Japanese submarine Yu 8

Yu 8 was an Imperial Japanese Army transport submarine of the Yu 1 subclass of the Yu I type. Constructed for use during the latter stages of World War II, she served in the waters of the Japanese archipelago.

History
Japan
Name	Yu 8
Builder	Hitachi Kasado Works, Kudamatsu, Japan
Fate	Surrendered August 1945 Scuttled or scrapped
General characteristics Yu I type
Type	Transport submarine
Displacement	274 long tons (278 t) surfaced 346 long tons (352 t) submerged
Length	41.40 m (135 ft 10 in) overall
Beam	3.90 m (12 ft 10 in)
Draft	3.00 m (9 ft 10 in)
Propulsion	2 × Hesselman engines 298 kW (400 bhp) surfaced 56 kW (75 shp) submerged single shaft
Speed	10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) surfaced 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph) submerged
Range	1,500 nmi (2,800 km; 1,700 mi) at 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph) surfaced 32 nmi (59 km; 37 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph) submerged
Test depth	100 m (328 ft)
Capacity	24 tons freight or 40 troops
Complement	23
Armament	1 × Type 4 37 mm shipboard gun 5 × Type 99 light machine guns

Construction

In the final two years of World War II, the Imperial Japanese Army constructed transport submarines — officially the Type 3 submergence transport vehicle and known to the Japanese Army as the Maru Yu — with which to supply its isolated island garrisons in the Pacific Ocean. Only submarines of the Yu I type were completed and saw service. The Yu I type was produced in four subclasses, each produced by a different manufacturer and differing primarily in the design of their conning towers and details of their gun armament. None carried torpedoes or had torpedo tubes. Yu 8 was a unit of the Yu 1 subclass.^[1]

The Hitachi Kasado Works (Hitachi Kasado Seisakujo) at Kudamatsu, Japan, constructed Yu 8.^[1][2] Records of the details of the construction of Yu 8 have not been discovered, but the earlier Yu I-type submarines were laid down and launched during the latter half of 1943 and entered service at the end of 1943 or early in 1944.^[2][3]

Service history

Yu 8 spent her operational career in Japanese home waters.^[4] Surviving records of the activities of Imperial Japanese Army submarines are fragmentary,^[3][5] and no records have been discovered describing her specific activities in support of any particular operation.^[2][4]

World War II ended with the cessation of hostilities on 15 August 1945. Yu 8 surrendered to the Allies later in August 1945.^[2] She subsequently either was scuttled or scrapped.^[4]