Japanese submarine I-162

Upon commissioning, I-62 was assigned to Submarine Division 29 in the Sasebo Naval District.[2] She was decommissioned and placed in reserve on 21 October 1935.[2] She was recommissioned on or about 10 April 1936, then again decommissioned on 15 November 1939.[2] While she was in reserve again, her diesel engines and torpedo tubes were replaced in 1940–1941.[2] With this work completed, she was recommissioned on or about 1 July 1941.[2]

As the Imperial Japanese Navy began to deploy in preparation for the impending conflict in the Pacific, I-62 — which together with I-64 made up Submarine Division 29, a part of Submarine Squadron 5 — departed Sasebo, Japan, on 26 November 1941 bound for Palau along with the rest of Submarine Squadron 5, namely I-64, the submarines of Submarine Division 30, and the squadron's flagship, the light cruiser Yura.[2] While en route, the entire squadron was diverted to Samah on Hainan Island in China.[2]

On 5 December 1941, I-62 departed Samah to begin what would become her first war patrol.[2] When the Japanese invasion of Malaya began on 8 December 1941 — the first day of the war in East Asia — I-62 was in the South China Sea off Trengganu, British Malaya, operating on a patrol line with the submarines I-57, I-58, I-64, and I-66.[2] Reassigned to Patrol Unit "B" on 26 December 1941,[2] she concluded her patrol by arriving at Cam Ranh Bay in Japanese-occupied French Indochina on 27 December 1942.[2]

As a unit of Patrol Group "B," I-62 was among submarines tasked with attacking Allied shipping in the Indian Ocean west of the 106th meridian east, operating from a new base at newly captured Penang in Japanese-occupied British Malaya.[3] Accordingly, on 7 January 1942 I-62 departed Cam Ranh Bay to begin her second war patrol.[2] With a large British minefield reported in the Strait of Malacca, she took a circuitous route to her patrol area in the Indian Ocean which took her along the south coast of Java.[2] At 02:40 on 28 January 1942, she unsuccessfully attacked a tanker west of Ceylon.[2] On 31 January 1942, she attacked and seriously damaged the British 9,463-gross register ton oiler Longwood 24 nautical miles (44 km; 28 mi) west of Ceylon.[2] Longwood survived and made it to Colombo, Ceylon.[2] The Hellenic Navy destroyer Vasilissa Olga and two Royal Navy ships — the sloop-of-war HMS Falmouth and the auxiliary patrol boat HMS Okapi — began a search for I-62 but failed to find her.[2]

I-62 attacked and damaged the British 7,402-gross register ton armed tanker Spondilus in the Indian Ocean at 06°16′N 079°38′E on 3 February 1942 after 23:00.[2] Spondilus claimed to have damaged I-62 with gunfire.[2] Falmouth and Okapi mounted another search for I-62, again without success, and I-62 concluded her patrol by arriving at Penang on 10 February 1942.[2]

I-62 departed Penang for her third war patrol, again in the Indian Ocean, on 28 February 1942.[2] On 10 March 1942 — the day on which Submarine Division 29 was dissolved and I-62 was reassigned to Submarine Division 28[2] — she sank the British 235-gross register ton British sailing ship Lakshmi Govinda at 13°22′N 087°27′E with gunfire.[2] She torpedoed the British 8,012-gross register ton motor tanker San Cirilo south of Colombo at 06°40′N 079°40′E at 11:32 on 21 March 1942, but San Cirilo survived and arrived at Colombo on 23 March 1942.[2] I-62 torpedoed an unidentified passenger-cargo ship on 22 March 1942 in the Indian Ocean east of the northern entrance to Palk Strait at 10°50′N 083°59′E, but it also survived.[2] She concluded her patrol with her arrival at Penang on 25 March 1942.[2]

On 2 April 1942, I-62 departed Penang bound for Sasebo.[2] During her voyage, Submarine Division 28 was dissolved and she was reassigned to Submarine Division 3 on 10 April 1942.[2] She arrived at Sasebo on 12 April 1942.[2] On 28 May 1942 she departed Sasebo bound for Kwajalein, deploying in support of Operation MI, the planned invasion of Midway Atoll.[2] During her voyage, she was renumbered I-162 on 20 May 1942.[2] She arrived at Kwajalein on 28 May 1942.[2]

On 26 May 1942, I-162 departed Kwajalein to conduct her fourth war patrol, operating in support of Operation MI, in which her Submarine Squadron 5 formed part of the Advance Expeditionary Force.[2] She operated in a patrol line which also included the submarines I-156, I-157, I-158, I-159, I-165, and I-166. During the Battle of Midway, fought from 4 to 7 June 1942, the Japanese suffered a decisive defeat, and the invasion was cancelled. I-162 returned to Kwajalein on 21 June 1942.[2]

I-162 got back underway on 24 June 1942 to return to Sasebo, where she arrived on 1 July 1942.[2] During her stay at Sasebo, Submarine Squadron 5 was disbanded on 10 July 1942.[2] On 14 July 1942, she was reassigned to Submarine Squadron 30 in the Southwest Area Fleet along with the submarines I-8, I-163, and I-166 and the submarine tender Rio de Janeiro Maru.[2] For her new assignment, she departed Sasebo on 22 July 1942 bound for Penang, making a stop at Cam Ranh Bay along the way.[2]

I-162 departed Penang on 23 August 1942 to conduct her fifth war patrol, targeting Allied shipping in the Bay of Bengal.[2] The patrol was uneventful, and she returned to Penang on 12 September 1942.[2]

I-162 got underway again from Penang on 28 September 1942 for her sixth war patrol, again in the Bay of Bengal.[2] She was east of Visakhapatnam, India, at 14:52 on 3 October 1942 when she torpedoed the Soviet 2,332-gross register ton armed timber ship Mikoyan, which was bound from Calcutta to Karachi with a general cargo.[2] A torpedo struck Mikoyan on her starboard side between holds 1 and 2.[2] After Mikoyan′s pumps failed, her crew transmitted an SOS and abandoned ship.[2] Mikoyan sank at 15:09 at 19°24′N 085°24′E.[2]

At 16:24 on 7 October 1942, while 400 nautical miles (740 km; 460 mi) southeast of Masulipatam, India, I-162 torpedoed the British 5,597-gross register ton armed steamer Manon, which was bound from Calcutta and Visakhapatnam to Colombo with a cargo of 7,100 tons of coal.[2] Manon sank at 15°00′N 080°30′E with the loss of eight lives.[2]

I-162 torpedoed the British 4,161-gross register ton steamer Martaban in the Bay of Bengal east of Dondra Head, Ceylon, at 16:20 on 13 October 1942 at 06°31′N 082°03′E.[2] One of I-162′s torpedoes hit Martaban in her bow, killing two members of her crew and igniting a large fire.[2] Martaban′s crew abandoned ship.[2] Several Royal Australian Air Force Catalina flying boats arrived on the scene to assist Martaban′s crew and search for I-162, but I-162 evaded them.[2] Ultimately, the Royal Australian Navy corvette HMAS Launceston rescued 61 survivors from Martaban, which remained afloat and later was towed to Colombo.[2] I-162 concluded her patrol with her return to Penang on 18 October 1942.[2]

In early November 1942, I-162 left Penang to begin another war patrol in the Indian Ocean, but had to return almost immediately for engine repairs.[2] On 15 November 1942, she left Penang bound for Surabaya, Java, where she arrived on 21 November 1942.[2] From Surabaya, she set out on 24 November 1942 to for her seventh war patrol, which had been moved to the Arafura Sea.[2] It was uneventful, and she returned to Surabaya on 17 December 1942.[2] On 7 January 1943, she again departed Surabaya for her eighth war patrol, this time in the Arafura Sea and the Gulf of Carpentaria.[2] She again had no success, and returned to Surabaya on 13 January 1943.[2]

For her ninth war patrol, I-162 deployed to support Operation Ke — the evacuation of Guadalcanal as the Guadalcanal campaign ended in a Japanese defeat — by conducting diversionary operations off the northwest coast of Australia.[2] Departing Surabaya on 26 January 1943, she conducted a reconnaissance of Cocos Island in late January 1943.[2] On 14 February 1943, the United States Navy submarine USS Thresher (SS-200) attacked her off the Lesser Sunda Islands east of Thwartway Island at 06°05′S 105°47′E.[2] Thresher fired two Mark 14 torpedoes, one of which failed to detonate, while the other missed and exploded without damaging I-162.[2] I-162 opened fire on Thresher with her deck guns, turned north, and escaped unharmed.[2] She returned to Surabaya on 16 February 1943.[2]

In late February 1943, I-162 departed Surabaya bound for Sasebo.[2] During her voyage, she was reassigned to Submarine Squadron 8′s Submarine Division 30.[2] She arrived at Sasebo on 10 March 1943 and began overhaul and repairs there.[2] With the work completed, she departed Kure on 4 September 1943, heading south to return to combat.[2] During her voyage, she was reassigned to the Submarine Unit of the Southwest Area Fleet on 12 September 1943.[2] She arrived at Penang on 16 September 1943,[2] then departed on 27 September 1943[2] bound for Sabang at the northern end of Sumatra, where she arrived on 3 October 1943.[2]

On 6 October 1943, I-162 departed Sabang to conduct her tenth war patrol.[2] She was reassigned to Submarine Division 30 in the 8th Fleet on 9 October 1943,[2] but otherwise she patrolled in the Indian Ocean uneventfully and she concluded the patrol with her arrival at Penang on 9 November 1943.[2] On 12 November 1943 she left Penang bound for Singapore,[2] where she remained until 1 December 1943,[2] when she began a return voyage to Penang.[2] On 14 December 1943 she again left Penang for her eleventh war patrol,[2] again in the Indian Ocean, but made no attacks on enemy ships, and she completed the patrol by returning to Singapore on 22 January 1944.[2]

On 22 February 1944, I-162 set out from Penang on her twelfth war patrol, again in the Indian Ocean.[2] At 13:50 on 4 March 1944, she torpedoed the British 7,127-gross register ton armed merchant ship Fort McCloud — bound from Cochin, India, to Durban, South Africa, with a cargo of 2,000-tons of copper and 1,000-tons of military supplies — southwest of the Maldive Islands, then surfaced to finish off Fort McCloud with gunfire.[2] Fort McCloud sank at 02°01′N 077°06′E.[2] I-162 also reported sinking a transport in the Indian Ocean west of One and a Half Degree Channel at 06°12′N 071°18′E on 18 March 1944.[2] She returned to Penang on 25 March 1944.[2]

When I-162 returned to Penang, Submarine Division 30 was dissolved and she was reassigned to the Kure Guard Submarine Squadron.[2] Accordingly, she soon departed Penang for Japan, and she arrived at Kure on 15 April 1944.[2] She subsequently conducted training in the western Seto Inland Sea.[2] She arrived at Yokosuka on 30 April 1944.[2] On 25 June 1944 she was reassigned to Submarine Division 19 in the Kure Submarine Squadron.[2] On 1 April 1945 she was reassigned to Submarine Division 34, and then was rebuilt so that she could ferry kaiten manned suicide attack torpedoes between shore bases.[2]

While I-162 was making a trip to Korea to pick up fuel, she ran aground on the south coast of the Korean Peninsula on 26 June 1945, suffering minor damage.[2] She and I-156 made a round trip to Dairen, Manchukuo, in late June and early July 1945 to obtain fuel. In July and August 1945, her crew — along with the crews of I-156, I-157, I-158, and I-159 — was trained to launch kaitens in combat to oppose Allied ships during the American invasion of Japan that the Japanese expected,[2] and I-162 made another round trip to Dairen to pick fuel for this training.[2] I-162 was in the Pacific Ocean off Cape Ashizuri during her return voyage to Japan from Dairen when at 04:36 on 10 July 1945 the U.S. Navy submarine USS Lionfish (SS-298) detected the noise of her propellers.[2] At 04:37, Lionfish sighted I-162 crossing her stern at 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph).[2] Using radar to determine the range, Lionfish fired five Mark 18 torpedoes from her bow tubes at I-162 from an average distance of 1,050 yards (960 m).[2] Lionfish′s crew reported hearing two explosions followed by break-up noises and sighting a cloud of smoke at 32°45′N 131°46′E.[2] However, I-162 suffered no damage and reached Kure later the same day.[2]

On 15 August 1945, I-162 was reassigned to Submarine Division 15.[2] That same day, hostilities between Japan and the Allies ceased.[2] On 2 September 1945, I-162 surrendered to Allied forces.[2]