Жапонның "Алтын" суасты кемесі: I-52 тарихы

1st class submarine of the Imperial Japanese Navy

I 52 (伊号第五二潜水艦 (伊52)), code named Momi (樅) was a Type C3 cargo submarine of the Imperial Japanese Navy used during World War II for a secret mission to Lorient, France, then occupied by Germany, during which she was sunk.

She is also known as Japan's "Golden Submarine", because she was carrying a cargo of gold to Germany as payment for matériel and technology. There has been speculation that a peace proposal to the Allies was contained on board the I 52 as well, but this is unlikely on two counts: there is no evidence that the Japanese government was interested in peace proposals or negotiated settlements at that stage in the war; and the Japanese kept an open dialogue with their diplomatic attachés via radio and diplomatic voucher through Russia, and had no need for long and uncertain transfer via a submarine bound for a Nazi controlled area of western Europe. It is believed that 800 kg (1,760 lbs) of uranium oxide awaited I 52 for her return voyage at Lorient according to Ultra decrypts. It has been speculated that this was for the Japanese to develop a radiological weapon (a so called "dirty bomb") for use against the United States. (The amount of unenriched uranium oxide would not have been enough to create an atomic bomb, though if used in a nuclear reactor it could have created poisonous fission products). She was also to be fitted with a snorkel device at Lorient. In addition, 35 to 40 tons of secret documents, drawings, and strategic cargo awaited I 52s return trip to Japan: T 5 acoustic torpedoes, a Jumo 213 A motor used on the long nosed Focke Wulf Fw 190D fighter, radar equipment, vacuum tubes, ball bearings, bombsights, chemicals, alloy steel, and optical glass.

This class of submarines was designed and built by Mitsubishi Corporation, between 1943 and 1944, as cargo carriers. They were quite long and carried a crew of up to 94. They also had a long cruising range at a speed of The Japanese constructed only three of these submarines during World War II (I 52, Japanese submarine I 53 and Japanese submarine I 55), although twenty were planned. They were the largest submarines ever built at that time, before the enormous Sentoku subs were built, and were known as the most advanced Japanese submarines of their time. The keel of I 52 was laid on 18 March 1942, and she was commissioned on 28 December 1943 into the 11th Submarine Squadron, Kure Naval District, with Commander Kameo Uno as the commanding officer. In January 1944, Admiral Mineichi Koga, the commander of the Combined Fleet, selected I 52 for a special mission to Germany. The gold was payment for German technology. She also carried 14 passengers, primarily Japanese technicians, who were to study German technology in anti aircraft guns and engines for torpedo boats. On the night of 22 June 1944 about west of the Cape Verde Islands off the coast of Africa, I 52 rendezvoused with U 530 was launched in ., a Type IXC/40 U boat commanded by Kapitänleutnant Kurt Lange. U 530 provided her with fuel, and also transferred a Naxos FuMB 7 radar detector, and an Enigma coding machine, along with two radar operators, Petty Officers Kurt Schulze and Rolf Behrendt, and a German liaison officer for the trip through the Bay of Biscay, Kapitänleutnant Alfred Schafer.

On 30 August 1944, the Kriegsmarine officially declared I 52 sunk in the Bay of Biscay as of 25 July 1944, with all 95 crew, 14 passengers, and three German personnel. The Imperial Japanese Navy declared I 52 missing on 2 August 1944, and struck her from service on 10 December 1944 as sunk. The vessel was found nearly 20 mile (32 km) from the datum quoted by the U. S. Navy at the time of the sinking, but within of the coordinates computed by Meridian. Meridian's analysts used historical ship logs from the U. S. task force as well as from the German U boat to reconstruct the events of the battle and correct navigation errors using a process called "re navigation," or RENAV. Her conning tower is intact and her hull number is still visible. The bow is broken up, probably due to impact on the bottom, and a large hole, probably caused by one of the torpedoes, is aft of the conning tower. Debris was scattered over a large area. Plans were made to raise the sub and recover the gold. The Japanese government objected, indicating that they considered the wreck site a grave. Tidwell worked on the proper procedures with the Japanese government and received the approval of the war graves authorities in Japan. Tidwell's team took down a Japanese naval ensign and affixed it to the wrecked submarine. A metal box from the debris field was brought to the surface in the hope that it would contain some of the sunken gold (worth US$25 million at that time – US$109,085,000 (~109 millions of US$) in 2020), but when opened, the salvors were disappointed to find not gold, but opium. It was dumped overboard. The plan was to recover the entire conning tower, diplomatic pouches, gold, coding equipment, (Japanese and German) and more. The recovered items would be taken to New Orleans for cleaning, conservation, and corrosion treatment to prepare for an exhibition. Mandalay Bay Casino had offered $20 million for the exhibition. After three years in Las Vegas everything except the gold would be returned to Japan to be placed at the city of Kure in a permanent exhibition. There are no full size Japanese World War II submarines on display anywhere in the world; however, captured Japanese midget submarines are on display at the Admiral Nimitz Museum in Fredericksburg, Texas, at the USS Bowfin Submarine Museum & Park, close to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and at the Australian War Memorial, Canberra. The Japan Times reported that Tidwell intended to return to the site and raise the submarine in November 2005 or May 2006. However, as of March 2021, Tidwell's plans have not been fulfilled.

In 2000 the National Geographic Society commissioned and produced a documentary called, Submarine I 52: Search for WWII Gold, on the I 52 and Tidwell's salvage effort. The October 1999 issue of the National Geographic featured an article on the I 52 sinking and salvage.