Qualla: Japanese Submarine I-124

Japanese Submarine I-124: Introduction

Sat, 28 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Forty-eight meters below the surface of Darwin Harbour, a Japanese submarine lies mostly intact, her conning tower pierced by holes, at least one hatch blown open from within. The I-124 has rested here since January 20, 1942 — sunk by Australian warships less than five weeks after Pearl Harbor, just a month before Japanese bombs would rain on Darwin itself. But the submarine's story did not end when she sank. It continued for decades in the halls of parliament, in salvage company boardrooms, and in the hearts of the families who never recovered their dead.

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Japanese Submarine I-124: One of Four of a Kind

Sat, 28 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The I-124 was no ordinary submarine. She was one of only four vessels the Imperial Japanese Navy ever built as dedicated submarine minelayers — the Kiraisen type, named for the Japanese term Kirai Fusetsu Sensuikan. Launched on December 12, 1927, at Kawasaki Heavy Industries and ...

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Japanese Submarine I-124: Sunk in the Darwin Approaches

Sat, 28 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

When Japan struck Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the I-124 was already deployed. She arrived at Darwin in late November 1941 and soon took up anti-shipping operations in the waters northwest of Australia. On January 20, 1942, Australian warships — including HMAS Deloraine, HMA...

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Japanese Submarine I-124: Codebooks and Controversy

Sat, 28 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Almost immediately after the sinking, both the Royal Australian Navy and the United States Navy attempted to dive the wreck. The prize they sought was intelligence: the I-124 was believed to carry codebooks that might unlock Japanese communications. The early dives failed to pene...

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Japanese Submarine I-124: The Salvage Wars

Sat, 28 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

In 1972, a six-week search rediscovered the wreck. What followed was extraordinary: a salvage company from the New Hebrides purchased the salvage rights from the Australian government and announced that the I-124 was carrying large quantities of mercury — worth recovering — and o...

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Japanese Submarine I-124: Remembrance and a Virtual Dive

Sat, 28 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

In 2017, the Australian Japanese Association of the Northern Territory erected a memorial plaque for I-124 and her crew at the Dripstone Cliffs in Darwin. Two years later, a pongamia tree was planted at the site in a ceremony attended by the Japanese ambassador to Australia and t...

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