I-124, originally named Submarine Minelayer No. 52 and then named I-24 from before her launch until June 1938, was an of the Imperial Japanese Navy that served during the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II. During the latter conflict, she operated in support of the Japanese invasion of the Philippines and was sunk during anti-shipping operations off Australia in January 1942.
After she was renumbered I-124 in 1938, the number I-24 was assigned to a later submarine which also served during World War II.
Design
I-124 and her three sister ships — I-21 (later renumbered ), I-22 (later renumbered ) and I-23 (later renumbered ) — were the Imperial Japanese Navy's only submarine minelayers.Boyd and Yoshida, p. 18. They were known in Japan by the type name , commonly shortened to .
The Kiraisen-type design was based on that of the Imperial German Navy minelaying submarine , a Type UB III submarine which was the largest of seven German submarines transferred to Japan as a war reparation after World War I and served in the Imperial Japanese Navy as O-6 from 1920 to 1921. Like UB-125, the Kiraisen-type submarines had two diesel engines producing a combined , could carry 42 mines and had four torpedo tubes and a single deck gun — a gun on the Japanese submarines in contrast to a gun on UB-125. Compared to the German submarine, they were larger — longer and displacing 220 more tons on the surface and 300 more tons submerged — and had a longer range both on the surface — farther at — and submerged — farther at . They were slower than UB-125 both surfaced and submerged, carried two fewer torpedoes and could dive to only compared to for UB-125.
Construction and commissioning Built by Kawasaki at Kobe, Japan, I-124 was laid down on 17 April 1926 with either the name Submarine No. 60 or Submarine Minelayer No. 52, according to different sources. She was launched on 12 December 1927 and renamed I-24 that day. She was completed and commissioned on 10 December 1928.
Service history 1928–1937 Upon commissioning, I-24 was attached to the Yokosuka Naval District and assigned to Submarine Division 9 in the Yokosuka Defense Division in the district. On 11 December 1933, Submarine Division 9 was reassigned to the Yokosuka Guard Unit or Yokosuka Guard Squadron in the Yokosuka Naval District.
While conducting deep diving trials with her sister ship I-23 on 25 May 1935, I-24 suffered damage to her main ballast tanks. She was placed in reserve that day to have her ballast tanks reinforced. On 15 November 1935, Submarine Division 9 was reassigned to the Yokosuka Defense Squadron in the Yokosuka Naval District, and, with her ballast tank work complete, I-24 returned to active service that day, but in 1936 all four submarines of her class had their designed diving depth limited to .
Second Sino-Japanese War On 7 July 1937 the first day of the Marco Polo Bridge Incident took place, beginning the Second Sino-Japanese War. In September 1937, Submarine Division 9, consisting of I-23 and I-24, moved to a base at Qingdao, China and began operations in northern Chinese waters as part of a Japanese blockade of China.Boyd and Yoshida, p. 54. On 1 December 1937, Submarine Division 13 was assigned to Submarine Squadron 3 in the 4th Fleet, a component of the Combined Fleet, and in December 1937, the light cruiser arrived at Qingdao to serve as flagship of Submarine Squadron 3, which consisted of Submarine Division 13 (made up of I-21 and I-22) as well as Submarine Division 9 (I-23 and I-24).
I-24 was renumbered I-124 on 1 June 1938, freeing up her previous number for the new submarine , whose keel was laid that year. On 20 June 1938, Submarine Division 9 was assigned to the Gunnery School in the Yokosuka Naval District. In an effort to reduce international tensions over the conflict in China, Japan withdrew its submarines from Chinese waters in December 1938,
1939–1941 On 1 May 1939, Submarine Division 9 was placed in the Third Reserve in the Yokosuka Naval District, and it moved to the Second Reserve in the district on 15 November 1939. On 20 March 1940, I-124 herself was placed in reserve at Yokosuka. While in reserve, I-124 and all three of her sister ships — which, like her, had been renumbered on 1 June 1938, I-21 becoming I-121, I-22 becoming I-122 and I-23 becoming I-123 — underwent conversion into submarine tankers. Retaining their minelaying and torpedo capabilities, they were modified so that each of them could carry 15 tons of aviation gasoline with which to refuel flying boats, allowing the flying boats to extend their range during reconnaissance and bombing missions by meeting the submarines in harbors and lagoons for more fuel.
I-124 was recommissioned on 24 April 1940, and on 1 May 1940 Submarine Division 9 was assigned to Submarine Squadron 5 in the 4th Fleet. I-124 soon began a lengthy training cruise in the Pacific in company with I-121, I-122, and I-123: The four submarines departed Sasebo, Japan, on 16 May 1940 and visited the waters of the Caroline Islands, Marshall Islands, and Mariana Islands before concluding their cruise with their arrival at Yokosuka, Japan, on 22 September 1940. On 11 October 1940, I-124 was one of 98 Imperial Japanese Navy ships that gathered along with more than 500 aircraft on the Japanese coast at Yokohama Bay for an Imperial fleet review — the largest fleet review in Japanese history — in honor of the 2,600th anniversary of the enthronement of the Emperor Jimmu, Japan's legendary first emperor.
Submarine Division 9 was reassigned directly to the Yokosuka Naval District on 15 November 1940. On 1 May 1941, the division was assigned to Submarine Squadron 6 in the 3rd Fleet, a component of the Combined Fleet, and I-123 and I-124 were based at Kure. From 7 to 9 April 1941, temporarily substituted for I-124 as flagship of Submarine Division 9. I-123 again took over from I-124 as flagship of Submarine Division 9 on 2 August 1941.
As the Imperial Japanese Navy began to deploy in preparation for the impending conflict in the Pacific, I-123 and I-124, under the command of Lieutenant Commander Kishigami Koichi, moved from Yokosuka, Japan, to Samah on Hainan Island in China, where I-124 arrived on 27 November 1941 in company with the submarine tender . She received the message "Climb Mount Niitaka 1208" () from the Combined Fleet on 2 December 1941, indicating that war with the Allies would commence on 8 December 1941 Japan time (7 December 1941 on the other side of the International Date Line in Hawaii, where the war would begin with Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor).
World War II First war patrol
On 7 December 1941, I-124 laid 39 Type 88 Mark 1 mines off Manila Bay in the Philippines. I-124 then proceeded to an area southwest of Lubang Island to provide weather reports and to stand by to rescue Japanese aircrews downed in air strikes on Manila launched from Formosa after hostilities began.
On 8 December 1941, Pacific campaign of World War II began in East Asia. On 10 December 1941, I-124 torpedoed and sank the 1,523-gross register ton British cargo ship Hareldawns — which was on a voyage from Hong Kong to Singapore — off western Luzon at and took her captain prisoner. She concluded her patrol with her arrival at Cam Ranh Bay in Japanese-occupied French Indochina on 14 December 1941.
The mines I-124 laid off Manila Bay sank the 1,881-gross register ton American merchant ship Corregidor on 17 December 1941 at and the 1,976-gross register ton Panamanian-flagged cargo ship Daylite on 10 January 1942, also at .
Second war patrol I-124 got back underway from Cam Ranh Bay on 18 December 1941 to begin her second war patrol. By 22 December she was patrolling off the entrance to Manila Bay. She then proceeded via Mindoro Strait to the Sulu Sea. Reassigned with I-121, I-122 and I-123 to Submarine Group "A" on 26 December 1941, she concluded her uneventful patrol on 31 December 1941, arriving at newly captured Davao on Mindanao in company with I-122. The rest of Submarine Squadron 6 — I-121, I-123 and Chōgei — soon joined them there.
Third war patrol
Submarine Squadron 6 received orders to operate next in the Flores Sea and the Torres Strait north of Australia. On 10 January 1942, the four submarines departed Davao, commencing I-124s third war patrol. I-124 reached her patrol area off the western entrance of the Clarence Strait off Australis Northern Territory on 14 January 1942. That day, she sighted the United States Navy heavy cruiser and destroyers and , which were returning to Australia from a sweep in the Banda Sea, but was unable to gain an attack position. On 16 January she laid 27 mines near Darwin, Australia. Four Japanese mines that washed ashore near Darwin on 11 February 1942 may have been laid by I-124.
On 18 January 1942, Houston reported sighting two Japanese submarines — probably I-123 and I-124 — west of Darwin. At 17:40 on 19 January, I-124 reported the arrival at Darwin of three Allied transports escorted by a destroyer. She repeated the report at 22:36, which was the last time the Japanese ever heard from her. Allied codebreakers intercepted the signal and warned Allied forces that I-124 was off Darwin.
Loss On 20 January 1942, I-124s sister ship I-123 conducted an unsuccessful torpedo attack in the Beagle Gulf west of Darwin at against the U.S. Navy fleet oiler , escorted by Alden and Edsall. Trinity sighted the wakes of three of I-123s torpedoes and reported the attack, after which Alden carried out a depth charge attack. Alden soon lost contact with I-123, which escaped unscathed and departed the area. Trinity, Alden and Edsall continued their voyage and reached Darwin safely.
When news of the attack reached Darwin, the Royal Australian Navy corvettes , and put to sea to search for I-123. Deloraine reached the vicinity of the attack first. In the meantime, I-124 also had arrived in the area and she fired a torpedo at Deloraine at 13:35. Deloraine turned to starboard and the torpedo passed astern of her, broaching as it passed through her wake. Deloraine established asdic contact on I-124 at 13:38 and dropped six depth charges at 13:43. She sighted oil and air bubbles on the surface after the attack. After Deloraine dropped another pattern of depth charges, I-124 briefly broached at , exposing her bow and periscope, down 5 degrees by the stern and listing 20 degrees to port. Before I-124 fully submerged again, a depth charge from s port depth charge thrower landed from her periscope and a U.S. Navy OS2U Kingfisher floatplane from the seaplane tender arrived on the scene and dropped a bomb at the same spot. When I-124 submerged, she settled on the seabed in of water. Deloraine again depth-charged the stationary submarine at 13:56, then noted more oil, bubbles and particles of TNT on the surface. At 14:30 she made another underwater contact to the southeast and conducted two more attacks there, expending the last of her depth charges and noting more oil and bubbles rising to the surface.
Lithgow relieved Deloraine on the scene by 17:10. By 18:39 Lithgow had made seven attacks, expending all 40 of her depth charges, and she observed diesel oil and bubbles on the surface. Katoomba arrived at 17:48 and deployed a grapnel to drag the bottom for I-124. The grapnel made contact, but broke off when Katoomba attempted to recover it. Alden and Edsall joined the Australian ships at 18:59. Edsall detected a contact at the edge of the oil slick and dropped five depth charges at 19:40, noting three explosions. Alden attacked a contact of her own after 19:55.