IJN Submarine RO-107:
Tabular Record of
Movement
© 2001-2020 Bob Hackett & Sander Kingsepp
Revision 4
17 December 1941:
Laid down at Kure Navy Yard as a 525-ton
Kaisho (KS) Type submarine No. 217.
8 April 1942:
Renumbered RO-107 and provisionally attached to Sasebo
Naval District.
30 May 1942:
Launched as RO-107.
10 October 1942:
LtCdr (Cdr, posthumously) Kobayashi Shigeo (56)(the
current CO of I-171) is appointed the Chief Equipping Officer (CEO) of RO-106
and RO-107 as additional duty.
10 December 1942:
Lt (Cdr, posthumously) Egi Shoichi (60)(former CO of
RO-65) is appointed the CEO.
26 December 1942:
Completed, commissioned and attached to Sasebo Naval
District. Lt Egi Shoichi is the CO. Assigned to Kure SubRon for working-up.
15 March 1943:
Reassigned to Rear Admiral (later Vice Admiral) Harada
Kaku's (former CO of CVS CHIYODA) SubRon 7 in Vice Admiral Mikawa Gunichi's
(former CO of KIRISHIMA) Eighth Fleet/Southeast Area Fleet based at Rabaul.
31 March 1943:
Departs Sasebo for Rabaul.
12 April 1943:
Arrives at Rabaul.
22 April 1943:
Departs Rabaul to patrol E of Guadalcanal for her first
war patrol.
14 May 1943:
Returns to Rabaul.
27 May 1943:
Departs Rabaul to patrol E of Guadalcanal on her second
war patrol.
20 June 1943:
Returns to Rabaul.
30 June 1943: American Operation "TOENAILS" - The Invasion of New
Georgia:
Rear Admiral (later Admiral) Richmond K. Turner's Third Fleet
Amphibious Force, supported by land-based aircraft, lands Marines and Army
troops on Rendova and other islands in the New Georgia area, Solomons.
That day, RO-107 departs Rabaul for Rendova Island, Solomons,
on her third war patrol.
6 July 1943:
RO-107's last message is received from the area E of
Rendova.
1 August 1943:
Presumed lost with all 42 hands in the Solomons.
1 September 1943:
Removed from the Navy List.
Authors' Notes:
[1] RO-107 is usually listed as sunk by USS TAYLOR (DD-468)
on 12 July 1943. In reality, TAYLOR crippled RO-101 during that attack. Several
sources also credit the submarine chaser SC-669, which claimed a submarine off
the Espiritu Santo harbor entrance as early as May that year.
Orita Zenji, the former IJN submarine skipper and author of the book
"I-Boat Captain" has attributed the loss of RO-107 to USS RADFORD (DD-446) on 7
July 1943. Although the location is a good match, this is in all likelihood an
error, since RADFORD's attack took place on 1 July.
Thanks go to Dr. Higuchi Tatsuhiro of Japan. – Bob Hackett and Sander
Kingsepp.
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