Class overview
Name	Type-C submarines
Builders	Kure Naval Arsenal Sasebo Naval Arsenal Kawasaki Shipbuilding Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
Operators	Imperial Japanese Navy
Preceded by	Junsen Type B
Succeeded by	Type D / Sen'yu-Dai Type
Subclasses	Type-C (I-16-class) Type-C Modified (I-52-class)
Built	1937-1944
In commission	1940-1945

The Cruiser submarine Type-C (巡潜丙型潜水艦, Junsen Hei-gata sensuikan) was one of the first classes of submarine in the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) to serve during the Second World War. Type-C submarines were better armed than the Type-A and Type-B. The Type-Cs were also used as Kō-hyōteki or Kaiten mother ships, for this reason they were not equipped with aviation facilities.

Class variants

The Type-C submarines were divided into three classes:

• Type-C (丙型(伊十六型), Hei-gata, I-16-class)
• Type-C Mod. (丙型改(伊五十二型), Hei-gata Kai, I-52-class)
• Type V22B (第379号艦型, Dai-379-Gō kan-gata, Vessel number 379-class). However, the Vessel number 379-class was never built.

Type-C (I-16 class)

Project number S38 and S38B (Latter batch). They were based on the I-7 class. Eight boats were built between 1937 and 1944 under the Maru 3 Programme (Boats 44 - 48) and the Maru Kyū Programme (Boats 376 - 378).

• Boats in class

Boat No.	Boat	Builder	Laid down	Launched	Completed	Results	Fate
44	I-16 [1]	Mitsubishi, Kōbe Shipyard Kure Naval Arsenal (after launch)	15-09-1937	28-07-1938	20-03-1940	Sank Yugoslav merchant ship Susak on 06-06-1942. Sank Greek merchant vessel Aghios Georgios IV on 07-06-1942. Sank Yugoslav merchant ship Supetar on 12-06-1942. Sank Swedish merchantman Eknaren on 01-07-1942.	Sunk by USS England northeast of Buin at 05°10′S 158°10′E / 5.167°S 158.167°E / -5.167; 158.167 on 19-05-1944.
45	I-18	Sasebo Naval Arsenal	25-08-1937	12-11-1938	31-01-1941	Sank Norwegian merchant ship Wilford on 08-06-1942. Sank Dutch merchant vessel De Weert on 01-07-1942. Sank RMS Mundra on 08-07-1942.	Sunk by USS Fletcher southeast of Guadalcanal at 14°15′S 161°53′E / 14.250°S 161.883°E / -14.250; 161.883 on 11-02-1943.
46	I-20	Mitsubishi, Kōbe Shipyard	16-11-1937	25-01-1939	26-09-1940	Damaged HMS Ramillies on 09-05-1942 by Kō-hyōteki. Damaged RMS British Loyalty on 09-05-1942 by Kō-hyōteki. Sank Panamanian merchant ship Johnstown on 05-06-1942. Sank Greek merchant vessel Christos Markettos on 08-06-1942. Sank RMS Mahronda 11-06-1942. Sank Panamanian merchantman Hellenic Trader on 12-06-1942. Sank RMS Clifton Hall on 12-06-1942. Sank Norwegian merchant ship Goviken on 30-06-1942. Sank RMS Steaua Romana on 30-06-1942. Damaged unknown merchant ship on 03-12-1942 by Kō-hyōteki.	(1). Sunk by USS Ellet at New Hebrides on 03-09-1943.[2] (2). Sunk by USS Eaton at Vella Lavella on 01-10-1943.
47	I-22	Kawasaki, Kōbe Shipyard	25-11-1937	23-12-1938	10-03-1941		Sunk by a PBY-5A Catalina flying boat near Malaita in the Solomon Islands at 11°22′S 162°20′E / 11.367°S 162.333°E / -11.367; 162.333 on 6-10-1942.
48	I-24	Sasebo Naval Arsenal	05-12-1938	12-11-1939	31-10-1941	Sank HMAS Kuttabul on 31-05-1942 by Kō-hyōteki. Sank Australian merchant ship Iron Chieftain on 03-06-1942. Damaged RMS Orestes on 09-06-1942. Damaged USS Alchiba on 07-12-1942 by Kō-hyōteki.	Rammed and sunk by USS PC-487 at Kiska 53°16′N 174°24′E / 53.267°N 174.400°E / 53.267; 174.400 on 11-06-1943.
376	I-46 (Latter batch)	Sasebo Naval Arsenal	21-11-1942	03-06-1943	29-02-1944		Probably lost in an accident or sunk by enemy attack east of Leyte Gulf, after 26-10-1944.[3][4]: 567 : 585
377	I-47 (Latter batch)	Sasebo Naval Arsenal	21-11-1942	29-09-1943	10-07-1944	Sank USS Mississinewa on 20-11-1944 by Kaiten.	Converted to a Kaiten mother ship, at the end of 1944, decommissioned on 30-11-1945, sunk as a target off the Gotō Islands on 01-04-1946.
378	I-48 (Latter batch)	Sasebo Naval Arsenal	19-06-1943	12-12-1943	05-09-1944		Converted to a Kaiten mother ship, end of 1944, sunk by USS Corbesier and USS Conklin at Ulithi 09°45′N 138°20′E / 9.750°N 138.333°E / 9.750; 138.333 on 23-01-1945.[5]

Type-C Mod. (I-52 class)

Main article: I-52-class submarine

Project number S37D. Twenty boats were planned under the Maru Tsui Programme (Boats 625 - 632) and the Kai-Maru 5 Programme (Boats 5141 - 5155). According to their Project number, they were one of the variants of the Type-B submarine. Seventeen boats were cancelled in late 1943, because the IJN was planning to build the Type E submarine [ja] (戊型潜水艦, Bo-gata sensuikan) which was to become the primary submarine in 1945.

• Boats in class

Boat No.	Boat	Builder	Laid down	Launched	Completed	Results	Fate
625	I-52	Kure Naval Arsenal	18-03-1942	10-11-1942	28-12-1943		Sunk by aircraft from USS Bogue west of Cap-Vert at 15°16′N 39°55′W / 15.267°N 39.917°W / 15.267; -39.917 on 24-06-1944.
626	I-53	Kure Naval Arsenal	15-05-1942	24-12-1942	20-02-1944	Damaged USS Marathon 21-07-1945 by Kaiten. Sank USS Underhill on 24-07-1945 by Kaiten. Damaged USS Earl V. Johnson on 04-08-1945 by Kaiten.	Converted to a Kaiten mother ship in July 1944. Decommissioned on 30-11-1945, sunk as a target off the Gotō Islands on 01-04-1946.
628	I-55	Kure Naval Arsenal	15-06-1942	20-04-1943	20-04-1944		Sunk by USS Wyman, USS Reynolds and aircraft from USS Hoggatt Bay east of the Mariana Islands on 28-07-1944.[6]
630 632	I-57 I-59						Cancelled in 1943.
5141 - 5155

Characteristics

Footnotes

Bibliography

• "Rekishi Gunzō"., History of Pacific War Vol.17 I-Gō Submarines, Gakken (Japan), January 1998, ISBN 4-05-601767-0
• Rekishi Gunzō, History of Pacific War Vol.35 Kō-hyōteki and Kōryū, Gakken (Japan), April 2002, ISBN 4-05-602741-2
• Rekishi Gunzō, History of Pacific War Vol.36 Kairyū and Kaiten, Gakken (Japan), May 2002, ISBN 4-05-602693-9
• Rekishi Gunzō, History of Pacific War Extra, "Perfect guide, The submarines of the Imperial Japanese Forces", Gakken (Japan), March 2005, ISBN 4-05-603890-2
• Model Art Extra No.537, Drawings of Imperial Japanese Naval Vessels Part-3, Model Art Co. Ltd. (Japan), May 1999, Book code 08734-5
• The Maru Special, Japanese Naval Vessels No.31 Japanese Submarines I, Ushio Shobō (Japan), September 1979, Book code 68343-31

See also

• Cruiser submarine