SENSUIKAN!
(RO-46)
IJN Submarine RO-44:
Tabular Record of
Movement
© 2001-2020 Bob Hackett & Sander Kingsepp
Revision 3
14 February 1942:
Tamano. Laid down at at Mitsui Zosensho as a 960-ton type
K6 submarine.
1 November 1942:
Numbered RO-44 and provisionally attached to Maizuru
Naval District.
11 November 1942:
Launched as RO-44.
25 July 1943:
LtCdr (later Cdr) Hashimoto Mochitsura (59)(former CO of
I-158) is appointed the Chief Equipping Officer (CEO). [1]
13 September 1943:
Completed and attached to Maizuru Naval District.
Assigned to SubRon 11 for working-up. LtCdr Hashimoto Mochitsura is the
Commanding Officer.
13-14 November 1943:
Iyo Nada, Inland Sea. RO-44 conducts several
tests with an experimental air-search radar, borrowed from the Kure Naval Air
Station. Rear Admiral Ishizaki Noboru (42), ComSubRon 11, reports the results
of the tests, but is rebuffed for conducting tests without the prior approval
of the Navy Technical Department. [2]
November 1943:
Departs Kure for Maizuru Naval Base.
25 December 1943:
RO-44 is reassigned to Captain (Rear Admiral,
posthumously) Shimizu Taro's (48) SubDiv 34 in Vice Admiral (Admiral,
posthumously) Takagi Takeo's (39) Sixth Fleet.
28 December 1944:
Departs Maizuru for Truk in company of RO-39.
6 January 1944:
Arrives at Nechap submarine base, Truk.
12 January 1944:
Truk. Embarks fresh and frozen provisions from the
submarine tender HEIAN MARU.
15 January 1944:
At 1630 departs Truk on her first war patrol to
Espiritu Santo area, exiting the lagoon via South Pass.
31 January 1944: American Operation "FLINTLOCK" - The Invasion of the
Marshalls:
Task Force 58 lands the 4th Marine Division and the Army's 7th
Infantry Division. They capture the Kwajalein, Roi-Namur and Majuro atolls.
17 February 1944: American Operation "HAILSTONE" - The Attack on
Truk:
Task Force 58's five fleet carriers and four light carriers, supported
by six battleships, ten cruisers and 28 destroyers, launch air attacks on
Japanese ships in the lagoon, airfields and shore installations. They sink 31
transports and 10 naval vessels (two cruisers, four destroyers and four
auxiliary vessels), destroy nearly 200 aircraft and damage severely about 100
more.
At 1326 (JST) the inbound RO-44 is ordered to proceed to a position 40
miles NE of Truk at flank speed to intercept two enemy battleships,
two cruisers and two destroyers sighted in that area. At 1647 RO-44 is ordered
to assume a position 40 miles NE of Natsushima (Dublon) Island.
18-21 February 1944: American Operation "CATCHPOLE" - The Invasion of
Eniwetok:
The V Amphibious Corps Reserve (Marine 22nd Regiment and the Army's
106th Infantry Regiment) capture Engebi Island, Eniwetok and Parry atolls.
19 February 1944:
On that day, the USN Fleet Radio Unit, Melbourne,
Australia (FRUMEL) provides the translation of the following message from the
CO of RO-44, transmitted on 18 February at 2255:
"At 2214 when 066 degrees 32 miles from Natsushima two unidentified
aircraft approached so I submerged."
21 February 1944:
Returns to Truk. Anchored off the Nechap submarine
base.
28 February 1944:
Departs Truk on her first supply run to Mili Atoll,
Marshalls, carrying a cargo of food, mail, 25-mm ammunition and a set of new
code books for the local IJN garrison. The food is carried in rubber containers
secured to the afterdeck.
1 March 1944:
Soon after departure the clamps securing the rubber
containers give way in heavy seas and the whole shipment is washed overboard.
LtCdr Hashimoto returns to Truk.
2 March 1944:
Departs Truk on a new supply run to Mili, carrying a
total of 11 tons of food and ammunition. On her way back RO-44 is ordered to
reconnoiter the Majuro anchorage in the Marshalls, now used by the US Navy as
a forward naval base.
9 March 1944:
After passing Jaluit, RO-44 approaches Mili from the
west and after sundown sights a task force comprising two carriers, a
battleship and a cruiser, all heading SE. At 1745 (JST), LtCdr Hashimoto
commences an approach for a four-torpedo salvo, although the distance is
excessive. He surfaces and chases the task force for about an hour. The
contact is lost. Around 2000 six destroyers appear and force RO-44 to dive.
11 March 1944:
Arrives off Mili. Surfaces after sundown and enters
the lagoon to disembark the cargo. Departs Mili, carrying 17 passengers.
13 March 1944:
At 0100, while approaching Majuro, a red light is
sighted ahead, forcing RO-44 to dive. At periscope depth, the number of
lights increases as the submarine gets closer to the atoll. LtCdr Hashimoto
believes the lights he sees are marking an enemy airfield. He then observes
an aircraft carrier, eight old type battleships and several tank landing
craft inside the lagoon. At dawn RO-44 departs the area and Hashimoto
reports his sightings to Truk.
29 March 1944:
Returns to Truk.
11 April 1944:
Departs Truk for a holding position S of the island
after an enemy task force is reported off Kavieng.
15 April 1944:
Returns to Truk.
17 April 1944:
Sixteen B-24 "Liberators" raid Truk. RO-44 and RO-42
dive, but receive minor damage by near misses underwater.
20 April 1944:
Early in the morning, Truk is bombed again by 17 B-24s.
RO-44 and other submarines submerge to the bottom of the shallow 80 ft deep
anchorage, but when LtCdr Hashimoto surfaces he finds his periscope has been
damaged in the raid. It can only be repaired in Japan.
RO-44 departs Truk for Kure. In the area E of Saipan she is bombed and
strafed by an American aircraft, but only damaged slightly by machine-gun
fire.
29 April 1944:
Arrives at Kure for repairs and overhaul. A Type
13 air-search radar is installed.
14 May 1944:
Lt (LtCdr, posthumously) Uesugi Sadao (65)(former torpedo
officer of RO-500) is appointed the CO.
15 May 1944:
Departs Kure for Saipan.
20 May 1944:
Arrives at Saipan.
23 May 1944:
Departs Saipan to reconnoiter Eniwetok anchorage,
Marshalls.
10 June 1944:
Conducts periscope reconnaissance of Brown Island,
Eniwetok.
11 June 1944:
Lt Uesugi reports about his observation results and
heads for the area NE of Eniwetok.
13 June 1944:
Receives an order to proceed to the Marianas area at
flank speed.
15 June 1944: American Operation "FORAGER" - The Invasion of
Saipan:
Vice Admiral (later Admiral) Richmond K. Turner's (USNA '08) (former
CO of ASTORIA, CA-34) Task Force 52 lands Marine LtGen Holland M. Smith's V
Amphibious Corps and the invasion begins. That day, Lt Uesugi transmits a
situation report. RO-44 is MIA thereafter.
16 June 1944:
120 miles E of Eniwetok. LtCdr Ernest B. Fay's USS
BURDEN R. HASTINGS (DE-19), en route from Majuro to Pearl Harbor, makes a
radar contact with a surfaced submarine, proceeding at 18 kts. She closes to
5,000 yds and challenges the unidentified submarine with her Aldis lamp at
0337, but there is no reply. The destroyer escort then fires four star shells
and the submarine crash-dives after the second burst.
At 0354 HASTINGS establishes a sonar contact dead ahead, at 1,700 yds.
LtCdr Fay fires a barrage of Mark 10 "Hedgehog" projector charges; all miss.
Contact with the submarine, radically maneuvering at the depth of 240 ft, is
regained at 1,500 yds and HASTINGS makes a second "Hedgehog" attack. Nine
seconds later a heavy explosion is felt throughout the entire ship and a
phosphorescent flash is observed in the water. BURDEN R. HASTINGS passes over
the spot of the explosion, dropping four depth charges, two set at 200 ft and
two at 300 ft.
Five seconds after all dropped depth charges are thought to have
detonated, HASTINGS is rocked by a tremendous explosion, temporarily disabling
her forward engine circuit breaker, lube oil pump and other electrical equipment.
At sunrise, an oil slick and debris are observed on the surface at 11-13N,
164-15E. A boat recovers fragments of deck planking, a section of the main vent
valve, an aluminum plate and the top of an oak box with a writing, identifying
the submarine as RO-44.
That same day, RO-44 is ordered to assume a position SE of the Marianas.
12 July 1944:
Presumed lost with all 72 hands off Saipan. Lt Uesugi is
promoted LtCdr posthumously.
10 August 1944:
Removed from the Navy List.
Authors' Note:
[1] Cdr Hashimoto's first name is misspelt as "Iko" in
several postwar sources.
[2] The English translation of Hashimoto's memoirs somehow confuses Iyo
Nada (the actual location of the tests) with Ise Bay.
Thanks go to Dr. Higuchi Tatsuhiro of Japan. Special thanks for
assistance in researching the IJN officers mentioned in this TROM go to Mr.
Jean-François Masson of Canada and to Hans Mcilveen of the Netherlands for
info on FRUMEL intercepts
– Bob Hackett and Sander Kingsepp
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