Submarines of the Imperial Japanese Navy
The submarines that Electric Boat sold to Japan were based on the Holland designs, known as Holland Type VIIs similar to the American s. The five imported Hollands were originally built at Fore River Ship and Engine Company in Quincy, Massachusetts under Busch's direction for the Electric Boat Company back in August–October 1904. They were shipped by freighter from Seattle, Washington in Knock-down kit form to Japan, and then reassembled by Arthur Leopold Busch at the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal, which was then Japan's largest naval shipyard, to become Hulls No. 1 through 5 and were designated Type 1 submarines by the Japanese Navy.
Japanese submarine I-25
Two submarines were sighted on 11 October 1942 about off the coast of Washington as "I-25" was returning to Japan. "I-25" fired its last torpedo at the lead submarine, which sank in 20 seconds with the loss of all hands. "I-25" reported sinking a U.S. submarine, but the submarine was actually Soviet "L-16" which was sailing with "L-15" en route from Vladivostok to the Panama Canal via Unalaska, Alaska and San Francisco. United States Navy Chief Photographer's Mate Sergi Andreevich Mihailoff of Arcadia, California, was aboard "L-16" as a liaison officer and interpreter, and was killed with the remainder of the submarine crew. The United States Navy Western Sea Frontier denied loss of any submarine and withheld information about the Soviet loss because, at the time, the Soviet Union was officially neutral in the war between Japan and the United States.