SENSUIKAN!
(RO-46)
IJN Submarine RO-47:
Tabular Record of
Movement
© 2001-2020 Bob Hackett & Sander Kingsepp
Revision 4
28 December 1942:
Tamano. Laid down at Mitsui Zosensho Shipyard as a 960-ton
type K6 submarine.
30 August 1943:
Launched and numbered RO-47.
5 November 1943:
LtCdr (Cdr, posthumously) Hamazumi Yoshihisa
(61)(former CO of RO-104) is appointed the Chief Equipping Officer (CEO) of
RO-45 and RO-47 as additional duty.
20 December 1943:
LtCdr (Cdr, posthumously) Nishiuchi Shoichi
(60)(former CO of RO-63) is appointed the CEO.
31 January 1944:
Completed, commissioned and attached to Maizuru Naval
District. LtCdr Nishiuchi Shoichi is the Commanding Officer.
27 March 1944:
Following the sighting of an enemy task group heading
for Palau, RO-47, I-44, I-183, RO-116 and RO-117 are ordered to proceed to an
area E of Palau. Departs Kure.
28 March 1944:
Arrives at Tokuyama Fuel Depot to refuel.
29 March 1944:
Departs Tokuyama.
5 April 1944:
Ordered to return to Kure.
13 April 1944:
Arrives at Kure.
14 May 1944:
Reassigned to SubDiv 34, Sixth Fleet.
13 June 1944: Operation "A-GO" - The Defense of the Marianas:
Admiral
Toyoda Soemu, (33)(former CO of HYUGA), CinC, Combined Fleet, activates "A-Go"
and orders Vice Admiral Takagi Takeo (39)(former CO of MUTSU), CinC, Sixth
Fleet (Submarines) to redeploy his boats to the Marianas.
14 June 1944:
Departs Yokosuka to patrol off Saipan.
15 June 1944: American Operation "FORAGER" - The Invasion of Saipan,
Marianas:
Vice Admiral (later Admiral) Richmond K. Turner's (USNA '08) Task
Force 52 lands Marine LtGen Holland M. Smith's V Amphibious Corps and the
invasion of Saipan begins.
July 1944:
Communications between Takagi's Sixth Fleet on Saipan are
disrupted by the invasion. Command of the Sixth Fleet's submarines passes to
Rear Admiral Owada Noboru (44)(former CO of YAMASHIRO), ComSubRon 7 at Truk. He
orders most of the Sixth Fleet's submarines to withdraw from the Marianas.
10 July 1944:
Vice Admiral Miwa Shigeyoshi (39)(former CO of KINU) at
Kure assumes command of the Sixth Fleet from Rear Admiral Owada at Truk.
Departs her patrol area.
16 July 1944:
Arrives at Maizuru. Repairs and overhaul. Later
transferred to Kure.
1 August 1944:
Lt (promoted LtCdr 1 November; Cdr, posthumously)
Ishikawa Nagao (65)(former torpedo officer of I-41) is appointed the CO.
15 September 1944: American Operation "STALEMATE II" - The Invasion of
the Palaus:
Admiral (later Fleet Admiral) William F. Halsey's (USNA '04)
Third Fleet lands the First Marine Division on Peleliu and the Army's 81st
Division on Angaur Island.
17 September 1944:
Departs Kure to attack American amphibious forces
invading Peleliu, Palau. RO-47 is sent to an area S of Palau
24 September 1944:
Lt Ishikawa is ordered to proceed at full speed to
the E of Palau. RO-47 is not heard from thereafter.
26 September 1944:
NE of Palau. LtCdr Edwin K. Winn's McCOY REYNOLDS
(DE-440) is making a solitary run from Peleliu to Guam to join Task Force 57. At
0103, McCOY REYNOLDS' SL radar detects a target on the surface at 9,200 yards.
When LtCdr Winn challenges it, the contact disappears from his radar.
Sonar reports an underwater contact at 2,500 yds. At 0218, McCOY
REYNOLDS fires a barrage of twenty-four Mark 10 "Hedgehog" projector charges.
The first salvo misses. LtCdr Winn makes six more attacks until 0615, when a
heavy underwater explosion is felt. Soon, diesel oil and splintered wood
planking spread across the surface at 09-19N, 136-44E. They signal the end of
the submarine - probably RO-47.
2 November 1944:
Presumed lost with all 76 hands off the Palaus.
10 March 1944:
Removed from the Navy List.
Authors' Note:
Thanks go to Dr. Higuchi Tatsuhiro of Japan.
– Bob Hackett and Sander Kingsepp.
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