Ro-100-class submarine

The was a group of medium-sized coastal submarines built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during World War II. The IJN official designation for this class was or . They are also known as Type KS submarine. The type name was shortened to .

Design and description

In 1940, the IJN designed a point-defence coastal submarine because they wanted to save their larger submarines for fleet battles. The Ro-100 class was derived from the preceding Kaichū type. They displaced surfaced and submerged. The submarines were long, had a beam of and a draft of . They had a double hull and a diving depth of .

For surface running, the boats were powered by two diesel engines, each driving one propeller shaft. When submerged each propeller was driven by a electric motor. They could reach on the surface and underwater. On the surface, the Ro-100s had a range of at ; submerged, they had a range of at .

The boats were armed with four internal bow torpedo tubes and carried a total of eight torpedoes. They were also armed with two single mounts for Type 96 anti-aircraft guns or a single L/40 AA gun.

Boats

18 boats were built in 1941-1944 under the Maru Rin Programme (Boat #210-218) and the Maru Kyū Programme (Boat #400-408).

Footnotes

Bibliography

• , History of Pacific War Vol.17 I-Gō Submarines, Gakken (Japan), January 1998,
• Rekishi Gunzō, History of Pacific War Extra, "Perfect guide, The submarines of the Imperial Japanese Forces", Gakken (Japan), March 2005,
• The Maru Special, Japanese Naval Vessels No.43 Japanese Submarines III, Ushio Shobō (Japan), September 1980, Book code 68343-43
• The Maru Special, Japanese Naval Vessels No.132 Japanese Submarines I "Revised edition", Ushio Shobō (Japan), February 1988, Book code 68344-36