Japanese submarine Ro-32

Upon commissioning, Submarine No. 71 was attached to the Sasebo Naval District, to which she remained attached throughout her active career.^[1] On 15 June 1924, she was assigned to both Submarine Division 25 — in which she spent her active career — and the Mako Defense Division headquartered at Mako in the Pescadores Islands.^[1] She was renamed Ro-32 on 1 November 1924.^[1] On 1 December 1926, she was reassigned to the Sasebo Defense Division, headquartered at Sasebo, Japan.^[1] Her service in the Sasebo Defense Division ended on 15 November 1934, after which she served as a unit of Submarine Division 25 in the Sasebo Naval District.^[1]

Ro-32 was decommissioned and placed in the Fourth Reserve on 15 December 1938.^[1] The Japanese struck her from the Navy list on 1 April 1942,^[1] and that day she became a stationary training hulk at the submarine school at Ōtake, Japan.^[1] She was scrapped ca. August 1945.^[1]

During World War II, the United States Coast Guard cutter USCGC McLane (WSC-146), the Coast Guard-crewed United States Navy patrol vessel USS YP-251, and a Royal Canadian Air Force Bristol Bolingbroke maritime patrol aircraft of No. 115 Squadron shared credit for the sinking of a submarine in the Pacific Ocean off Southeast Alaska at 55°20′N 134°40′W / 55.333°N 134.667°W / 55.333; -134.667 (Unidentified submarine, possibly Shch–138) on 9 July 1942,^[2] and in 1947 the Joint Army-Navy Assessment Committee identified the sunken submarine as Ro-32.^[3] In 1967, the U.S. Navy retracted that finding after determining that Ro-32 had been inactive in Japan at the time of the sinking and had remained afloat through the end of World War II.^{[3][note 1]}

• "Rekishi Gunzō"., History of Pacific War Vol.17 I-Gō Submarines, Gakken (Japan), January 1998, ISBN 4-05-601767-0
• Rekishi Gunzō, History of Pacific War Extra, "Perfect guide, The submarines of the Imperial Japanese Forces", Gakken (Japan), March 2005, ISBN 4-05-603890-2
• The Maru Special, Japanese Naval Vessels No.43 Japanese Submarines III, Ushio Shobō (Japan), September 1980, Book code 68343-44
• The Maru Special, Japanese Naval Vessels No.132 Japanese Submarines I "Revised edition", Ushio Shobō (Japan), February 1988, Book code 68344-36
• The Maru Special, Japanese Naval Vessels No.133 Japanese Submarines II "Revised edition", Ushio Shobō (Japan), March 1988, Book code 68344-37
• The Maru Special, Japanese Naval Vessels No.135 Japanese Submarines IV, Ushio Shobō (Japan), May 1988, Book code 68344-39
• Bruhn, David D. Battle Stars for the "Cactus Navy": America's Fishing Vessels and Yachts in World War II. Berwyn Heights, Maryland: Heritage Books 2014. ISBN 978-0-7884-5573-5