View source for Japanese submarine I-176

{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=I-176 submarine.jpg
|Ship caption=
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{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=[[Empire of Japan]]
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Empire of Japan|naval}}
|Ship name=''I-176''
|Ship namesake=
|Ship ordered=1939
|Ship builder=[[Kure Naval Arsenal]]
|Ship laid down=22 June 1940
|Ship launched=7 June 1941
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=4 August 1942
|Ship decommissioned=
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service
|Ship struck=
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship fate=Sunk 16 May 1944
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class=[[Kaidai type submarine|''Kaidai'' type]], [[Kaidai type submarine#Kaidai VII (I-176 class)|''KD7''-class]]
|Ship displacement=*1,630&nbsp;[[long ton]]s (1,656 [[Tonne|t]]) surfaced
*2,602&nbsp;[[long ton]]s (2,644 [[Tonne|t]]) submerged
|Ship length={{convert|105.5|m|ft|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|8.25|m|ft|abbr=on}}
|Ship draught=
|Ship draft={{convert|4.6|m|ft|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=*2 × Kampon Mk.1B Model 8 diesels, 2 shafts; 8,000&nbsp;bhp
*Electric motors: 1,800&nbsp;shp
|Ship speed=*{{convert|23.1|kn|lk=in}} surfaced
*{{convert|8|kn}} submerged
|Ship range=*{{convert|8000|nmi|lk=in|abbr=on}} at {{convert|16|kn}} surfaced
*{{convert|50|nmi|abbr=on}} at {{convert|5|kn}} submerged
|Ship endurance=
|Ship test depth={{convert|80|m|ft|abbr=on}}
|Ship complement=86
|Ship sensors=
|Ship EW=
|Ship armament=*6 × 533&nbsp;mm forward [[torpedo tube]]s
*12 × [[Type 95 torpedo]]es
*1 × [[12 cm 11th Year Type naval gun|{{convert|120|mm|in|abbr=on}}]] 11th Year Type Naval gun
*2 × [[Type 96 25 mm AT/AA Gun|Type 96 25mm AA guns]]
|Ship aircraft=
|Ship notes=
}}
|}

The '''Japanese submarine ''I-176''''' ('''''I-76''''', until 20 May 1942) was a [[Kaidai type submarine|"Kaidai" type]] of [[cruiser submarine]] active in [[World War II]]. A KD7 [[ship class|sub-class]] boat, ''I-176'' was built for the [[Imperial Japanese Navy]] (IJN) in the early 1940s.

The most successful submarine of her class, she severely damaged the [[heavy cruiser]] {{USS|Chester|CA-27|6}} in October 1942 and sank the submarine {{USS|Corvina|SS-226|6}} in November 1943, the only Japanese submarine to sink one of her American counterparts. ''I-176'' was sunk in May 1944 in the western [[Pacific Ocean|Pacific]] by the American [[destroyers]] {{USS|Franks|DD-554|2}}, {{USS|Haggard|DD-555|2}} and {{USS|Johnston|DD-557|2}}.

== Service ==

''I-176'' was ordered in 1939 but construction did not begin until 1941 at the [[Kure Naval Arsenal]] in [[Hiroshima prefecture]]. On completion in 1942 the vessel was renamed from ''I-76'' to ''I-176''<ref>{{cite book|last=Carpenter|first=Dorr|author2=Polmar, Norman|title=Submarines of the Imperial Japanese Navy|publisher=Naval Institute Press|year=1986|isbn=0870216821}}</ref> and was sent initially to [[Chuuk Lagoon|Truk]] in September 1942. On October 13, an American carrier group was sighted off the [[Solomon Islands]]. Japanese submarines in the area, including the ''I-176'', were ordered to travel north to carry out an attack but the ''I-176'' was the only Japanese vessel to successfully engage one of the US vessels.<ref name="Boyd">{{cite book|last=Boyd|first=Carl|author2=Yoshida, Akihito|title=The Japanese Submarine Force and World War II|page=102|publisher=Naval Institute Press|year=2002|isbn=1-55750-015-0}}</ref> She attacked {{USS|Chester|CA-27}} on October 20, 1942, at {{coord|13|31|S|163|17|E}} some {{convert|120|mi}} southeast of the island of [[Makira]] (then known as San Cristobal).<ref>{{cite book|last=Cressman|first=Robert|title=The official chronology of the U.S. Navy in World War II|page=124|publisher=Naval Institute Press|year=2000}}</ref> The cruiser was badly damaged, suffering 11 killed and 12 wounded. After returning to [[Sydney]], [[Australia]], to carry out repairs, ''Chester'' had to withdraw to [[Norfolk, Virginia]], for repairs which kept her out of the war until September 1943.<ref name="DANFS-Chester">{{cite web|title=Chester |url=http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/c7/chester-ii.htm |work=Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships |publisher=Department of the Navy – Naval Historical Center |access-date=2009-05-30 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100414102109/http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/c7/chester-ii.htm |archive-date=2010-04-14 }}</ref>

[[File:USS Corvina SS-226.jpg|left|thumb|USS ''Corvina'', sunk by ''I-176'' on November 16, 1943]]
''I-176'' was subsequently converted to a transport role, with her [[12 cm 11th Year Type naval gun|{{convert|120|mm|in|abbr=on}}]] gun being removed and fittings for a landing craft being added.<ref>{{cite book|last=Stille|first=Mark|author2=Bryan, Tony|title=Imperial Japanese Navy Submarines 1941–45|page=18|publisher=Osprey Publishing|year=2007|isbn=978-1-84603-090-1}}</ref> She was ordered to [[Guadalcanal]], where she successfully carried out the first submarine resupply operation of the Japanese garrison on the island in December 1942.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hoyt|first=Edwin Palmer|title=Guadalcanal|page=266|publisher=Stein and Day|year=1982|isbn=0-8128-2735-X}}</ref> A second supply mission the following month failed. In March 1943 ''I-176'' narrowly avoided destruction when she was attacked at [[Lae]], [[Papua New Guinea]] by US [[B-25 Mitchell]] bombers while unloading supplies.<ref>{{cite book|last=Stern|first=Robert C.|title=The hunter hunted: submarine versus submarine : encounters from World War I to the present|page=139|publisher=Naval Institute Press|year=2007|isbn=978-1-59114-379-6}}</ref> Her commander, Yahachi Tanabe, was wounded by machine-gun fire from the bombers and had to relinquish command a few days later.<ref>{{cite book|last=Smith|first=Peter C.|title=Midway: Dauntless Victory: Fresh Perspectives on America's Seminal Naval Victory of World War II|page=243|publisher=Pen & Sword Maritime|year=2008}}</ref>

After several months of repairs in Japan, ''I-176'' returned to Lae, Sio and [[Finschhafen]] in New Guinea to carry out a number of successful supply runs between July and October 1943. The submarine was ordered to Truk in November 1943 but her instructions were intercepted by US [[signals intelligence]]. Several American submarines in the Truk area were informed that a Japanese submarine was in the vicinity. A message from ''I-176'' was intercepted which reported that the vessel had "Received direct torpedo hit en route to Truk, no damage". It had presumably been attacked by an American submarine but had escaped damage, most likely due to a defective torpedo. On November 16, the probable attacker, {{USS|Corvina}}, was itself sunk by ''I-176''.<ref>{{cite book|last=Jones|first=David|author2=Nunan, Peter|title=U.S. subs down under: Brisbane, 1942–1945|page=196|publisher=Naval Institute Press|year=2004|isbn=1-59114-644-5}}</ref> The ''I-176's'' log recorded that it had fired three torpedoes, claiming two hits which destroyed the target. The loss of the ''Corvina'' was not announced until March 14, 1944; she was the only American submarine to be sunk by a Japanese submarine in the entire war.<ref name="DANFS-Corvina">{{cite web|title=Corvina |url=http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/c14/corvina.htm |work=Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships |publisher=Department of the Navy – Naval Historical Center |access-date=2009-05-29 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100414111940/http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/c14/corvina.htm |archive-date=2010-04-14 }}</ref>

''I-176'' returned to Kure in Japan for an overhaul between the end of November 1943 and mid-March 1944. She subsequently returned to Truk in April 1944 and was despatched to [[Buka Island]] at the far western end of the [[Solomon Islands archipelago]], where she was to undertake another supply run. She was spotted by a US patrol plane whose radio reports summoned the destroyers {{USS|Franks|DD-554}}, {{USS|Haggard|DD-555}} and {{USS|Johnston|DD-557}} to the scene.<ref>{{cite book|last=Holmes|first=W.J.|title=Double-Edged Secrets: U. S. Naval Intelligence Operations in the Pacific During World War II|page=171|publisher=Naval Institute Press|year=1998|isbn=1-55750-324-9}}</ref> On the morning of May 16, the destroyers began to comb the waters off Buka. ''Haggard'' made a sonar contact at {{coord|4|1|S|156|29|E}}.<ref>{{cite book|last=Heden|first=Karl E.|title=Sunken Ships World War II|page=262|publisher=Branden Books|year=2006|isbn=0-8283-2118-3}}</ref> at 21:45 and began dropping [[depth charge]]s. The other destroyers joined in, carrying out a series of depth-charge attacks that continued for several hours. The following morning, the destroyers found evidence of the destruction of ''I-176'' – fragments of [[sandalwood]] and [[Cork (material)|cork]] and paper marked with Japanese words. There were no survivors.<ref>{{cite book|last=Roscoe|first=Theodore|title=United States destroyer operations in World War II|pages=[https://archive.org/details/unitedstatesdest0000rosc/page/396 396–7]|publisher=Naval Institute Press|year=1953|isbn=0-87021-726-7|url=https://archive.org/details/unitedstatesdest0000rosc/page/396}}</ref> ''I-176'' was presumed lost on June 11, 1944, and was removed from the Japanese Navy List on July 10.
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==Notes==
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==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.combinedfleet.com/I-176.htm IJN Submarine I-176: Tabular Record of  Movement] – Bob Hackett & Sander Kingsepp

{{Kaidai type submarine}}
{{May 1944 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:I-176}}
[[Category:Type KD7 submarines]]
[[Category:Kaidai-class submarines]]
[[Category:Ships built by Kure Naval Arsenal]]
[[Category:1941 ships]]
[[Category:World War II submarines of Japan]]
[[Category:Japanese submarines lost during World War II]]
[[Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean]]
[[Category:Warships lost in combat with all hands]]
[[Category:Submarines lost with all hands]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in May 1944]]