World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseI-68 was a Kaidai-class submarine of the KD6A type. On 23 Nov 1941, as a member of Submarine Squadron 3, she was deployed off the Hawaii Islands for reconnaissance in preparation of the Pearl Harbor attack. She remained in the area after the attack, and was detected and attacked by depth charges on 13 Dec, damaging many battery cells and flooded the aft torpedo tubes. Lieutenant Commander Otoji Nakamura decided to take her back to Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands for repairs, arriving on 28 Dec. In Jan 1942, she traveled to Kure, Japan to receive further repairs. Upon completion of repairs, she made several war patrols, but none yielded any sinkings. On 20 May 1942, she was renamed I-168.

ww2dbaseOn 31 May 1942, as a part of the Advance Expeditionary Force, I-168 arrived in the vicinity of Midway Atoll. On 2 Jun, she reported usually heavy aircraft traffic at Sand Island. On 4 Jun, as the battle began, she made periscope observations during the first attack on the atoll. I-168 surfaced 1,100 yards southwest of Midway at 1024 hours and fired 6 shots with her 10-centimeter deck gun, inflicting no damage. When she was caught by American searchlights, she submerged and evaded American return-fire. She survived a brief subsequent patrol vessel chase and depth charge attack. Later on 5 Jun, while ordered to approach the damaged USS Yorktown, she was attack by a PBY Catalina patrol aircraft, but the attack caused no damage. On 6 Jun at about 0410 hours, at the range of 12 miles, she found USS Yorktown. At 0600 hours, she detected the first of six American destroyers guarding the carrier. Submerged, she successfully maneuvered, very slowly, toward Yorktown without being spotted by any of the American destroyers in the area. At 1331 hours, at the range of about 1,900 yards, she fired two spreads of 2 torpedoes each, three seconds apart, then began to dive to the depth of 200 feet. Destroyer USS Hammann attempted to hit the torpedoes with a 20-millimeter gun, but she failed to detonate them before one of them hit her amidships, sinking her quickly. Two of the three remaining torpedoes hit USS Yorktown at 1332 hours, but she would remain afloat until 0701 hours of the following day. After the attack, beginning at about 1336 hours, American destroyers began attacking I-168 with depth charges, causing flood in the forward torpedo room and the maneuvering room and damaging many battery cells; the latter damage released toxic air into the interior of the submarine, forcing the crew to don gas masks. She remained below the surface until 1640, still in view of the destroyers at just over 10,000 yards, so that she could charge her batteries. American destroyers gave chase and began firing at the range of 5,000 to 6,000 yards, but by then I-168 had charged her batteries enough that she could dive again to hide. She would surface at 2000 hours and continue her escape. She arrived in Japan on 19 Jun on only two engines due to low fuel levels.

ww2dbaseUpon completion of repairs, I-168 conducted several transport missions to Attu and Kiska in the Aleutian Islands and various locations in the Solomon Islands. On 27 Jul 1943, sent a regular situation report while in the Isabel Strait; this would be the last message from the submarine. At 1754 hours, at dusk, she observed an enemy submarine in the Steffen Strait between New Ireland and New Hanover. She fired a torpedo at what turned out to be USS Scamp, which crash dove and evaded the attack. At 1812, USS Scamp returned fire with a spread of four torpedoes at periscope depth, and claimed that she had hit and sunk the Japanese submarine.

ww2dbaseAfter WW2, the United States Army-Navy Joint Assessment Committee took away the credit of the sinking of I-168 from USS Scamp.

Submarine I-68/I-168 Interactive Map

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I-68/I-168 Operational Timeline

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