Type A Midget Submarine (Midget B)

IJN
Type A midget submarine

Dimensions
78 | 6

Tons
46

Crew
2

Armament
Two torpedoes

Sunk
December 7, 1941
USS Monaghan (DD-354) inside Pearl Harbor.

 

Mission History
One of five midget subs attached to five I-class "mother" submarines (I-16, I-18, I-20, I-22 and I-24) to be launched 5-6 hours before the aerial attack, within a few miles of Pearl Harbor to penetrate the harbor. They would then navigate submerged, counterclockwise around Ford Island, escape and meet up with their mother subs 7 miles west of Lanai Island. To this day, four of the five original midget submarines attacking Pearl Harbor have been found.

Sinking & Discovery
The seaplane tender USS Curtiss opened fire at a midget submarine inside the harbor at 8:36; the submarine fired a torpedo at the tender that missed. Meanwhile, the destroyer USS Monaghan spotted the submarine and ran full speed in an attempt to ram. Just as the submarine surfaced, the Monaghan struck it a while its second torpedo passed harmlessly beneath the destroyer and exploded on the bank. Dropping two depth charges, Monaghan finished off the midget sub.

Discovery
The wreckage was discovered a few days aftter the attack on Pearl Harbor. Dubbed "Midget B" as the second submarine encountered by USN, it was raised and buried in landfill at the Submarine Base at Pearl Harbor in 1942. Subsequently disinterred and then reburied again, the midget still lies where it was reburied as a permanent part of the base it attacked.

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