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Imperial Japanese Navy submarine I-26
 I-26 was one of 20 Imperial Japanese Submarine B1 type. This was the most numerous class of Japanese submarines. These boats were fast, long-ranged, and carried a seaplane, which could be launched on a forward catapult. However, I-17 carried the catapult aft, and her hangar opened aft as well.
They were used extensively and had their share of successes. On August 31, 1942, I-26 damaged aircraft carrier USS Saratoga with one torpedo hit (out of six launched), removing her from the Guadalcanal campaign at a critical time. On October 13, it was again the turn of I-26 as she finished off USS Juneau, one of several damaged and unescorted American cruisers which survived the First Naval Battle of Guadalcanal the evening before. The loss of life on USS Juneau was extreme, including the five Sullivan brothers.
I-26 survived until October 1944, when she became an operational loss off Leyte.
Specifications, B1 type:
Displacement (srf/sub tons): 2,584/3,654
Dimensions (L*B*D feet): 356`6*38`6*16`8
Propulsion: 2*6,200hp diesel engines, 2*1,000hp electric motors, 2 shafts
Speed (srf/sub knots): 23.5/8.0
Range (srf/sub n/miles@knots): 14,000@16/60@3
Diving depth (feet): 330
Complement: 94-101 officers and crew
Torpedo: 6*21" (533mm) bow torpedo tubes, total of 17 torpedoes
Mines: none
Armament: 1*140mm/50cal. Main deck gun, 2*25mm AA gun, one seaplane bomber
Construction
20 units built, all launched between 1940 and 1943.
During the war, the aircraft facilities were removed from some boats in order to mount a second 140mm gun.
In 1944, I-36 and I-37 were modified to carry four Kaiten- small, one man, special attack suicide submarine, and I-36 was later modified again to carry six Kaiten.
Of these 20 boats, 95% were lost during the war, and only I-36 survived.
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United States |
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Greetings USS The Sullivans, USS The Sullivans ( DD-537), May 4, 1963 |
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Marshall Is. |
2001 |
The Sullivan brothers.USS Juneau sunk 13th Nov' 1942 by Japanese sub' I-26 |
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