The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia

KRS Class, Japanese Submarines

Photograph of KRS-class submarine

Tonnage	1142 tons standard displacement 1383 tons surfaced 1768 tons submerged
Dimensions	280' by 25' by 14'6" 85.34m by 7.62m by 4.42m
Maximum speed	14.5 knots surfaced 7 knots submerged
Complement	75
Dive	to 200 feet (60 meters)
Armament	1 5.5"/50 gun 1 light machine gun 4 21" torpedo tubes (12 torpedoes) 42 mines
Machinery	2-shaft diesel/electric (2400 shp surfaced, 1100 shp submerged)
Bunkerage	225 tons diesel oil
Range	6130 nautical miles (11,000 km) at 16 knots surfaced 10,500 nautical miles (19,000 km) at 8 knots surfaced 40 nautical miles (75 km) at 4.5 knots submerged

The KRS (Kirai fusetsu sensuikan or kirai sen) boats were completed in 1927-28 in the Kawasaki Kobe yards. They were closely modeled on the German UB-125, which had been surrendered to Japan at the close of the First World War, and they were crowded, oversized, unmaneuverable, and lacked underwater stability. However, they were the only specialized minelaying submarines the Japanese built. Mines were deployed from two aft minelaying tubes. By the start of the war they had been converted to tanker submarines for seaplanes, although they retained their minelaying capability.

Units in the Pacific:

I-121	Off Singapore	Relegated to training 1942-8-15
I-122	Off Singapore	Torpedoed 1945-6-10 off Japan by Skate
I-123	Balabac Strait	Sunk 1942-8-29 off Savo by Gamble
I-124	Off Manila Bay	Sunk 1942-1-20 off Darwin by Edsall and Deloraine

References

Boyd and Yoshida (1995)

Carpenter and Polmar (1986)

Jentschura, Jung, and Mickel (1977)

Kehn (2008)

Worth (2001)

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