SENSUIKAN!
(Type B1 submarine - colorized photo by Irootoko Jr)
IJN Submarine I-29:
Tabular Record of
Movement
© 2002-2016 Bob Hackett & Sander Kingsepp
Revision 5
20 September 1939:
Laid down at Yokosuka Navy Yard as Submarine No.
142.
29 September 1940:
Launched and designated I-33.
20 August 1941:
Cdr Izu Juichi (51)(former CO of I-62) is appointed
Chief Equipping Officer.
1 November 1941:
I-33 is renumbered I-29.
15 December 1941-5 February 1942:
Cdr Izu is appointed Chief
Equipping Officer of I-31 as an additional duty.
27 February 1942:
I-29 is completed and attached to Kure Naval
District. Cdr Izu Juichi is the Commanding Officer. Assigned to SubDiv 14,
Sixth Fleet.
10 March 1942:
SubDiv 14 is transferred to SubRon 8.
10 April 1942: Operation "C" - The Raids in the Indian Ocean:
Admiral
(Fleet Admiral, posthumously) Yamamoto Isoroku (former CO of AKAGI), CINC,
Combined Fleet, orders all submarine units to reconnoiter the enemy's fleet
bases in the Indian Ocean and the South Pacific, destroy the enemy's maritime
commerce and support the Port Moresby (MO) Operation.
11 April 1942:
I-29 is in Captain (later Rear Admiral) Sasaki
Hankyu's Eastern Advanced Detachment: Sasaki's SubDiv 3 with I-21, I-22 and
I-24 and Captain Katsuta Haruo's SubDiv 14 with I-27 and I-28. All 11
submarines of SubRon 8 complete extensive exercises in the Inland Sea.
15 April 1942:
SubRon 8 arrives at Hashirajima. Admiral Yamamoto
addresses the captains of the Eastern detachment's submarines.
16 April 1942:
All six of the Eastern detachment's submarines depart
Kure.
18 April 1942: The First Bombing of Japan:
Vice-Admiral (later Fleet
Admiral) William F. ("Bull") Halsey's Task Force 16 USS HORNET (CV-8),
cruisers, destroyers and an oiler accompanied by USS ENTERPRISE (CV-6),
cruisers, destroyers and another oiler approach to within 668 nautical miles of
Japan. Led by LtCol (later Gen/Medal of Honor) James H. Doolittle, 16 Army
North American B-25 "Mitchell" twin-engine bombers of the 17th Bomb Group take
off from Captain (later Admiral) Marc A. Mitscher's carrier HORNET and strike
targets in Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka, Nagoya and Kobe.
E of the Bonin Islands. I-29 is en route from Japan to Truk.
Headquarters, Combined Fleet orders I-29 and the other submarines to intercept
Task Force 16, but they are unable to make contact.
24 April 1942:
Arrives at Truk.
30 April 1942:
Departs Truk on her first war patrol with I-28 to raid
enemy communications off the eastern coast of Australia. She carries an E14Y1
"Glen" floatplane.
4 May 1942: Operation "MO" - The Invasions of Tulagi and Port
Moresby:
Rear Admiral Kajioka Sadamichi's Port Moresby Attack Force departs
Rabaul towards the Jomard Pass in the Louisiade Archipelago with DesRon 6's
light cruiser YUBARI, four destroyers and a patrol boat escorting Rear Admiral
(later Vice Admiral) Abe Koso's Transport Force of 12 transports and a
minesweeper.
That day, in the Battle of the Coral Sea, Rear Admiral (later Admiral)
Frank J. Fletcher's Task Force 17 attacks Rear Admiral (later Vice Admiral)
Shima Kiyohide's Tulagi Invasion Force. Douglas SBD "Dauntless" dive-bombers
and TBD torpedo-bombers from carrier YORKTOWN (CV-5) sink a destroyer, three
minesweepers and damage four other ships.
5 May 1942:
Fletcher's force turns north to engage Vice Admiral
(Admiral, posthumously) Takagi Takeo's Carrier Strike Force. SBDs and TBDs from
YORKTOWN and LEXINGTON (CV-2) sink Rear Admiral (Vice Admiral, posthumously)
Goto Aritomo's light carrier SHOHO off Misima Island. In turn, the Japanese planes
damage oiler USS NEOSHO (AO-23) and sink destroyer SIMS (DD-409).
I-29 and I-28 with SubDiv 3's I-22 and I-24, reach their assigned patrol
area in support of Operation MO.
8 May 1942:
Dive-bombers from YORKTOWN and LEXINGTON damage Vice
Admiral Takagi's carrier SHOKAKU and force her retirement. ZUIKAKU's air group
suffers heavy losses. Japanese carrier bombers and attack planes attack TF 17
and damage YORKTOWN and LEXINGTON that is further damaged when gasoline vapors
are ignited, triggering massive explosions that cause her to be abandoned.
Later, LEXINGTON is scuttled by destroyer PHELPS (DD-360). This Battle of the
Coral Sea halts the Japanese thrust toward Port Moresby and they are forced to
cancel Operation MO.
13 May 1942:
I-29 arrives at her assigned position off Sydney.
14 May 1942:
Around 0400 (local), Cdr Izu sights a warship that he
erroneously identifies as "HMS WARSPITE" and a destroyer heading for Sydney.
I-29 gives chase but fails to reach a firing position.
16 May 1942:
35 miles E of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia.
After sundown around 2028 (local), I-29 fires two torpedoes that miss the Soviet
5,135-ton armed steamer UELEN (ex-NORDMARK), independently en route from
Wellington to Bandar Shahpur, Persian Gulf, with a cargo of tin and wool. I-29
then surfaces and shells the steamer while the Russians return the fire with
their stern gun and several machine guns. UELEN also sends a distress signal.
During a running chase lasting almost two hours, I-29's gunners repeatedly
straddle their target, disabling two of its cargo winches, damaging the windlass
and causing splinter damage to UELEN's superstructure and charthouse. The
Russian master and two sailors are wounded by shell fragments. In turn, the
gunners on UELEN claim several direct hits, supposedly resulting in the sinking
of the submarine.
An ASW group from Sydney including USS PERKINS (DD-377) and HMAS ARUNTA fails to
locate the submarine. Traffic between Sydney and Newcastle is suspended for 24
hours. Meanwhile, I-29 returns to the Sydney area.
23 May 1942:
At dawn, I-29's floatplane carries out aerial
reconnaissance off Sydney harbor. When approaching the entrance to the harbor,
the "Glen" is spotted from the Port War Signal Station on South Head and later
tracked by a mobile radar station at Iron Cove. Its pilot reports a large
concentration of Allied warships and three or four merchants in the harbor. They
are heavy cruisers USS CHICAGO (CA-29) and HMAS CANBERRA, light cruiser HMAS
ADELAIDE, USS PERKINS (DD-377), tender USS DOBBIN (AD-3), minelayer HMAS
BUNGAREE, armed merchant cruisers KANIMBLA and WESTRALIA, corvettes HMAS
WHYALLA, GEELONG and the BOMBAY, depot ship HMAS KUTTABUL and Dutch submarine
K-IX. [1]
Cdr Izu transmits a report of the sighting to Headquarters, Sixth Fleet at
Kwajalein. The report is relayed to Captain Sasaki in I-21 who is then
reconnoitering Auckland, New Zealand. The transmission is picked up by the
RAN/USN Fleet Radio Unit, Melbourne (FRUMEL) communications-intelligence unit
and is partially decoded.
24 May 1942:
Vice Admiral, the Marquis, Komatsu Teruhisa (former CO of
NACHI), CINC, Sixth Fleet, aboard his flagship light cruiser KATORI at
Kwajalein orders Captain Sasaki's Eastern Advanced Detachment to attack Sydney.
29 May 1942:
Komatsu and Sasaki send out messages of encouragement to
the Eastern Detachment's submarines and their midget submarine crews. These
transmissions are also picked up by FRUMEL, although it is unclear what, if
any, action is taken by the RAN at Sydney based on these warnings.
31 May 1942:
Captain Sasaki orders I-22, I-24 and I-27 to send their
midget submarines into Sydney harbor. The damage inflicted by the midgets is
below expectation. After accommodation vessel HMAS KUTTABUL (an ex-ferry) is
damaged, the attack is called off.
3 June 1943:
I-29 and the "mother" submarines linger off Port Hacking
S of Sydney to recover the midgets. After they fail to return, the mother
submarines give up and switch to commerce warfare. I-29 withdraws to the north
and takes up station off Brisbane.
4 June 1942:
I-29 is sighted off Moreton Island by the coastal
passenger ship CANBERRA.
10 June 1942:
I-29 departs her patrol area. On her way back her
"Glen" conducts a dawn flight over Noumea.
June 1942:
Arrives at Kwajalein.
July 1942:
Departs Kwajalein.
21 July 1942:
Arrives at Yokosuka. Undergoes repairs and maintenance.
29 July 1942:
Departs Yokosuka.
August 1942:
Arrives at Penang, Malaya.
8 August 1942:
Departs Penang on her second war patrol to raid enemy
communications in the Indian Ocean and to reconnoiter Diego Suarez, Seychelles,
Zanzibar, Mombasa and Socotra.
29 August 1942:
I-29 catapults her Glen to reconnoiter the Seychelles
Islands.
That same day, Rear Admiral (later Vice Admiral) Ichioka Hisashi's
(former CO of CL YURA) assumes command of SubRon 8.
August 1942:
East Africa. I-29 operates off the Zanzibar-Mombasa
area, then moves to Socotra Island.
2 September 1942:
Gulf of Aden, W of Socotra Island. I-29 torpedoes
and sinks the British 4,131-ton armed merchant GAZCON at 13-01N, 50-41E.
3 September 1942:
Gulf of Aden. At dawn, I-29 attacks unsuccessfully
the British 8,553-ton freighter BRITISH GENIUS at 13-34N, 50-05E.
10 September 1942:
Off Socotra, Arabian Sea. I-29 torpedoes and sinks
the British 5,299-ton freighter HARESFIELD (ex-WAR ASTER) at 13-05N, 54-35E, en
route from Aden to Calcutta, in ballast.
16 September 1942:
Gulf of Aden, W of Socotra. I-29 torpedoes, shells
and sinks the British 7,147-ton armed freighter OCEAN HONOUR at 12-48N, 50-50E.
15 sailors and 5 gunners are lost in the sinking, 23 sailors and 3 gunners are
rescued from an isolated island by RAF aircraft.
22 September 1942:
Arabian Sea, 780 miles WbS Mangalore, India. After
sundown I-29 torpedoes the American 6,579-ton armed steamer PAUL LUCKENBACH
(ex-MARK, ex-POZNAN, ex-SUWANEE) at 10-03N, 63-42E. After the first hit to port
side the steamer settles by the bow. The gunners aboard the stricken vessel
open fire at what is thought to be a submarine, but later identified as a life
raft.
Over an hour later PAUL LUCKENBACH receives a second hit to port side, abaft of
the first. The 61-man crew escapes in four lifeboats. The cargo, including 18
tanks and 10 North American B-25 "Mitchell" bombers, is lost.
5 October 1942:
Returns to Singapore for repairs and maintenance.
11 November 1942:
Departs Penang, with Captain Teraoka Masao (46),
ComSubDiv 14, embarked, to raid enemy communications in the Indian Ocean.
Proceeds S of the Maldive Islands to the Arabian Sea.
23 November 1942:
Indian Ocean, NW of the Maldive Islands. I-29
torpedoes and sinks the British India Company 10,006-ton armed passenger/cargo
liner TILAWA on her way from Bombay to Mombasa and Durban with 6,472 tons of
general cargo. After the first torpedo hit most passengers can abandon their
ship in 10 life boats and 43 life rafts; an hour later they decide to reboard
TILAVA, but after the second hit the liner goes down in position 07-36N, 61-08E.
Of 958 people on board TILAWA, 252 passengers and 28 crew are lost. Cruiser
HMS BIRMINGHAM rescues 678 and the armed merchant cruiser CARTHAGE 4 survivors.
3 December 1942:
Gulf of Aden, SSE of Socotra. I-29 torpedoes the
Norwegian 6,323-ton armed fleet oiler BELITA, en route from Abadan to Mombasa
with 9,000 tons of oil for the Admiralty. After the crew has abandoned the ship,
I-29 surfaces and scuttles the wreck with gunfire at 11-29N, 55-00E.
27 January 1943:
Returns to Singapore. Overhauled at Seletar Naval
Base by the No. 101 Navy Repair Unit until February.
February 1943:
SubDiv 14 is transferred to the Southwest Area Fleet.
14 February 1943:
Departs Penang to operate in the Gulf of Bengal.
March 1943:
I-29 fails to contact the enemy on this patrol and
returns to Penang.
5 April 1943:
I-29, still under Cdr Izu, with Captain Teraoka Masao
embarked, departs Penang on a secret mission. She carries eleven tons of cargo,
including one Type 89 and two Type 2 aerial torpedoes and two tons of gold bars
for the Japanese Embassy in Berlin. She also carries drawings and blueprints of
AKAGI (for use in the construction of GRAF ZEPPELIN) and a Type A midget
submarine. Cdr (Rear Admiral posthumously) Emi Tetsushiro (50)(former CO of
I-8), now a member of the IJN's Technical Department and LtCdr (Captain,
posthumously) Tomonaga Hideo, a submarine designer, are aboard as passengers.
They are assigned to study the U-boat construction techniques. [2] [3]
25 April 1943:
Indian Ocean, about 450 miles SE of Madagascar
(Kriegsmarine grid KR 5276). I-29 arrives at the planned rendezvous area one
day earlier than expected.
26 April 1943:
I-29 rendezvouses with the German U-180 in the
Mozambique Channel. Fregattenkapitän Werner Musenberg's Type IXD-1 U-boat left
Kiel on 9 February carrying blueprints of a Type IXC/40 submarine, a sample of
German hollow charge (Hafthohlladung HHL 3) and quinine sample for future
Japanese shipments, a torpedo tube that holds a gun barrel and ammunition,
three cases holding 432 Bold sonar decoys, documents and mail from the German
embassy in Tokyo.
The U-boat also carries revolutionist Subhas Chandra Bose, Chief (Netaji)
of the anti-British Indian National Army of Liberation (Azad Hind Fauj) and his
aide Major Dr. Habib Hassan, a former Oxford student. Bose is the leader of the
Japanese-sponsored Free India (Azad Hind) Government-in-exile.
After a difficult transfer in the rough sea of a German officer and a
signalman from U-180 to I-29, the two submarines continue on a northeasterly
course waiting for the seas to moderate.
Cdr Izu suggests to Musenberg that they proceed to Sabang together to
refuel there, but Musenberg declines. The Japanese offer the two Germans coffee
and tobacco. They refuse, but do accept some potatoes.
27 April 1943:
Finally, after 12 hours, Bose and his group ride a
rubber raft from the U-boat to I-29. Cdr Emi and LtCdr Tomonaga transfer to
the U-boat. Eleven tons of cargo is then transferred in three inflatable rafts
while both submarines have their torpedo hatches open. Later, Izu comments that
the situation was "a dive-bomber's dream come true". After the passenger and
cargo transfers are completed, I-29 turns eastward. U-180 then turns toward
the Cape of Good Hope for the Atlantic and her base at Bordeaux, France.
(Subhas Chandra Bose, Cdr Izu and crewmen on I-29)
6 May 1943:
I-29 disembarks its passengers at Sabang harbor on We
Island, N of Sumatra, instead of Penang to avoid detection by the British. At
Sabang, Colonel (later Brig Gen) Yamamoto Bin, head of the "Hikari Kikan" spy
unit and the Japanese-Indian liaison group, greets Bose whom he had known in
Berlin when Yamamoto was an Assistant Military Attaché there. Later, Bose and
Yamamoto fly from Sabang via Penang, Manila, Saigon and Formosa arriving 16 May
at Tokyo where Bose is received by Premier Tojo Hideki and later by the Emperor
Hirohito (Showa).
14 May 1943:
I-29 arrives at Singapore for maintenance.
4 June 1943:
I-29's E14Y1 "Glen" flies an ASW patrol over the
approaches to Penang to protect an incoming submarine.
8 June 1943:
I-29's "Glen" flies another ASW patrol off Penang. I-29
departs Penang on her fifth war patrol to operate on the eastern coast of
Africa and in the Gulf of Aden.
12 July 1943:
Gulf of Aden. I-29 sinks the British freighter RAHMANI at
14-52N, 52-06E.
2 August 1943:
Returns to Penang.
9 August 1943:
Departs Penang for Japan. Probably carries three
Norwegian POWs from Norwegian tanker ALCIDES, sunk by I-10 on 23 July.
19 August 1943:
Arrives at Kure for repairs and maintenance.
10 October 1943:
Cdr (Rear Admiral, posthumously) Kinashi Takakazu
(51)(former CO of I-19 and victor over USS WASP) is appointed CO.
5 November 1943:
Departs Kure for Singapore.
14 November 1943:
Arrives at Seletar Naval Base, Singapore. Embarks
80 tons of raw rubber, 30 tons of tungsten, 50 tons of tin, 2 tons of zinc
and 3 tons of quinine, opium and coffee. Her 140-mm deck gun is landed and
AA suite is increased to six 25-mm AA guns (3x2), adding two new mounts to the
afterdeck. The 1.5-meter conning tower rangefinder is replaced by an
additional set of the 15-cm binoculars.
5 December 1943:
Singapore. Captain Uchino Shinji's I-8 arrives from
Brest, France. Cdr Kinashi discusses conditions in the Atlantic with Uchino.
Kinashi then contacts the Naval General Staff through channels and requests
permission to remove I-8's FuMB 1 "Metox" radar detector and reinstall it on
I-29, currently carrying an experimental Japanese radar detector. The NGS
grants permission.
16 December 1943:
At 1100 (JST), I-29 departs Singapore for
Nazi-occupied France on a "Yanagi" mission. Coded "Matsu" (Pine) by the
Japanese and "U-Kiefer" by the Germans, she is the fourth IJN submarine to
undertake such a mission.
[4]
Among I-29's 16 passengers are Navy officers, ordnance experts and
engineers. Most of these had been scheduled to depart with I-34, sunk off
Penang before their arrival. I-29's passengers include Rear Admiral Kojima
Hideo (44) former CO of CL KASHII), Naval Attaché to Germany, Cdr (later
Captain) Muchaku Senmei (51), Naval Attaché to Spain, Cdr (later Captain)
Ogi Kazuto (51), Assistant Naval Attaché to Germany, two Mitsubishi engineers
and Professor Samejima Tatsuo, the new interpreter for Vice Admiral Abe Katsuo,
the head of the Japanese military mission to Germany. Cdr Nagamori Yoshio, a
specialist in aircraft ordnance, carries the plans of obliquely firing
cannons invented by Captain Kozono Yasuna. The Germans also use slanted
"Schräge Musik" (Jazz Music) cannons in the Luftwaffe's night fighters.[4]
23 December 1943:
Early in the morning, I-29 refuels from the small
German supply ship BOGOTA in position 26S, 70E. She receives 120-tons of diesel
oil in six hours and some fresh provisions.
8 January 1944:
I-29 passes S of Madagascar. That same day, Allied
special intelligence codebreakers decipher a signal indicating that I-29 will
arrive at 39S, 42E on 11 January.
16 January 1944:
I-29 rounds the Cape of Good Hope and enters the
Atlantic.
19 January 1944:
Allied codebreakers intercept a signal indicating that
I-29 will be at 30S, 10E this day, en route to the Bay of Biscay.
26 January 1944:
Allied codebreakers estimate that I-29 will arrive at
06S, 05E on this day.
4 February 1944:
I-29 receives a signal from Germany to rendezvous with
an U-boat on 13 February at 0800 (JST) to receive a new radar detector.
14 February 1944:
60 miles SW of the Azores. I-29 makes a rendezvous
with Oberleutnant Hans-Werner Offermann's U-518. I-29 takes aboard three German
technicians who install a FuMB 7 "Naxos" and a FuMB 9 Wanze G2 "Wanze" radar
detector on her bridge. The U-518 then detaches for the Caribbean.
4 March 1944:
At night, off Cape Finisterre. The surfaced I-29 is
illuminated by a patrol plane carrying a "Leigh Light", but manages to escape
unharmed.
9 March 1944:
I-29 enters the Bay of Biscay. She arrives too early
and spends the night at the bottom.
10 March 1944:
Off Costa de Gijon, Spain. In the morning, I-29
rendezvouses with five Junkers 88C-6 escorts. In the afternoon, German destroyers
Z-23 and ZH-1 and torpedo boats T-27 and T-29 arrive. They instruct Cdr Kinashi
not to dive in case of an air attack and continue towards Lorient.
Four RAF de Havilland FB Mk.VI "Mosquitos" from No. 248 Squadron,
escorting two FB. Mk.XVIII "Tsetses" armed with a 57-mm cannon, are sent from
their base at Portreath, Cornwall, to intercept the submarine and its escorts.
The RAF squadron finds the ships off Cape Penas being circled by eight Junkers
Ju-88C-6s from Zerstörergeschwader ZG 1 at Cazaux. The Mosquito fighters attempt
to draw the German fighters away so that the Tsetses can attack the ships. SqnLdr
Anthony D. Phillips, flying a FB. Mk.XVIII, succeeds in downing one Ju-88C-6 and
claims I-29 damaged by gunfire.
After 1700, I-29 and her escorts are attacked by more than ten Allied
aircraft, including RAF Bristol "Beaufighter" flak suppressors and Consolidated
B-24 "Liberator" bombers, but all bombs aimed at I-29 miss.
11 March-15 April 1944:
I-29 arrives safely at Lorient and anchors
next to Kapitänleutnant Max Wintermeyer's U-190. The U-boat's crew cheers and
waves welcoming greetings to I-29's crewmen on parade in their dress uniforms
on her deck. Later, I-29 is berthed in one of Lorient's massive Keroman
bunkers.
Lorient is the home of the 2nd U-Flotille "Saltzwedel" commanded by
Knight's Cross winner Fregattenkapitän (later Kapitän zur See) Ernst Kals
(former CO of U-130) and the 10th U-Flotille commanded by Knight's Cross winner
Korvettenkapitän (later Konteradmiral, Bundesmarine) Günter Kuhnke (former CO
of U-28). The German submariners entertain I-29's officers at a dockside bar at
Lorient. The bar's ceiling rafters are covered with the carved signatures of
U-boat officers. I-29's engineering officer, Lt Taguchi Hiroshi, her navigating
officer, Lt Otani Hideo and several others carve their signatures into the
rafters.
LEFT:(Fregattenkapitän Ernst Kals and Cdr Kinashi Takakazu)
RIGHT:
Admiral (later Grossadmiral/Fuhrer) Karl Dönitz, Befehlshaber
der
Unterseeboote (BdU) speaks at banquet for I-29 and Kinashi (3d from right)
Later, the Germans host I-29's entire crew in their luxurious Château de
Trévarez that overlooks the small town of Châteauneuf-de-Faou. Cdr Kinashi and
I-29's crew are well fed, engage in competitive sports and party with their
German counterparts. The Kriegsmarine arranges a train trip to Paris for I-29's
crew. One of their sightseeing stops is at the Palais de Chaillot that houses
the French Maritime Museum and overlooks the Eiffel Tower.
Cdr Kinashi travels to Berlin. Adolf Hitler presents him with the Iron
Cross, 2nd Class for sinking the USS WASP.
Meanwhile during her stay, four 25-mm twin AA guns are landed from I-29.
The conning tower AA gun is replaced by a quad 20-mm Mauser 'Flakvierling' and
the rearmost AA gun on the afterdeck by a 37-mm Krupp AA gun. I-29 embarks 18
passengers (including four Germans) and takes on an HWK 509A-1 rocket motor
used on the Me-163 "Komet" interceptor and a Jumo 004B engine used on the
Me-262 jet fighter.
16 April 1944:
I-29 departs Lorient, escorted by seven M-class
minesweepers. She carries drawings of the Isotta-Fraschini torpedo boat engine,
a V-1 "buzz bomb" fuselage, TMC acoustic mines, bauxite and mercury-radium
amalgam. [5][6]
Technical Cdr Iwaya Eiichi carries blueprints of Messerschmitt Me-163
"Komet" rocket interceptor and Me-262 jet fighter and Captain Matsui is in
possession of plans for rocket launch accelerators. The officers also carry
plans for a glider bomb and radar equipment. Twenty "Enigma" coding machines
are included in the cargo. [7]
11 June 1944:
South Atlantic. I-29 and I-52, the next "Yanagi"
submarine enroute to Lorient, pass each other. The submarines do not
communicate, but Cdr Kinashi picks up some German radio traffic addressed to
I-52.
29 June 1944:
I-29 enters the Indian Ocean.
13 July 1944:
I-29 rendezvouses with her air escort, two Mitsubishi
G4M "Betty" bombers.
14 July 1944:
I-29 transits the Straits of Malacca and arrives safely
at Singapore at 1030. I-29's passengers, including Iwaya and Matsui, disembark
at Singapore with their plans and documents and proceed by air to Japan, but
most of the German scientific cargo remains aboard.
15 July 1944:
Allied codebreakers intercept a signal that indicates
the I-29 arrived at Singapore the previous day. Soon thereafter, Allied
communications-intelligence intercepts a message to Tokyo from Berlin that
details her strategic cargo.
20 July 1944:
I-29 transmits its detailed itinerary to Japan. The
U.S. Navy's Fleet Radio Unit, Pacific's (FRUPAC) communications-intelligence at
Hawaii intercepts and deciphers the message. FRUPAC alerts CINCPAC of I-29's
planned route and schedule from Singapore to Japan. COMSUBPAC sends an "Ultra"
signal to Cdr W. D. Wilkins' wolfpack ("Wilkin's Wildcats") consisting of
Wilkins' USS TILEFISH (SS-307), ROCK (SS-274) and SAWFISH (SS-276) to
intercept I-29 in the Luzon Strait.
22 July 1944:
At 0800, I-29 departs Singapore for Kure with ten
cadets of the submarine and navigation schools embarked.
25 July 1944:
I-29 reports sighting a surfaced enemy submarine.
26 July 1944:
Western entrance of the Balintang Channel, Luzon Strait.
About 1700, the SAWFISH sights I-29 running on the surface at 17 knots. Cdr
Alan B. Banister fires four torpedoes at I-29. Lookouts spot the incoming
torpedoes. Cdr Kinashi attempts to comb their wakes, but three torpedoes hit
and sink I-29 almost immediately at 20-10N, 121-55E.
Three of I-29's crewmen are blown overboard. Only one survivor manages
to swim ashore to a "small Philippine island" and reports the loss. Cdr
Kinashi, Japan's leading submarine "Ace", is among the 105 crewmen and
passengers that are lost. He is honored by a rare two-rank promotion to Rear
Admiral, posthumously.
The loss of the German aircraft aboard I-29 slows the Japanese jet
program greatly, but their blueprints, flown to Tokyo, arrive safely. They are
used immediately to develop the Nakajima Kikka ("Orange Blossom") based on the
Me-262 and the Mitsubishi J8MI Shusui ("Sword Stroke") based on Me-163.
5 August 1944:
Before her loss becomes known, I-29 is transferred to
SubDiv 15, 6th Fleet.
10 October 1944:
Removed from the Navy List.
Authors' Notes:
[1] I-29's floatplane pilot has been incorrectly identified
as CPO Fujita Nobuo. In reality, Fujita was stationed on I-25 during that time.
[2] In May 1944, Captain Emi is lost returning to Japan as a passenger
aboard the U-1224/RO-501.
[3] In April 1945, Cdr Tomonaga attempts to return to Japan aboard
German U-234, the last U-boat to leave for the Far East before the collapse of
the Third Reich. En route, the war in Europe ends and the U-boat is ordered to
surrender to the US Navy in the mid-Atlantic. Rather than becoming a POW,
Tomonaga commits suicide by taking a lethal dose of Luminal.
[4] When Japan enters the war, the Axis Tripartite agreement is amended
to provide for an exchange of strategic materials and manufactured goods
between Europe and the Far East. Cargo ships make the initial "Yanagi"
exchanges, but when that is no longer possible, submarines are used.
[5] Rear Admiral Kojima and four other passengers are to travel to France
in November aboard I-34. When it is delayed in loading at Singapore, they
decide to take a train and rejoin the submarine in Penang, but I-34 is sunk by
submarine HMS TAURUS 30 miles S of Penang.
[6] It is possible that I-29 also carried a quantity of U-235 uranium
oxide ("yellow cake) that, after refining, can be used to manufacture an atomic
bomb.
[7] One of three sets set of Me-163 blueprints; the others were carried
aboard U-511 and later RO-501.
Special thanks for help in preparing this TROM go to Dr. Higuchi
Tatsuhiro of Japan, Steve Eckardt of Australia, Andrew Obluski of Poland,
Jean-Francois Masson of Canada and author Lawrence Paterson of UK. – Bob
Hackett and Sander Kingsepp.
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