Japanese submarine Ro-104
Ro-104 was an Imperial Japanese Navy "Ro-100"-class submarine. Completed and commissioned in February 1943, she served in World War II, operating in the Aleutian Islands campaign, New Guinea campaign, and Solomon Islands campaign before she was sunk in May 1944 during her tenth war patrol. Design and description. The "Ro-100" class was a medium-sized, coastal submarine derived from the preceding "Kaichū" type. They displaced surfaced and submerged. The submarines were long, had a beam of and a draft of . They had a double hull and a diving depth of . For surface running, the boats were powered  by two diesel engines, each driving one propeller shaft. When submerged each propeller was driven by a electric motor. They could reach on the surface and underwater. On the surface, the "Ro-100"s had a range of at ; submerged, they had a range of at . The boats were armed with four internal bow torpedo tubes and carried a total of eight torpedoes. They were also armed with two single mounts for Type 96 anti-aircraft guns or a single L/40 AA gun. Construction and commissioning. "Ro-104" was laid down as Submarine No. 214 on 19 November 1941 by Kawasaki at Kobe , Japan. She had been renamed Ro-104 by the time she was launched on 11 July 1942. She was completed and commissioned on 25 February 1943. Service history. February–June 1943. Upon commissioning, "Ro-104" was attached to the Kure Naval District and was assigned to the Kure Submarine Squadron for workups. She participated in torpedo practice with the submarines , , and on 26 March 1943. She was reassigned to Submarine Squadron 11 on 1 April 1943 and then to Submarine Squadron 7 on 5 June 1943. Aleutian Islands campaign. On the day "Ro-104" was assigned to Submarine Squadron 7, she was detailed  Submarine Squadron 1 for service in the Aleutian Islands, where the Aleutian Islands campaign was in its final stages. The Battle of Attu of 11–30 May 1943 had ended in U.S. forces retaking Attu and annihilating its Japanese garrison, and on 21 May 1943 — even before the battle ended — Japanese Imperial General Headquarters had decided to evacuate the isolated Japanese garrison on Kiska. In operations with Submarine Squadron 1, "Ro-104" was to support the evacuation. "Ro-104" departed Kure on 7 June 1943 bound for Paramushiro in the Kurile Islands, which she reached on 13 June 1943. She and the submarine  refueled from the auxiliary fleet oiler there on 14 June 1943. First war patrol. "Ro-104" got underway from Paramushiro on 19 June 1943 for her first war patrol, assigned a patrol area off Kiska. She joined Patrol Line A west of Attu on 23 June 1943 and operated in it until 28 June, when she was reassigned to the Northern Patrol Unit. Early on the morning of 29 June 1943 she sighted what her commanding officer identified as a large transport and began to pursue it. While she was on the surface at 06:45, she spotted a torpedo fired at  her by a submerged submarine and crash-dived. She resurfaced two hours later and resumed her pursuit of the transport, but ultimately discontinued the chase when she identified it as a neutral Soviet merchant ship. She returned to Paramushiro on 30 June 1943. Second war patrol. "Ro-104" departed Paramushiro on 6 July 1943 to begin her second war patrol, again with orders to join Patrol Line A. Her patrol was uneventful, and it concluded with her return to Paramushiro on 21 July 1943. She departed Paramushiro bound for Yokosuka, Japan, which she reached on 28 July 1943. New Guinea campaign , August–October 1943. "Ro-104" departed Yokosuka on 14 August 1943 bound for Rabaul on New Britain, which she reached on 26 August 1943. Third war patrol. On 4 September 1943, Allied forces landed at Lae, New Guinea, in Operation Postern. "Ro-104" departed Rabaul that day to begin her third war patrol, ordered to attack the landing force. She encountered no Allied ships during her patrol, and she returned to Rabaul on 17 September 1943. Fourth war patrol. "Ro-104" got underway from Rabaul on 23 September 1943 for her fourth war patrol, ordered to join the submarines and in intercepting and  attacking United States Navy Task Force 76 in the vicinity of Finschafen on New Guinea′s Huon Peninsula. She again found no targets, and she returned to Rabaul on 30 September 1943. Supply runs. On 9 October 1943, "Ro-104" departed Rabaul to carry supplies to Sarmi on the northern coast of New Guinea in support of Japanese forces fighting in the New Guinea campaign. She reached Sarmi on 11 October 1943, unloaded her cargo, and headed back for Rabaul the same night, arriving there on 13 October 1943. She left Rabaul on another supply run on 16 October 1943, calling at  Sarmi to discharge her cargo on 18 October and returning to Rabaul on 20 October 1943. Her third supply run to Sarmi began with her departure from Rabaul. She arrived at Sarmi on 27 October 1943 and unloaded her cargo. Solomon Islands campaign. Fifth war patrol. After discharging her cargo at Sarmi, "Ro-104" began her fifth war patrol on 27 October 1943, proceeding directly from Sarmi to a patrol area in the northern Solomon Islands off Bougainville. After an erroneous report of an Allied landing on Mono Island in the Treasury Islands, she received orders on 31 October 1943 to  attack the supposed landing force there. On 1 November 1943, however, the Bougainville campaign began with U.S. landings at Cape Torokina on Bougainville, and a Japanese attempt to bring reinforcements to Bougainville resulted in the Battle of Empress Augusta Bay on 2 November 1943. The Japanese light cruiser was sunk during the battle, and on 3 November 1943 "Ro-104" arrived on the scene and rescued 75 survivors from "Sendai", including the commander of Destroyer Squadron 3, Rear Admiral Matsuji Ijuin. She arrived at Rabaul on 5 November 1943. Sixth war patrol. "Ro-104" got underway from Rabaul on 9 November 1943  for her sixth war patrol, ordered to intercept and attack the damaged U.S. Navy light cruiser . She failed to find "Birmingham", and on 13 November 1943 received orders to rescue the crews of Mitsubishi G4M (Allied reporting name "Betty") bombers that Allied forces had shot down off Bougainville. She returned to Rabaul on 23 November 1943. Seventh war patrol. "Ro-104"′s seventh war patrol began with her departure from Rabaul on 4 December 1943 bound for a patrol area in the vicinity of Bougainville. The patrol was uneventful, and she returned to Rabaul on 13 December 1943. New Guinea campaign , December 1943–January 1944. Eighth war patrol. On 26 December 1943, "Ro-104" put to sea from Rabaul for her fourth supply run to Sarmi, New Guinea. After delivering her cargo at Sarmi on 28 December 1943, she proceeded to a patrol area in the Dampier Strait. On 30 December 1943, she took up a patrol station off Cape Gloucester on the coast of New Britain, where the Battle of New Britain had begun with U.S. landings on 26 December 1943. She encountered no Allied ships, and she departed her patrol area on 4 January 1944, returning to Rabaul later that  day. Gali supply run. "Ro-104" got underway from Rabaul along with the submarine on 13 January 1944 to make a supply voyage to Gali, New Guinea. Based on a message Submarine Squadron 7 transmitted on 12 January 1944 that it had intercepted and decrypted, Fleet Radio Unit, Melbourne (FRUMEL) — an Allied signals intelligence unit headquartered in Melbourne, Australia — provided the entire schedule for "Ro-104"′s voyage to Allied forces on the day of her departure. When she arrived off Gali on the evening of 16 January 1944, she found the area patrolled by Allied destroyers. She loitered at sea until 18  January, then delivered her cargo at Gali and headed back to Rabaul, which she reached on 22 January 1944. January–April 1944. On 31 January 1944, "Ro-104" departed Rabaul bound for Kure, where she arrived on 12 February 1944 to undergo repairs and an overhaul. With the work complete, she left Kure on 2 April 1944 and proceeded to Truk. Ninth war patrol. "Ro-104" departed Truk on 20 April 1944 for her ninth war patrol, assigned a patrol area south of Truk. The patrol was quiet, and she concluded it with her arrival at Saipan in the Mariana Islands. Tenth  war patrol. On 17 May 1944, "Ro-104" began her tenth war patrol, leaving Saipan in company with the submarine to head for a patrol area off the Admiralty Islands, where they were ordered to form a picket line dubbed "NA" to watch for Allied invasion forces heading for the Palau Islands. On 18 May 1944, U.S. Navy signals intelligence personnel intercepted and decrypted Japanese signals indicating the formation of picket line "NA" between Truk and the Admiralties, and a hunter-killer group composed of the destroyer escorts , , and departed Purvis Bay in the Solomon Islands to attack the submarines involved . Loss. On 23 May 1944, an Allied patrol plane sighted "Ro-104" on the surface north-northwest of Kavieng, New Ireland, and reported the sighting to the hunter-killer group. "Raby" acquired radar contact on "Ro-104" at a range of at 06:04 local time. "Ro-104"′s radar detector detected "Raby"′s radar signal, and "Ro-104" worked up from and crash-dived at 06:10. "Raby" established sonar contact on "Ro-104" at 06:19 and conducted four Hedgehog attacks while "Ro-104" made radical evasive maneuvers to disrupt "Raby"′s sonar — fish-tailing to create wakes and turning into "Raby"′s wake — and echo-ranged on "Raby" to confuse  her sonar operator. "Raby" lost contact at about 06:49. "George" took over the attack, launching one Hedgehog salvo before she, too, lost contact. Making , "Ro-104" attempted to escape to the northwest, but "George" regained contact, launched a Hedgehog attack, then fired three more Hedgehog barrages between 07:30 and 08:10. All three destroyer escorts then formed a ring around the probable location of "Ro-104" in order to reestablish contact. At 08:19, "England" moved in to attack and fired two full Hedgehog salvoes. After the second salvo, her crew heard a large underwater explosion and estimated that she had scored 10 to  12 hits on "Ro-104" at depth of . "England" then dropped a pattern of 13 depth charges set to explode at depths between . Debris began to reach the surface at 10:45 and an oil slick began to form, indicating the sinking of "Ro-104" at . While their boats recovered debris and oil samples from the water, the three destroyer escorts continued to search for "Ro-104" until sunset in case she had survived, but found no sign of her. On 25 June 1944, the Imperial Japanese Navy declared "Ro-104" to be presumed lost with all 58 men on board. The Japanese struck her  from the Navy list on 10 August 1944.