The , also called or was a type of the 1st class submarine in the Imperial Japanese Navy serving during the Second World War. The type name, was shortened to .
The , also called was different from the I-361 class, however since the I-373 was a development form of the I-361 class, this article describes both of them.
After the Battle of Midway the IJN immediately planned a transport submarine. The type was based on the U 155 Deutschland. Her duties were transportation of troops (110 men, 10 tons freight and two landing craft) in the areas where the enemy had air superiority. Later the demands for her were changed in sequence. The final demands were 65 tons in the hull and 25 tons on the upper deck (freight only). In the beginning the IJN did not intend to arm these boats with torpedoes. Later, after strong demands from the front commanders, it was decided to arm them with torpedoes for self-defense. The I-372 class was designed as a tanker submarine based on the I-361 class. They were not allowed to be loaded with torpedoes.
In 1944, the submarines were tasked with transport missions between from mainland Japan to remote islands. They had little success and suffered great losses. Of the 13 submarines, only four survived the war.
In 1945, several submarines were converted to be Kaiten mother ships and assigned to the suicide attack operations for the . Their deck guns were removed and fittings for five Kaitens were installed on their decks.
The Type-D submarines were divided into four classes:
Project number S51B. She was going to become a lead ship of the Modified Type D submarines (I-373 class), at first. However, the IJN wanted a submarine as soon as possible. She was built as a tanker submarine according to revised I-361 drawings.
Project number S51C. Improved model of the I-361 class. Furthermore, the IJN was planned reinforced model of the I-373 class, also. However all of them were cancelled.