Японская подводная лодка I-30: Миссия «Янаги» и гибель в Сингапуре

Imperial Japanese Navy Type B1 submarine

I 30 was a Type B1 submarine of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. After operating in the Indian Ocean she participated in a Yanagi mission, aimed at connecting Japan and Nazi Germany by submarine. She was the first Japanese submarine to reach Europe, arriving at Lorient, France in August 1942. I 30 returned to Singapore loaded with military technology and information, but hit a mine outside the harbour and sank. Only part of her cargo was salvaged.

The submarine was laid down at the Kure Naval Arsenal on 7 June 1939, launched on 17 September 1940, completed on 28 February 1942, and commissioned with Commander Endo Shinobu in command.

On 27 March 1942 the German Kriegsmarine naval staff requested that the Imperial Navy launch operations against Allied convoys in the Indian Ocean, and on 8 April the Japanese agreed to dispatch a detachment of submarines to the East Coast of Africa. Submarine Squadron 8's 1st Division was withdrawn from its base at Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands and assigned the task.

In mid June 1942 I 30 was sent on a Yanagi mission to Europe, rounding the Cape of Good Hope and entering the Atlantic en route to France. On 2 August she arrived in the Bay of Biscay and was escorted into Lorient by a powerful force of German M class minesweepers and Luftwaffe Junkers Ju 88 bombers. I 30 was the first Japanese submarine to arrive in Europe during World War II. The officers and crew of I 30 were greeted by Grossadmiral Erich Raeder, Admiral Karl Dönitz, and Captain Yokoi Tadao, the Japanese Naval Attaché to Germany. The officers and crew of I 30 were feted by their German allies, travelling to Berlin where Commander Endo was presented to Adolf Hitler, and returning to Lorient via a sightseeing trip to Paris. In the meantime the I 30s cargo of of mica and of shellac was unloaded. They also supplied the Germans with blueprints of the Type 91 aerial torpedo. I 30 departed Lorient on 22 August carrying a Japanese engineer as a passenger.

On 8 October 1942 I 30 arrived at Penang to refuel and replenish, then sailed for Singapore, arriving early on the 13th. Just after 4 p. m. the same day, she departed for Japan, but three miles east of Keppel Harbour hit a British mine and quickly sank with the loss of 13 men. Divers from No. 101 Navy Repair Unit recovered some of her cargo, including most of the 20 mm guns, torpedo data computers, and the radar blueprints, though they were found to be unusable after their immersion in salt water. The radar equipment was completely destroyed. Between August 1959 and February 1960 the wreck was salvaged and then scrapped by Hokusei Sempaku Kogyo K. K.