Japanese submarine I - 26 I - 26 was a Japanese B1 type submarine which saw service in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II . She was completed and commissioned at the Kure Dockyard on 6 November 1941 , under the command of Commander Yokota Minoru . Patrols on the US and Canadian West Coast . On 7 December 1941 , the " I - 26 " sank the 2140 - ton U . S . Army chartered lumber freighter " Cynthia Olson " 300 nmi ( 550 km ) off the coast of California — the first American merchant ship to be sunk by a Japanese submarine in the war . " I - 26 " had orders not to commence hostilities until 0330 8 December ( Tokyo time ) - - the anticipated time of the attack on Pearl Harbor . " I - 26 " found " Cynthia Olson " prior to that time , but remained submerged until surfacing near the freighter at 0330 Tokyo time ( 0800 7 December Hawaiian time or 0900 in the + 9 time zone of the sinking . ) " I - 26 " fired a warning shell over " Cynthia Olson " from its 14 - cm deck gun . " Cynthia Olson " stopped and radioed they were being attacked by a submarine . " I - 26 " sunk " Cynthia Olson " by gunfire after the crew abandoned ship in lifeboats . The steamship " Lurline " heard the radio message from " Cynthia Olson " but the crew of the sunken ship perished at sea while attention was focused on the simultaneous bombing of Pearl Harbor . After searching unsuccessfully for the aircraft carrier USS Lexington ( CV - 2 ) following the attack on Pearl Harbor , " I - 26 " patrolled off the entrance to the Strait of Juan de Fuca . A scheduled shelling of American coastal cities on Christmas eve of 1941 was canceled because of the frequency of coastal air and surface patrols . " I - 26 " was in Yokosuka drydock number 5 on 18 April 1942 when one of the Doolittle Raid B - 25 Mitchell bombers damaged Japanese aircraft carrier Ryūhō in adjacent drydock number 4 . On Sunday 7 June 1942 the 3286 - ton freighter " Coast Trader " departed Port Angeles , Washington bound for San Francisco with a cargo of newsprint . " I - 26 " torpedoed " Coast Trader " as it left the Strait of Juan de Fuca that afternoon , and the ship sank in 40 minutes . One crewman died of exposure before the remainder were rescued over the following two days . The United States Navy apparently did not want to acknowledge Japanese submarine activity off the Pacific Coast during the Second Happy Time and officially attributed the sinking of " Coast Trader " to " an internal explosion . " In the evening of 20 June 1942 , while patrolling two miles off the coast of British Columbia , " I - 26 " surfaced and shelled the lighthouse and radio - direction - finding ( RDF ) installation at Estevan Point . This simple act caused a disproportionate effect on coastal shipping , as all lighthouses along the coast were then extinguished for fear of their use by enemy vessels . " I - 26 " returned to Yokosuka on 7 July 1942 . Pacific actions . On 31 August 1942 , she crippled the aircraft carrier USS " Saratoga " ( CV - 3 ) at with one torpedo hit ( out of six launched ) . On 13 November , during the Third Battle of the Solomon Sea ( American : Naval Battle of Guadalcanal ) , she also hit the badly - damaged cruiser USS " Juneau " ( CL - 52 ) at . " I - 26 " ’ s torpedo set off " Juneau " ’ s magazine , blowing the ship in half ; only ten of the 650 - man crew were ultimately rescued . All five Sullivan brothers died either in the initial explosion or floating in the water awaiting rescue . On the night of 25 – 26 October 1944 , in the aftermath of the Battle off Samar , " I - 26 " attacked USS " Petrof Bay " ( CVE - 80 ) off Leyte . " I - 26 " was sunk by either USS " Coolbaugh " ( DE - 217 ) or USS " Richard M . Rowell " ( DE - 403 ) . The last contact with " I - 26 " was on 25 October ; she was officially presumed lost east of Leyte on 21 November 1944 . " I - 26 " was finally removed from the Navy List on 10 March 1945 . " I - 26 " was the IJN ' s third highest scoring submarine in terms of tonnage sunk , sinking more than 51 , 500 tons .