Japanese submarine I-361

Upon commissioning, I-361 was assigned to Submarine Squadron 11 for workups.^[2] With her workups complete, she was reassigned to Submarine Squadron 7 on 15 August 1944.^[2]

On 23 August 1944, I-361 departed Yokosuka bound for Wake Island on her first transport mission.^[2] She arrived at Wake Island on 7 September 1944, discharged 70 tons of cargo, embarked 30 passengers, and got back underway the same day for her return voyage.^[2] She arrived at Yokosuka on 17 September 1944.^[2] While in Japan, she briefly ran aground on 4 October 1944.^[2]

I-361 got underway from Yokosuka on 17 October 1944 for her second transport voyage, again setting course for Wake Island, which she reached on 29 October 1944.^[2] After unloading 67 tons of ammunition and taking five passengers aboard, she left the same day bound for Yokosuka, where she arrived on 9 November 1944.^[2]

On 9 January 1945, I-361 began her final supply voyage, again destined for Wake Island.^[2] Calling there on 22 January 1945, she unloaded her cargo, embarked passengers, and got back underway the same day.^[2] She arrived at Yokosuka on 7 February 1945.^[2]

After returning to Japan, I-361 was converted from a transport submarine into a kaiten suicide attack torpedo carrier, the conversion involving the removal of her 140-millimeter (5.5 in) deck gun and Daihatsu-class landing craft and their replacement with fittings allowing her to carry five kaitens on her deck.^[2][3] On 20 March 1945, Submarine Squadron 7 was deactivated, and I-361 was reassigned to Submarine Division 15.^[2]

Between 26 and 29 March 1945, U.S. forces captured advanced bases and anchorages in the Kerama Islands southwest of Okinawa,^[2] and the Battle of Okinawa began when U.S. forces landed on Okinawa itself on 1 April 1945.^[2] By 24 May 1945, I-361 was part of the Todoroki ("Thunderclap") Kaiten Group along with the submarines I-36, I-165, and I-363.^[2] With five kaitens on board, she got underway from the kaiten base at Hikari that day bound for a patrol area southeast of Okinawa.^[2]

On 28 May 1945, a United States Navy minesweeper detected I-361.^[2] The minesweeper alerted the escort aircraft carrier USS Anzio (CVE-57) and the four destroyer escorts screening her of the contact, and Anzio and her escorts headed for the scene, with Anzio launching aircraft from her embarked Composite Squadron 13 (VC-13) to conduct a series of searches for I-361.^[2]

At 04:36 on 31 May 1945, a VC-13 TBM-1C Avenger torpedo bomber established radar contact on I-361, which was on the surface 400 nautical miles (740 km; 460 mi) southeast of Okinawa.^[2] Dropping out of a cloud, the Avenger sighted I-361 at a range of about 6,000 yards (5,500 m), misidentifying her as an "I-161-class submarine" without a deck gun and not reporting any kaitens on her deck.^[2] The Avenger fired four rockets at I-361, and the plane′s crew believed they had scored two hits.^[2] I-361 crash-dived.^[2] The Avenger then dropped sonobuoys and a Mark 24 "Fido" acoustic homing torpedo.^[2] The Fido homed in on I-361′s propeller noises and exploded.^[2] The approaching destroyer escort USS Oliver Mitchell (DE-417) felt a strong underwater shock 15 nautical miles (28 km; 17 mi) away,^[2] and when she and the destroyer escort USS Tabberer (DE-418) arrived on the scene of the sinking they sighted a heavy oil slick and floating debris.^[2] It marked the end of I-361, sunk with the loss of all 81 men on board — her entire crew of 76 and all five of her embarked kaiten pilots — at 20°22′N 134°09′E / 20.367°N 134.150°E / 20.367; 134.150 (I-361).^[2]

On 25 June 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy declared I-361 to be presumed lost with all hands southeast of Okinawa.^[2] She was stricken from the Navy list on 10 August 1945.^[2]

• Hackett, Bob & Kingsepp, Sander. IJN Submarine I-361: Tabular Record of Movement. Retrieved on September 17, 2020.