Type A submarine
The Cruiser submarine Type-A was a class of submarine in the Imperial Japanese Navy, which served during the Second World War. The Type-A submarines were built to take a role of the command ships for submarine squadrons. For this reason they had equipment for a headquarters, better radio facilities and a floatplane.
Class variants
The Type-A submarines were divided into four classes:- Type-A
- Type-A Mod.1
- Type-A Mod.2
- V21 Type. The 5094th vessel class boats were not built and remained only a design.
''Type-A'' (''I-9'' class)
- Boats in class
| Boat No. | Boat | Builder | Laid down | Launched | Completed | Results | Fate |
| 35 | ' | Kure Naval Arsenal | 25-01-1938 | 20-05-1939 | 13-02-1941 | Sank USS Lahaina 12-12-1941 | Sunk by at Kiska 13-06-1943. |
| 36 | ' | Kawasaki-Kōbe Shipyard | 07-06-1938 | 20-09-1939 | 31-10-1941 | Sank Panamanian merchant ship Donerail 10-12-1941 Sank USS Melvin H. Baker 05-06-1942 Sank Panamanian merchant ship Atlantic Gulf 06-06-1942 Sank RMS King Lud 08-06-1942 Sank RMS Queen Victoria 28-06-1942 Sank USS Express 30-06-1942 Sank Greek merchantman Nymphe 06-07-1942 Sank RMS Hartismere 08-07-1942 Sank Dutch merchant ship Alchiba 09-07-1942 Sank USS Samuel Gompers 30-01-1943 Sank USS Gulfwave 01-03-1943 Sank Norwegian merchantman Alcides 22-07-1943 Sank Norwegian merchant ship Bramora 14-09-1943 Sank USS Elias Howe 24-09-1943 Sank Norwegian merchant ship Storvixen 01-10-1943 Sank Norwegian merchantman Anna Knudsen 02-10-1943 Sank RMS Congella 24-10-1943 Sank or damaged unknown warship 02-07-1944 | Sunk by and east of Saipan 04-07-1944. |
| 138 | Kawasaki-Kōbe Shipyard | 10-04-1940 | 28-02-1941 | 16-05-1942 | Sank Greek merchant ship George S. Livanos 20-07-1942 Sank USS Coast Farmer 21-07-1942 Sank USS William Dawes 22-07-1942 Damaged 20-07-1943 Damaged USS Matthew Lyon 11-08-1943 | Lost in an accident or sunk by a mine near Funafuti January 1944. |
''Type-A Mod.1'' (''I-12'' class)
Project number S35B. Five boats were planned under the Maru Tsui Programme and the Kai-Maru 5 Programme. They were equipped with less powerful diesel engines which shortened the time needed to build them. Only one boat, the I-12, was completed to the original design. The I-13 and the later boats were converted to a new submarine class, because the number of I-400 class boats was reduced.- Boats in class
| Boat No. | Boat | Builder | Laid down | Launched | Completed | Results | Fate |
| 620 | Kawasaki-Kōbe Shipyard | 05-11-1942 | 03-08-1943 | 25-05-1944 | Sank USS John A. Johnson 30-10-1944 | Sunk by minesweeper USS Ardent on 13-11-1944. | |
| 621 | I-13 | Kawasaki-Kōbe Shipyard | 04-02-1943 | Converted to the I-13 class in October 1943. | |||
| 5091 | I-14 | Kawasaki-Kōbe Shipyard | 18-05-1943 | Converted to the I-13 class in October 1943. | |||
| 5092 | I-15 | Kawasaki-Senshū Shipyard | 30-04-1943 | Converted to the I-13 class in October 1943. | |||
| 5093 | I-1 | Kawasaki-Senshū Shipyard | 24-06-1943 | Converted to the I-13 class in October 1943. |
''Type-A Mod.2'' (''I-13'' class)
Project number S35C. Four boats were planned under the Maru Tsui Programme and the Kai-Maru 5 Programme. However, four boats were converted to new submarine class, because a number of submarines of the I-400 class were cancelled. They had a large hangar and were equipped with bulges to be able to operate 2 × special Aichi M6A1 Seiran attack bombers. The headquarters institutions were removed.- Boats in class
| Boat No. | Boat | Builder | Laid down | Launched | Completed | Results | Fate |
| 621 | ' | Kawasaki-Kōbe Shipyard | 04-02-1943 | 30-11-1943 | 16-12-1944 | Sunk by, and aircraft from northeast of the Ogasawara Islands 16-07-1945. | |
| 5091 | ' | Kawasaki-Kōbe Shipyard | 18-05-1943 | 14-03-1944 | 14-03-1945 | Captured by 27-08-1945, decommissioned 15-09-1945, sunk as a target off the Hawaiian Islands 28-05-1946. | |
| 5092 | I-15 | Kawasaki-Senshū Shipyard Kawasaki-Kōbe Shipyard | 30-04-1943 | 12-04-1944 | Converted to a tanker submarine in June 1945; 90% complete; scrapped in 1945. | ||
| 5093 | I-1 | Kawasaki-Kōbe Shipyard Kawasaki-Senshū Shipyard | 24-06-1943 | 10-06-1944 | 70% complete; Sunk by a typhoon on 18-09-1945; later salvaged and scrapped. |
''V21 Type''
Project number S48. Three boats were planned under the Kai-Maru 5 Programme. However, all boats were cancelled in late 1943, because the IJN turned its attention to the construction of in 1945.- Boats in class
| Boat No. | Boat | Builder | Laid down | Launched | Completed | Fate' |
| 5094 - 5096 | Cancelled in 1943. |