December 1942:
At 0400 departs Truk on an anti submarine patrol.
11 December 1942:
At 1645 arrives at Truk.
14 December 1942:
At 0500 departs Truk on an escort mission. At 1500 returns to Truk.
16 December 1942:
At 0800 departs Truk on patrol.
18 December 1942:
At 0820 arrives back at Truk.
19 December 1942:
At 0600 departs Truk on an anti submarine patrol.
21 December 1942:
At 1230 arrives at Truk.
25 December 1942:
At 0430 departs Truk on patrol
1 January 1943:
At 0745 arrives at Truk.
3 January 1943:
At 1600 departs Truk on an escort mission.
5 January 1943:
At 0815 arrives back at Truk.
10 January 1943:
At 0500 departs Truk on an escort mission.
12 January 1943:
At 0850 arrives back at Truk.
16 January 1943:
At 0430 departs Truk on an escort mission.
17 January 1943:
At 1230 arrives back at Truk.
18 January 1943:
At 0600 departs Truk on an escort mission.
19 January 1943:
At 1230 arrives back at Truk.
21 January 1943:
At 1630 departs Truk on an anti submarine sweep.
22 January 1943:
At 1030 breaks off anti submarine hunt and undertakes patrols and later a long escort mission.
29 January 1943:
At 0730 arrives back at Truk.
31 January 1943:
At 0630 departs Truk on an escort mission.
5 February 1943:
At 1355 arrives at Truk after completing an escort mision.
9 February 1943:
At 0925 departs Truk escorting SHINSHO MARU.
13 February 1943:
At 0720 arrives at Saipan. At 1300 departs Saipan escorting SUWA MARU that is bound for Ponape.
17 February 1943:
At 1130 arrives at Palau. Later departs.
19 February 1943:
At 1430 arrives at Truk.
23 February 1943:
At 1630 departs Truk on an escort mission.
25 February 1943:
At 1300 returns to Truk.
26 February 1943:
At 0700 CH-10 departs Truk escorting convoy with fleet oiler TSURUMI and tanker HISHI MARU No. 2. Later CH-10 is detached.
28 February 1943:
At 1310 arrives back at Truk and under repairs.
15 March 1943:
At 0800 departs Truk escorting YAMASHIRO MARU.
18 March 1943:
At 0745 arrives at Saipan.
20 March 1943:
At 0500 departs Saipan on an escort mission.
22 March 1943:
At 1700 arrives at Truk.
27 March 1943:
At 1051 departs Truk on an escort mission.
31 March 1943:
At 0825 arrives back at Truk.
1 April 1943:
At 0900 departs Truk on an escort mission.
4 April 1943:
At 1430 arrives back at Truk.
8 April 1943:
At 1000 departs Truk escorting Army troop transport landing ship MAYASAN MARU.
11 April 1943:
At 1300 arrives at Rabaul.
23 April 1943:
At 1000 departs Rabaul with destroyer ONAMI escorting a convoy consisting of KIKUKAWA, TENYO and AMAGISAN MARUs.
27 April 1943:
At 0930 arrives at Truk.
30 April 1943:
At 0800 departs Truk on an escort mission.
2 May 1943:
At 0800 arrives at Guam.
6 May 1943:
At 2120 departs Guam.
7 May 1943:
At 0815 arrives at Saipan.
10 May 1943:
At 0600 departs Saipan to attend a disaster scene and rescue survivors and then undertakes an escort mission back to Saipan.
13 May 1943:
At 1620 arrives at Saipan and departs there at 1740.
18 May 1943:
At 1600 arrives at Yokosuka.
20 May 1943:
At 1200 departs Yokosuka for Maizuru.
24 May 1943:
At 0700 arrives at Maizuru. Undergoes refit and repairs.
1 June 1943:
CH-10, and possibly CH-16, depart Yokosuka escorting convoy No. 1101 consisting of KUNIKAWA MARU.
10 June 1943:
Arrives at Takao.
13 June 1943:
At 1000, arrives Rabaul.
July 1943:
Reassigned to Rabaul.
15 July 1943:
At 0930, CH-10 departs Saeki with torpedo boat HATO, minesweeper W-18 and auxiliary minesweeper TAMA MARU No. 7 escorting convoy O-505 consisting of KOZAN, CHINZEI, SAIPAN, BRAZIL and RYUKO MARUs.
21 July 1943:
At about 1230, LtCdr (later Rear Admiral-Ret) Roy M. Davenport's (USNA ’33) USS HADDOCK (SS-231) torpedoes and sinks SAIPAN MARU at 16-29N, 123-57E. The ship loaded with 422 passengers, 3270 tons of military cargo, coal, and fuel oil, sinks with the loss of 33 passengers and two crewmen KIA.
24 July 1943:
Arrives at Palau.
28 July 1943:
CH-10, CH-18 and CH-23 depart Palau escorting convoy So-807 consisting of EHIME, KAZAN and KOZAN MARUs and two unidentified merchant ships.
5 August 1943:
At 0825 arrive at Rabaul.
7 August 1943:
At 1100, CH-10 departs Rabaul with subchaser CH-24 escorting a convoy consisting of food stores ship ARASAKI and NICHIYO and SUMIYOSHI MARUs and HINO MARU No. 5.
9 August 1943:
Arrives at Shortland, Bougainville.
10 August 1943:
At 1500, departs Shortland for Rabaul escorting a convoy consisting of GIYU MARU and SHINSEI MARU No. 18.
12 August 1943:
At 0600, arrives at Rabaul.
14 August 1943:
At 2200, CH-10 departs Rabaul for Shortland escorting a convoy consisting of KYOSEI, KAMI and SHINKAI MARUs plus two fishing boats.
17 August 1943:
At 0300, arrives at Shortland.
18 August 1943:
At 0500 departs Shortland. At 0900 arrives at Kieta. Departs from Kieta at 1200 escorting an unknown vessel.
19 August 1943:
At 1300 arrives at Rabaul.
24 August 1943:
At 0600, CH-10 departs Rabaul for Shortland escorting a convoy consisting of FUKUEI, KISARAGI and GIYU MARUs and KOSHU MARU No. 2 and TSUKINADA MARU No. 8.
26 August 1943:
At 0500, arrives at Shortland.
29 August 1943:
At 1200, departs Shortland for Rabaul escorting a convoy consisting of HEIWA, TAKUEI, KISARAGI and GIYU MARUs
30 August 1943:
E of Bougainville. Attacked and damaged severely by American aircraft while escorting a convoy. CH-10 is taken under tow and arrives at Bougainville at 1900 that same day.
14 November 1943:
At 1200, convoy No. 4114 departs Truk consisting of UDO, NIKKO, CHIYO and HOKKO MARUs escorted by destroyer YUZUKI, kaibokan FUKUE and PB-46. HOKKO MARU is towing damaged CH-10.
19 November 1943:
Northern Marianas. In the early morning hours, Cdr (MOH, posthumously) Samuel Dealey's (USNA ’30) USS HARDER (SS-257) makes radar contact off the port quarter of the convoy. Dealey makes an "end around" then submerges 15,000 yards ahead of the convoy. He waits until YUZUKI passes 800 yards across his stern then fires his six bow torpedoes at two large transports and gets five hits. At 0415, HOKKO MARU sinks at 0415 at 22-27N, 147-15E with 24 crewmen and 21 passengers KIA. Dealey swings USS HARDER around and fires his four stern tubes. At 0435, UDO MARU is hit and badly damaged. Five crewmen are KIA.
YUZUKI takes UDO MARU in tow, but at 1040, the transport's hull splits and the aft part of the ship sinks. CHIYO MARU takes up towing CH-10 and heads for Chichi-Jima with FUKUE. Later, NIKKO MARU is ordered back to assist in the tow of UDO MARU. At 1850, NIKKO MARU arrives back on the scene, but experiences great difficulty trying to tow UDO MARU. Finally, the wreck is abandoned and sinks a few hours later.
The escorts counterattack and drive USS HARDER deep under a thermocline layer of cold water. Dealey's crew counts 64 depth depth charges dropped over the next five hours during which they reload all tubes. USS HARDER surfaces early in the afternoon and takes up the chase again. That night, Dealey closes to 1,000 yards of the convoy and fires four Mark 14-3A steam torpedoes at a transport, but they all run deep and pass under the target. Dealey makes another "end around" and submerges 12,000 yards ahead of the convoy. He sets up and at 2355, fires three bow torpedoes and gets one hit in NIKKO MARU's stern.
20 November 1943:
The Japanese get NIKKO MARU's pumps running and efficiently control the flooding. In the early morning hours, USS HARDER fires three more stern torpedoes at her, but they all miss. Out of torpedoes, a frustrated Sam Dealey departs the area, but NIKKO MARU later loses her battle with the sea and sinks. 15 crewmen are KIA.
27 November 1943:
Arrives at Yokosuka. Transfers to Yokohama and undergoes repairs at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. shipyard.
5 December 1943:
CH-10 departs Moji with destroyer NUMAKAZE escorting convoy No. 119 consisting of GINREI, TAKETOYO, HORAI, NITTAI and BUNZAN MARUs and KURENAI MARUs.
10 December 1943 :
GINREI and HORAI MARUs are detached.
11 December 1943:
Arrives at Takao.
15 April 1944:
At 0600, CH-10 departs Tokyo with CH-12, destroyers HOKAZE, YUNAGI, UZUKI, kaibokan MIYAKE and CD-6, minesweepers W-20 and W-28 and minelayers SARUSHIMA, KYOSAI and YURISHIMA escorting convoy Higashi-Matsu No. 6 consisting of AWAJI, HAKUBA, KATSUKAWA, TAKAOKA, BATAVIA, AWA and HOKUSHIN MARUs bound for Saipan, CHOAN MARU No. 2 and MIKAGE MARU No. 1 bound for Truk, JOKUJA, BISAN and JINSAN MARUs bound for Palau, KAMISHIMA and SHOZAN MARUs bound for Wolei, INARI and TONEGAWA MARUs bound for Guam and TATSUAKI and TAMAHOKO MARUs bound for Chichi-Jima (2).
23 April 1944:
At 0600, arrives at Saipan.
1 May 1944:
While nearing Palau, JOKUJA, BISAN and JINSAN MARUs and CH-10 run aground on the N tip of Palau atoll.
2 May 1944:
CH-10 is wrecked and abandoned at 07-20N, 134-30E, but the others are refloated successfully.
10 November 1944:
Removed from the Navy List.

Notes
[1] Presumably this is convoy 4508 that lost KINAI MARU and TATSUTAKE MARU torpedoed and sunk early on the morning of 10th June in 14-33N 149-23E.
Thanks for assistance go to Mr. Gilbert Casse of France and Mr. John Whitman of USA.
-Bob Hackett, Sander Kingsepp and Peter Cundall.

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