6th Fleet (Imperial Japanese Navy)
Despite these advantages, IJN submarines achieved remarkably little during World War II primarily having in hindsight suffered from the antiquated strategy of the Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff, who viewed submarines as little more than scouts whose main role was to locate and shadow enemy naval task forces in preparation for a decisive surface conflict. Maybe the IJN General Staff was slow to change as the submarines were generally slow to dive, easy to track with radar and sonar, difficult to maneuver underwater, and less sturdy than their German U-boat counterparts.
Japanese submarine I-22 (1938)
The boats were armed with eight internal bow torpedo tubes and carried a total of 20 torpedoes. They were also armed with a single /40 deck gun and two single or twin mounts for Type 96 anti-aircraft guns. They were equipped to carry one Type A midget submarine aft of the conning tower.
"I-22" was commissioned at Yokosuka, Japan on March 10, 1941. The submarine participated in the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Battle of the Coral Sea, and the attack on Sydney Harbour in May and June 1942. "I-22" disappeared while on patrol near Malaita in the Solomon Islands on or around October 4, 1942 and was presumed lost with all 100 hands.