Japanese submarine Ro-102
Ro-102 was an Imperial Japanese Navy Ro-100-class submarine. It began life as Submarine No. 212, was laid down in Kobe by Kawasaki on 30 September 1941, launched on 17 April 1942, renamed Ro-102, and commissioned on 17 November 1942 under Lieutenant Commander Kanemoto Shoji. It served with the Yokosuka Naval District, then with the Kure Submarine Squadron and later Submarine Squadron 7.
Design and options: The Ro-100 class were medium coastal submarines. Ro-102 displaced about 611 tonnes on the surface and 795 tonnes submerged, and measured about 60.9 meters long with a 6.0-meter beam and 3.51-meter draft. It had a double hull and a test depth of 75 meters. It ran on diesel-electric power, capable of about 14.2 knots on the surface and 8 knots underwater. Its range was 3,500 nautical miles at 12 knots on the surface, or 60 nautical miles submerged at 3 knots. Armament included four bow torpedo tubes (eight torpedoes total) and either two 25 mm anti-aircraft guns or one 76.2 mm AA gun. The crew was normally about 38.
Career: Ro-102 began its war patrols in early 1943. It departed Yokosuka for Truk and then Rabaul, patrolling south of New Guinea in its first patrol and returning in mid-March 1943. In late March it joined Ro-103 to patrol southeast of Guadalcanal, returning in April. On 29 April it left Rabaul for a third patrol southeast of Rabi, New Guinea, arriving by 2 May 1943. It sent a report on 9 May noting no enemy activity, but it was never heard from again. An order to return on 15 May was not acknowledged.
Disappearance and fate: The loss of Ro-102 remains a mystery. Over the years various claims linked it to U.S. forces, but none have been proven. The Imperial Japanese Navy declared Ro-102 presumed lost on 2 June 1943, with all 42 men aboard, and struck it from the naval list on 15 July 1943.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 07:41 (CET).