Kaiten Group
"Kikusui"
Submarine I-36, I-37 and I-47
The Sortie on November 8, 1944
Commemorative Picture for the Sortie, Submarine
I-36, 37 and 47
Sending-off ceremony, receiving short swords (at
Otsu-shima Island on November 7, 1944)
Crews of Submarine I-36
Kaiten pilots, Ensign Imanishi, Sub-lieutenant Toyozumi,
Sub-lieutenant Yoshimoto and Ensign Kudo (From the left)
Chief Officer's address on the
vessel.
The picture of Ensign Taichi Imanishi with
his own handwriting.
The Submarine I-36 attacked the northern
part of the anchorage of enemy ships at the Ulithi Atoll on 20
November.
Ensign Taichi Imanishi (Keio University, Dept. of Economics) died in
Kaiten mission. Other Kaitens were not launched due to disorder.
Sub-lieutenant Yoshimoto, Sub-lieutenant Toyozumi and Ensign Kudo
came back on 30 November.
Crews of Submarine I-37
Kaiten pilots, Ensign Utsunomiya, Lieutenant Kamibeppu,
Sub-lieutenant Murakami and Ensign Kondo (from the
left)
The Submarine I-37 proceeded Palau and
Kossol Passage but was sunken by depthcharge from the destroyer
escorts Conklin and McCoy Reynolds on 29 November.
The Submarine I-37 crews all
died including Kaiten pilots, Ensign Hideichi Utsunomiya (The
University of Tokyo, Dept. of Law), Lieutenant Yoshinori Kamibeppu
(70th Naval Academy graduate), Sub-lieutenant Katsutomo Murakami
(53rd Naval Engineering School graduate) and Ensign Kazuhiko Kondo.
Album left by
Lieutenant Fujio Kawai
Next (Kaiten
Group "Kikusui", Submarine I-47)