Qualla: Japanese Submarine I-123

Japanese Submarine I-123: Introduction

Sat, 28 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

At 08:05 on 29 August 1942, the American destroyer minelayer USS Gamble spotted a conning tower breaking the surface 60 nautical miles east of Savo Island. What followed was a three-hour depth charge attack. When it was over, Gamble passed through a large oil slick and recovered broken deck planking from the water. The 71 men aboard I-123 were never heard from again.

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Japanese Submarine I-123: A Specialist Vessel

Sat, 28 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

I-123 was one of only four submarine minelayers in the Imperial Japanese Navy — a class known in Japan as Kiraisen-type, formally the Kirai Fusetsu Sensuikan. Her keel was laid on 12 June 1925. She and her three sister ships, I-121, I-122, and I-124, were a small and specialised ...

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Japanese Submarine I-123: The Pacific War

Sat, 28 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

I-123's war took her across the breadth of the Pacific. She supported the Japanese invasion of the Philippines in late 1941 and early 1942. In May 1942, as Japan prepared a second strike against Pearl Harbor through a planned reconnaissance by flying boats launched from submarine...

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Japanese Submarine I-123: Guadalcanal

Sat, 28 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The Guadalcanal campaign opened on 7 August 1942 with US Marine Corps landings on the island. I-123 departed for her fifth war patrol the same day. She was initially ordered to operate off Indispensable Strait but was diverted to reconnoitre Lungga Roads off Guadalcanal's norther...

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Japanese Submarine I-123: The End

Sat, 28 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

USS Gamble tracked I-123 using a magnetic anomaly detector — then a relatively new technology — and conducted depth charge attacks over the course of three hours between 08:44 and 11:47 on 29 August 1942. A large air bubble broke the surface after the last attack. Another Japanes...

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