Japanese submarine I-67

The submarines of the KD5 sub-class were improved versions of the preceding KD4 sub-class. They displaced 1,732 tonnes (1,705 long tons) surfaced and 2,367 tonnes (2,330 long tons) submerged. The submarines were 97.7 meters (320 ft 6 in) long, had a beam of 8.2 meters (26 ft 11 in) and a draft of 4.7 meters (15 ft 5 in). The boats had a diving depth of 75 m (246 ft)[1]

For surface running, the boats were powered by two 3,400-brake-horsepower (2,535 kW) diesel engines, each driving one propeller shaft. When submerged each propeller was driven by a 900-horsepower (671 kW) electric motor. They could reach 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) on the surface and 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph) underwater. On the surface, the KD5s had a range of 10,800 nautical miles (20,000 km; 12,400 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph); submerged, they had a range of 60 nmi (110 km; 69 mi) at 3 knots (5.6 km/h; 3.5 mph).[2]

The boats were armed with six internal 53.3 cm (21.0 in) torpedo tubes, four in the bow and two in the stern. They carried a total of 14 torpedoes. They were also armed with one 100 mm (3.9 in) deck gun for combat on the surface,[2] as well as a 13.2 mm (0.52 in) anti-aircraft machinegun.[1]

I-67 was built by Mitsubishi at Kobe, Japan. Her keel was laid on 14 October 1929 and she was launched on 7 April 1931. She was completed and commissioned on 8 August 1932.

Upon commissioning, I-67 was attached to the Kure Naval District and assigned to submarine Division 30, in which she spent her entire career.[3] When the submarine I-66 was commissioned on 10 November 1932, she joined I-67 in Submarine Division 30,[4][5] and that day the division was reassigned to the Sasebo Defense Division in the Sasebo Naval District.[3] The submarine I-65 joined I-66 and I-67 in Submarine Division 30 on 1 December 1932,[6] and that day the division was reassigned to Submarine Squadron 1 in the 1st Fleet in the Combined Fleet.[3]

Submarine Division 30 was reassigned to Submarine Squadron 2 in the 2nd Fleet in the Combined Fleet on 15 November 1933.[3] I-67 deployed to Manchukuo in Manchuria in 1934, and on 27 September 1934 departed Ryojun, Manchukuo, to conduct a training cruise in the Tsingtao area off China.[3] She completed the cruise with her arrival at Sasebo on 5 October 1934.[3]

Submarine Division 30 was reassigned to the Sasebo Guard Squadron in the Sasebo Naval District on 15 November 1934,[3] and again to Submarine Squadron 2 in the 2nd Fleet on 15 November 1935.[3] On 13 April 1936, I-67 got underway from Fukuoka, Japan, for another training cruise that took her to the Tsingtao area.[3] She completed the cruise with her arrival at Sasebo on 22 April 1936.[3] Later that year she deployed to Formosa, and she put to sea from Mako, Formosa, on 4 August 1936 for a training cruise off Amoy, China.[3] She returned to Mako on 6 September 1936.[3]

I-67 was decommissioned and placed in reserve in the Sasebo Naval District on 1 December 1937[5] and shifted to Third Reserve in that district on 15 December 1938.[3] She was recommissioned as a unit of Submarine Division 30 on 15 November 1939 and assigned to Submarine Squadron 4 in the 1st Fleet in the Combined Fleet.[3]

• 雑誌「丸」編集部『ハンディ版 日本海軍艦艇写真集19巻』潜水艦伊号、光人社、1997年。(in Japanese)
• 勝目純也『日本海軍の潜水艦 - その系譜と戦歴全記録』大日本絵画、2010年。(in Japanese)
• 海軍歴史保存会『日本海軍史』第7巻、第9巻、第10巻、第一法規出版、1995年。(in Japanese)
• 外山操『艦長たちの軍艦史』光人社、2005年。 ISBN 4-7698-1246-9 (in Japanese)
• Bagnasco, Erminio (1977). Submarines of World War Two. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-962-6.
• Carpenter, Dorr B. & Polmar, Norman (1986). Submarines of the Imperial Japanese Navy 1904–1945. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-396-6.
• Chesneau, Roger, ed. (1980). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. Greenwich, UK: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-146-7.
• Rohwer, Jürgen (2005). Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two (Third Revised ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-59114-119-2.