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The Vanished Golden Submarine’s Final Journey and Fate

Khalid Elhassan December 8, 2024 14 min

I-52 - Underwater wreckage of the Golden Submarine — Underwater wreckage of the Golden Submarine. National Geographic

12. The Golden Submarine

I-52 - The I-52 — The I-52. The Navy Association of Japan

The Imperial Japanese Navy’s I-52 was laid down in March, 1942, and was commissioned in December, 1943. Code named Momi, or “fir tree”, she became more popularly known as the Golden Submarine because of her cargo when she went down. Measuring 356 feet long by 31 feet wide, the I-52 was powered by two electric diesel motors that gave her a 17.7 knot speed while surfaced, and allowed her to do 6.5 knots underwater on battery power. She had a cruising range of 21,000 nautical miles at 16 knots, and was depth tested for 328 feet. Her armament included six torpedo tubes, two 140 mm naval guns, and a pair of 25 mm antiaircraft guns. However, fighting was not her primary mission: she was built to carry cargo, of which she could fit 300 tons in her hold.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.