Japanese submarine I-177
 I-176, a submarine of the same class as I-177
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Empire of Japan | |
| Name | I-177 |
| Commissioned | 28 December 1942 |
| Fate | Sunk by USS Samuel S. Miles (DE-183) on 3 October 1944 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | KD7 type Kaidai-class submarine |
| Complement | 101 |
Japanese Submarine I-177 was a Japanese KD7 type Kaidai-class submarine that saw service during World War II in the Imperial Japanese Navy. I-177 was commissioned on 28 December 1942 and was sunk by USS Samuel S. Miles (DE-183) on 3 October 1944 killing all of her 101-strong crew.
War crimes
Following the end of the Pacific War, Australian war crimes investigators investigated if the I-177 and its Commander Nakagawa were responsible for the sinking of the Australian Hospital Ship Centaur. The Centaur was torpedoed off the Australian east coast on 14 May 1943.[1] The torpedo ignited a fuel tank setting the ship ablaze. It rolled to port and sank within three minutes. Of the 332 crew, patients, medical staff and passengers on board, 268 died - only 64 were rescued.
Commander Nakagawa had survived the war because he had been transferred from the I-177 before it was sunk. Several of the investigators suspected that Nakagawa and I-177 were most likely responsible, but they were unable to establish this beyond reasonable doubt. However, Nakagawa was charged with ordering the machine-gunning of survivors from torpedoed ships on three different dates in February, 1944. He was convicted and sentenced to four years imprisonment at Sugamo Prison as a Class B war criminal.[2] Nakagawa refused to ever speak on the subject of the sinking of Centaur, even to defend himself, until his death in 1991.
Citations
- ^ Dennis & Grey 2009, p. 124
- ^ Jenkins, Battle Surface, pp. 284–5
References
- Combinedfleet.com HIJMS Submarine I-177: Tabular Record of Movement
- Dennis, Peter; Grey, Jeffrey (2009). The Oxford Companion to Australian Military History. Melbourne: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-551784-2.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Jenkins, David (1992). Battle Surface! Japan's Submarine War Against Australia 1942–44. Milsons Point, NSW: Random House Australia. ISBN 0-09-182638-1. OCLC 0091826381.