I-74, later I-174, was an Imperial Japanese Navy Kaidai type cruiser submarine of the KD6B sub-class commissioned in 1938. During World War II, she took part in the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Battle of Midway, the Guadalcanal campaign, the New Guinea campaign, and the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign and operated off Australia before she was sunk during her ninth war patrol in 1944.
Design and description The submarines of the KD6B sub-class were essentially repeats of the preceding KD6A sub-class. They displaced surfaced and submerged. The submarines were long, had a beam of and a draft of . They had a diving depth of Carpenter & Polmar, p. 96
For surface running, the submarines were powered by two diesel engines, each driving one propeller shaft. When submerged each propeller was driven by a electric motor. The submarines could reach on the surface and underwater.Chesneau, p. 198 On the surface, the KD3Bs had a range of at ; submerged, they had a range of at .
The submarines were armed with six internal torpedo tubes, four in the bow and two in the stern. They carried a total of 14 torpedoes. They were also armed with one deck gun and two Hotchkiss M1929 anti-aircraft machine guns.Bagnasco, p. 183
Construction and commissioning The submarine that would become I-74 was laid down on 16 October 1934 at the Sasebo Naval Arsenal in Sasebo, Japan. Launched on 28 March 1937, she was numbered I-74 on 1 June 1938. She was completed and commissioned on 15 August 1938.
Service history Pre-World War II On the day of her commissioning, I-74 was attached to the Kure Naval District and assigned to Submarine Division 11 in Submarine Squadron 2 in the 2nd Fleet, a component of the Combined Fleet. On 15 November 1939, her division was transferred to Submarine Squadron 3, also in the 2nd Fleet. I-74 departed Okinawa on 27 March 1940 in company with the submarines I-68, I-69, , , and I-75 for a training cruise in southern Chinese waters, completing it when the six submarines arrived at Takao, Formosa, on 2 April 1940. On 11 October 1940, I-74 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. On 15 November 1940, Submarine Squadron 3 was reassigned to the 6th Fleet, a component of the Combined Fleet.
On 11 November 1941, the 6th Fleet's commander, Vice Admiral Mitsumi Shimizu, held a meeting with the commanding officers of the submarines of Submarine Squadron 3 aboard his flagship, the light cruiser , and his chief of staff briefed them on plans for Operation Z, the upcoming surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. The attack would begin the Pacific campaign and bring Japan and the United States into World War II.
As Japanese military forces began to deploy for the opening Japanese offensive of the war, I-74 departed Saeki Bay on the coast of Kyushu on 11 November 1941 in company with I-75 bound for Kwajalein Atoll, which the two submarines reached on 20 November 1941. Assigned to support Operation Z, I-74 got underway from Kwajalein on 23 November 1941 with the commander of Submarine Division 11 embarked and set course for the Hawaiian Islands. While she was en route, 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, which was on 7 December 1941 on the other side of the International Date Line in Hawaii. She arrived south of Oahu on 4 December 1941.
World War II First war patrol When the attack on Pearl Harbor took place on the morning of 7 December 1941, the submarines of Submarine Squadron 3 were deployed south of Oahu, with I-74 assigned lifeguard duty south of Niihau. Japanese pilots unable to return to their aircraft carriers after the attack due to injury, damage, or lack of fuel were instructed to land their aircraft on Niihau, from which I-74 would recover them.Fran, Richard B., "Zero Hour on Niihau", Historynet, October 29, 2010, Accessed 4 May 2022Cappellino, p. 3.Polmar, p. 173. By the time two damaged Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero (Allied reporting name "Zeke") fighters — one each from the aircraft carriers and — arrived over Niihau on 7 December, however, I-74 already had received orders to conclude her lifeguard duties and had departed the area. The Sōryū pilot opted to commit suicide by diving his plane into the sea,Cappellino, p. 4. but the Hiryū pilot crash-landed on Niihau and terrorized the island's population — in what became known as the Niihau Incident — until he was killed on 13 December 1941.Cappellino, pp. 6–9.
I-74 departed the Hawaiian Islands area on 17 December 1941 and made for Kingman Reef in the northern Line Islands to investigate a reported U.S. naval base there. She reconnoitered Kingman Reef from 23 to 25 December 1941, but found no sign of a base. She then proceeded to Kwajalein, which she reached on 31 December 1941.
January–April 1942
I-74 and I-75 got underway from Kwajalein on 13 January 1942 and headed north, passing Midway Atoll in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands on their way to the Aleutian Islands. From the Aleutians, the two submarines made their way to Yokosuka, Japan, where they arrived on 19 February 1942.
Second war patrol I-74′s stay in Japan ended on 15 April 1942, when she began her second war patrol, departing Kure in company with I-75 to form a patrol line east of Japan. While she was at sea, 16 United States Army Air Forces B-25 Mitchell bombers launched by the aircraft carrier struck targets on Honshu in the Doolittle Raid on 18 April 1942. In support of the raid, United States Navy F4F Wildcat fighters and SBD Dauntless dive bombers from the aircraft carrier attacked Japanese vessels forming a picket line in the North Pacific Ocean in the approaches to Japan. I-74 rescued the crew members of the guard boat Iwate Maru No. 1 — which sank on 19 April 1942 due to damage suffered on 18 April — and transferred them to the light cruiser on 23 April. I-74 and I-75 concluded their patrol with their arrival at Kwajalein on 10 May 1942.
Midway operation On 20 May 1942, I-74 was renumbered I-174 and I-75 became I-175. The two submarines departed Kwajalein in company that day to participate in Operation MI, the planned Japanese invasion of Midway Atoll. Plans called for them first to support a preliminary phase of the Midway operation, Operation K-2, which called for the Japanese submarines and to refuel two Kawanishi H8K (Allied reporting name "Emily") flying boats at the French Frigate Shoals in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands so that the two aircraft could conduct a reconnaissance flight over Pearl Harbor, while I-174 patrolled south of Pearl Harbor to rescue the crews of the aircraft if they were shot down. I-174 arrived at her lifeguard station southeast of Oahu on 29 May 1942. The aircraft were scheduled to arrive at the French Frigate Shoals on 30 May 1942 and make their Pearl Harbor flight on 31 May. When I-123 arrived off the French Frigate Shoals on 29 May 1942, however, she found the U.S. Navy seaplane tenders and already operating flying boats there. She radioed her news of this sighting after she surfaced that night, and the reconnaissance flight was postponed for a day. When I-123 again observed the French Frigate Shoals on 31 May, she found the American ships still there and noted U.S. Navy flying boats landing in the lagoon, and this news resulted in the Japanese concluding that the U.S. Navy was using the atoll as a base. The Japanese decided to cancel the reconnaissance flights entirely.
With their supporting mission for the aircraft cancelled, I-174 and I-175 took patrol stations in support of the scheduled invasion of Midway. The Battle of Midway began on 4 June 1942, and it ended on 7 June 1942 in a decisive Japanese defeat. The Japanese cancelled the invasion of Midway. I-174 made no contact with enemy forces during the battle and concluded her patrol with her arrival at Kwajalein on 20 June 1942.
Third, fourth, fifth, and sixth war patrols
I-174 set out from Kwajalein on her third war patrol on 9 July 1942, tasked with conducting a reconnaissance of the Port Moresby, New Guinea, area. Soon after she departed an oil leak developed, forcing her to abort the patrol and proceed to Rabaul on New Ireland in the Bismarck Archipelago for repairs. She reached Rabaul on 23 July 1942.
With her repairs completed during an overnight stay, I-174 got back underway from Rabaul on 24 July 1942 to commence her fourth war patrol, assigned a patrol area off the east coast of Australia in the vicinity of Sydney. She also operated in the Nouméa area. While I-174 was on patrol, the Guadalcanal campaign began with United States Marine Corps landings on Guadalcanal in the southeastern Solomon Islands on 7 August 1942, so I-174 moved to the Solomons in response. The patrol was uneventful, and she returned to Rabaul on 17 August 1942.
I-174 set out from Rabaul on her fifth war patrol with I-175 and the submarine to patrol southwest of Rennell Island and southeast of San Cristobal in the southeastern Solomon Islands. The patrol passed quietly, and she concluded it with her arrival at Truk Atoll in the Caroline Islands on 22 September 1942.
After repairs, I-174 got underway from Truk in company with I-175 on 16 October 1942 for her sixth war patrol, ordered to operate in the Indispensable Reefs area south of Rennell Island as part of the B Group, a patrol line which also included I-175 and the submarines , , , and . She again saw no action, and she returned to Truk on 4 November 1942 for further repairs.
November 1942–May 1943
I-174 departed Truk on 6 November 1942 bound for Kure, where she arrived on 12 November 1942 to undergo an overhaul. During her stay in Japan, Submarine Division 11 was disbanded on 15 March 1943 and she was reassigned that day to Submarine Division 12, which also was a part of Submarine Squadron 3. After completion of her overhaul, she got underway from Kure on 5 May 1943 bound for Truk, which she reached on 11 May 1943.
Seventh war patrol
At 17:00 on 16 May 1943, I-174 departed Truk for her seventh war patrol, assigned a patrol area off the east coast of Australia. She arrived at a point off Sandy Cape — the northernment point of Fraser Island off the coast of Queensland, Australia — on 27 May 1943. At 03:20 on 28 May 1943, a Bristol Beaufort of the Royal Australian Air Force′s (RAAF's) No. 32 Squadron detected her on radar at a range of and closed with her. The aircraft's crew sighted her at a range of , but she crash-dived and escaped.
I-174 was east of Brisbane, Australia, late on the morning of 1 June 1943 when she sighted what she identified as a 6,000-gross register ton merchant ship. In fact, the vessel was the 3,303- or 3,306-gross register ton (according to different sources) American cargo ship Point San Pedro,Maritime Administration Point San Pedro Accessed 5 May 2022 which was nearing the end of a voyage from Balboa in the Panama Canal Zone to Brisbane. I-174 fired four torpedoes at 11:36, and at 11:38 lookouts aboard Point San Pedro sighted two of them passing the ship. All four torpedoes missed, and within an hour an Avro Anson of the RAAF's No. 71 Squadron took off from Lowood, Queensland. to search for I-174. By 2 June 1943, six Ansons from Lowood and four from Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, were involved in the search, but none of the aircraft found I-174.
While submerged off Brisbane on 3 June 1943, I-174 sighted a northbound Allied convoy of at least six transports escorted by three destroyers at a range of . She surfaced at 18:00 and gave chase, but was forced to discontinue the pursuit and submerge when corvettes at the rear of the convoy turned toward her. The convoy escaped.