Submarines of the Imperial Japanese Navy
Imperial Japanese Navy submarines originated with the purchase of five Holland type submarines from the United States in 1904. Japanese submarine forces progressively built up strength and expertise, becoming by the beginning of World War II one of the world's most varied and powerful submarine fleets.
Japanese submarine I-52 (1942)
This class of submarines was designed and built by Mitsubishi Corporation, between 1943 and 1944, as cargo carriers. They were quite long and carried a crew of up to 94. They also had a long cruising range at a speed of . The Japanese constructed only three of these submarines during World War II ("I-52", and ), although twenty were planned. They were the largest submarines ever built at that time, before the enormous "Sentoku" subs were built, and were known as the most advanced Japanese submarines of their time.