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Our trip to the Truk Lagoon was an exceptional experience. We literally dove
into history. There is probably not another place on earth where there are so
many World War II relics in such good condition. We dove on six armed
freighters, a tanker, a sub tender, a destroyer, a submarine and a Betty bomber
and they were all within 25 minutes of our hotel. Although I had done a little
research before the trip, I didn't know in advance which ships we would be
diving on so I only had sketches of their history. Once I got home I got on the
Internet and have turned up a wealth of information. What follows is just one
rabbit trail I have followed and it relates to the Japanese Imperial submarine
I-169 and how its history intersects with the US destroyer USS Worden.
We
dove on the submarine I-169 on the morning of our fourth day on Weno Island. The
I-169 is unusual for a couple of reasons: it is the only wreck we dove on that
was not sunk during the US air raids (Operation Hailstone) on February 17 and
18, 1944, and it is the only wreck we dove on that was sunk due to an accident
not hostile fire. The information supplied on-line (Ref #1) by the Blue Lagoon
Dive Shop says the I-169 was sunk while replenishing fuel and supplies in April
1944. The sub had received a warning of an American air raid and dove to the
bottom to wait until the raid was over. When the sub failed to resurface divers
were sent down and found a storm ventilation tube open and the control room
flooded. Salvage operations failed and the entire crew perished. The Japanese
6th fleet command blew up the I-169 with depth charges to prevent its being
compromised by impending American invasion forces.
Additional research revealed that the I-169 had an interesting but
troubled history (2). The I-169 was an old but large and fast submarine and it
was one of two submarines that participated in the attack on Pearl Harbor. The
other sub was sunk during the attack. The I-169 had three missions at Pearl
Harbor: sink ships, recover the crews from the midget submarines and rescue
downed airmen. The I-169 was spotted by a US destroyer and it fired a torpedo at
the destroyer but missed. Then it got entangled in an antisubmarine net and
almost ran out of air before working free. By the time she worked free of the
net she had failed at all three missions. During the remainder of the war she
only sank one ship and subsequently became a surveillance and supply boat.
The first time I heard about the ship she sank, the Tjinegara, she was
referred to as a troop ship. I was curious as to the damage the I-169 had done
since troop ships carry thousands of men. I discovered that it was the U.S. Army
Transport (USAT) Tjinegara (3). She was a transport but not a troop transport.
She was hauling 477 horses and/or mules, a road grader and 2,000 cases of beer.
The USAT Tjinegara was an animal transport with a crew of 36. She was sunk 70
miles off Noumea, New Caledeonia on July 25, 1942. All the crew were rescued by
the USS Worden and the US Fleet Oiler Platte (AO-24). The USS Worden was
escorting the Platte to Australia to get fuel for the Aircraft Carrier Saratoga.
The USAT Tjinegara had been a Dutch freighter and was in the Netherlands East
Indies port of Surabaya when the Japanese invaded Java. She was one of 28 Dutch
ships in the harbor, only she and one other escaped, 26 of the 28 ships were
sunk or scuttled. The Tjinegara fled for Australia on February 17, 1942,with
Dutch aircraft and refugees on board. She arrived safely in Sydney on March 10,
1942. She was taken over by the US Army on April 25, 1942, and converted to a
animal transport. She may have been sunk on her first mission as an Army
Transport (4, 5, 6, 7). The Fleet Oiler Platte, launched in 1939, survived the
war, served in the Korean War and Viet Nam and was sold for scrap on May 14,
1971 (8).
Another oddity on the sinking of the USAT Tjinegara. Once on board
USAT Tjinegara survivor Robert Lee Shaw was approached by a USSWorden sailor who
offered him is bunk to recover in. The sailor's name was Robert George Shaw - no
relation.
The I-169 continued her new role as a supply boat. She made a number of
trips to yhe Aleutian Islands in Alaska to support the two Japanese bases there.
The Japanese had invaded Attu Island and Kiska Island in June 1942. The US Navy
began making plans to re-take the islands, but since they were about 2,000 miles
from mainland Alaska, they need staging bases closer. In December 1942, they
selected Amchitka Island, an unoccupied island about 50 miles from Kiska to be
used for airfields. On January 12, 1943, with the wind blowing 60 knots and the
water temperature 36 degrees US forces landed on Amchitka Island. The USS Worden
supported the landing but ran aground on rocks off Constaine Harbor. Efforts to
free her were unsuccessful and during the evacation of the USS Worden, 14
sailors died. The captain was knocked unconscious and washed overboard but was
rescued. Eleven sailors were lost at sea; two were subsequently buried at sea
and one was buried in Alaska. The USS Worden broke up and on January 17, 1943,
sank in shallow water. On August 10, 1943, the US Navy depth charged the USS
Worden to keep the Japanese from getting our radar secrets. A few oddities
relating to the the USS Worden sinking: the Navy kept the sinking secret for 2 ½
years; the wreck site is still unmarked; after the war the island was used for
atomic bomb testing and is still off limits to visitors; and the only sailor
who's body was buried on land was subsequently moved to the Ft. Sam Houston
National Cemetary in San Antonio (9).
In May 1943, using the new air fields
on Amchika and other islands, the US invaded Attu Island. It was a bloody
battle. The US had 549 troops killed and 3,780 wounded, US troops buried 2,351
Japanese bodies, only 28 of the Japanese on the island survived (10). The US was
anticipating a simular fight for Kiska, but the Japanese secertly evacuated the
island under cover of fog on July 23, 1943. US and Cadnadian troops, expecting a
fight, landed unopposed on August 15, 1943, but incurred almost 300 casualties
from friendly fire, mines and booby traps. The I-169 had assisted with the
evacation.
When the I-169 made its last dive, its captain and about 20 of his crew
of 70 were on shore on Dublon Island. During the rescue effort the Japanses
tried to lift the sub with a repair ship's 30 ton crane but the chain broke.
They then sent divers down who drilled holes and attached air hose to fill the
ballast tanks but there was no one alive in the control room work the ballast
levers. Also, nightly US air raids hampered the rescue efforts. Subsequently
Japanese divers entered the forward compartments and removed 32 bodies. After
the war the location of the wreck was lost. In February 1972, the wreck was
rediscovered and divers enter the sub and filmed its interior. In August 1973,
the remains of approximately 70 of the crew and members of the work parties and
their personal effects were removed and returned to Japan where they were
cremated as part of Shinto rites. The I-169's bell is displayed at the Yasukuni
Shrine in Tokyo (11).
I-169 and USS Worden
Both were at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941
Both
were involved in the sinking of the USAT Tjinegara
Both were involved in the
fighting in the Aleutians
Both were sunk by accident
Both wrecks were
destroyed by their own governments with depth charges
Both the captains
survived the sinkings
On the afternoon of our first day we dove on the Heian
Maru a submarine tender, the largest ship in the lagoon. The Heian Maru and her
two sister ships the Hie Maru and the Hikawa Maru had been luxury passenger
liners for the NYK Lines before the war. The Heian Maru and the Hie Maru were
converted into sub tenders, the Hikawa Maru was converted into a hospital ship.
The Heian Maru had a record of servicing the I-169 and the Hikawa Maru was in
the Truk Lagoon with the Heian Maru during the Operation Hailstone attack, and
Vice Admiral Takagi and his staff were aboard the Heian Maru, but those are more
rabbit trails for another time…….
References
(1) http://www.truk-lagoon-dive.com/Wrecks/I-169.htm
(2) http://www.combinedfleet.com/I-169.htm
(3) http://www.wesleyevans.net/
(4) http://www.dornier24.com/pages/stories/story6.html
(5) http://www.dornier24.com/pages/stories/story6.html
(6) http://www.merchantnavyofficers.com/julian.html
(7) http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/Mariners/2003-05/1054070131
(8) http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/19/19024.htm
(9) http://dd352.us/official.shtml
(10) http://www.hlswilliwaw.com/aleutians/Aleutians/html/aleutians-wwii.htm
(11) http://www.pacificwrecks.com/ships/subs/I-169.html
Rick Copeland
wrcaustin@aol.com
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