Japanese submarine I-158
1925 I-153-class submarine
I-58, later I-158, was an Imperial Japanese Navy Kaidai-class cruiser submarine of the KD3A sub-class commissioned in 1928. During World War II, she supported Japanese forces during the invasion of Malaya in December 1941 and was instrumental in tracking Force Z, the two British capital ships that attempted to intercept the Japanese invasion forces, so they could be sunk by torpedo bombers. She sank four Dutch merchant ships in early 1942 during the Dutch East Indies campaign and then was transferred to the Central Pacific in May 1942 to support the fleet during the Battle of Midway in early June 1942. Upon her return to Japan in July 1942, she became a training ship until early 1945 when she was modified to serve as a carrier for kaiten manned suicide attack torpedoes. She surrendered to the Allies at the end of the war and was scuttled in 1946.
Design and description
The submarines of the KD3A sub-class were the first Japanese-designed cruiser submarines, based on experience with earlier designs based on British and German cruiser submarines. They displaced 1,829 metric tons (1,800 long tons) surfaced and 2,337 metric tons (2,300 long tons) submerged. They were 100 meters (328 ft 1 in) long and had a beam of 8 meters (26 ft 3 in) and a draft of 4.82 meters (15 ft 10 in). They had a diving depth of 60 m (197 ft) and a complement of 60 officers and crewmen.
For surface running, the submarines were powered by two 3,400-brake-horsepower (2,535 kW) diesel engines, each driving one propeller shaft.
“Japanese submarine I-158” enters the record as 1925 I-153-class submarine. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Japanese, submarine and I-158 can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Japanese submarine I-158” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Japanese, submarine and I-158 provides the most credible route into that argument.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 10, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4392661. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1928, 1941, 1942 and 1945.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Japanese submarine I-158”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Japanese submarine I-158 primary sources, Japanese submarine I-158 archive and Japanese research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Japanese submarine I-158”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Japanese submarine I-158” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.