SENSUIKAN!

© 2002-2014 Bob Hackett & Sander Kingsepp
Revision 1

22 October 1943:
Kobe. Laid down at Mitsubish's Yard as a Type D1 transport submarine No. 5467.

28 April 1944:
Launched.

15 August 1944:
I-367 is completed, commissioned in the IJN and attached to Sasebo Naval District. LtCdr (Cdr, posthumously) Shinohara Shigeo (62)(former CO of I-6) is the CO. Assigned to SubRon 11 for working-up.

15 October 1944:
Assigned to Rear Admiral Owada Noboru's (former CO of YAMASHIRO) SubRon 7 (transports) with I-361, I-362, I-363, I-366, I-368, I-368, I-369, I-370 and I-371.

31 October 1944:
Departs Yokosuka for Minami-Torishima (Marcus Island), carrying 61-tons of food and ammunition.

6 November 1944:
Arrives at Minami-Torishima, unloads cargo.

12 November 1944:
Returns to Yokosuka.

15 November 1944:
LtCdr Taketomi Kunio (65)(former torpedo officer of I-54) is appointed the CO.

4 December 1944:
Departs Yokosuka carrying carrying 81-tons of food and ammunition for Wake Island.

17 December 1944:
Arrives at Wake. Unloads her cargo.

1 January 1945:
Arrives at Yokosuka. .

20 March 1945:
SubRon 7 is deactivated. I-367 is reassigned to SubDiv 15.

1 April 1945: American Operation "Iceberg" - The Invasion of Okinawa:
Vice Admiral (later Admiral) Raymond A. Spruance's Fifth Fleet, including more than 40 aircraft carriers, 18 battleships, 200 destroyers and over 1,000 support ships surround Okinawa. LtGen Simon B. Buckner Jr's Tenth Army (7th, 77th, 96th Infantry, 1st, 6th Marine divisions) makes amphibious landings and takes the island from Lt Gen Ushijima Mitsuru's well dug-in 32nd Army.

Late April 1945:
Yokosuka Navy Yard. Finishes conversion to carry five "kaiten" (Heavens shaker) human torpedoes.

1 May 1945:
Proceeds to Otsujima to embark kaiten

2-3 May 1945:
Conducts kaiten launch exercises off Otsujima.

4 May 1945:
Conducts a test dive off Otsujima with kaiten.

5 May 1945: The Seventh Kaiten Mission:
I-367 is the only boat in the "Shimbu" ("God's Warriors") mission. Since May 5th is "Tango no sekku" (Boys' Day), I-367 departs Otsujima for the area NW of Saipan flying the traditional Boys' Day carp streamer from her conning tower's radio antenna. The next day, I-366 hits a magnetic mine off Hikari and is damaged. Undergoes repairs and cannot take part in the "Shimbu" mission with I-367.

17 May 1945:
I-367 arrives at the assigned area 450 nms NW of Saipan and SE of Oki-Daito-Jima. Between 15 and 19 May LtCdr Taketomi makes four sound contacts with the enemy vessels, but fails to close the range each time.

27 May 1945:
E of Okinawa. About 0900 (I), LtCdr Taketomi sights a four-ship convoy of the Logistics Support Group's Servron 6. He launches two kaiten from the convoy's port beam piloted by FPO1C Chiba Saburo and Ono Masaaki. The crew of fleet tug USS SIOUX (ATF-75) spot one of the kaiten and sink it with their 40-mm Bofors AA gun. Taketomi reports sinking two merchants. [1]

Two other kaitens have rudder problems and one a malfunctioning engine and cannot be launched.

4 June 1945:
Arrives at Otsujima, proceeds to Kure on the following day.

14 June 1945:
Lt Imanishi Saburo (67)(former CO of RO-63) is appointed the CO.

19 July 1945: The Eighth Kaiten Mission:
I-367 is in the "Tamon" kaiten Group with I-53, I-58, I-47, I-363 and I-366. Departs Otsujima for an area 400 nms SE of Okinawa. No contacts are made during the patrol.

15 August 1945:
Off Bungo Suido. I-367 is returning to base when she receives a signal that the Emperor Hirohito (Showa) has broadcast a call for an end to the hostilities. Arrives at Otsujima, where the kaiten pilots leave the boat.

16 August 1945:
Returns to Kure.

September 1945:
Surrenders to Allied Forces.

30 November 1945:
Removed from the Navy List.

26 March 1946: Submarine Officers Conference, Washington, DC:
The attendees, including former ComSubPac Vice Admiral Charles A. Lockwood, are told that "orders are being issued to dispose of all Japanese submarines by sinking. Those in Japan will be sunk at once, those in Pearl Harbor when authorized by SCAP and at the discretion of CinCPAC dispose of all captured Japanese submarines by sinking."

1 April 1946: Operation "Road's End":
I-367 is stripped of all usable equipment and material and towed from Sasebo to an area off Goto Retto by submarine tender USS NEREUS (AS-17).

By 1310, the Japanese crew is evacuated. At 1318 the C-2 demolition charges aboard I-367 detonate and she sinks within 30 seconds as the second IJN submarine scuttled on that day. .

---

Authors' Notes:
[1] Some reports claim that a kaiten attacked USS GILLIGAN (DE-508) on 27 May 1945 and damaged her. In fact, GILLIGAN was hit in the starboard side during the "Kikusui No. 8" kamikaze operation.

Special thanks go to Derek Waller of the UK for providing additional sources on Operation "Roads End."and to Dr. Higuchi Tatsuhiro of Japan. Thanks for help with COs in Rev 1 also goes to Steve Eckhardt of Australia.

– Bob Hackett & Sander Kingsepp

---

Back to Submarine Page