“Submersible Baka” from C.I.C. (Combat Information Center), U.S. Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Vol. II, No. 7, July 1945.
“SUBMERSIBLE BAKA”
Some midget subs are to the Japanese I and RO class sub what BAKA is to the Betty 22. The parent sub gives her hitchhiker the necessary cruising range, while the midget’s own torpedo load has deadly striking power for far reaching effects. Other midgets are carried cargo fashion on specially fitted seaplane tenders and Japanese capital ships. Midget subs are standard in size. A captured midget sub manual indicates three types–the KO, OTSU, and HEI. The KO type is thought to be standard. 82 feet in length and with a 6 foot beam this type can make 22 knots for a short period (about ten minutes). For normal operations speeds of 6 to 9 knots are probable. The HEI is 82 feet long, 6 feet wide with speeds up to 16 knots and an operating radius of 60 to 80 miles (submerged in the daytime, surfaced at night). The midgets can and do operate without the hitch-hiking feature having a cruising range of 120 to 180 miles on their own without battery recharge from an outside source. This limits them to a 60 mile cruising radius unless a suicide venture is prescribed. Coastal indentations near areas of obvious future operations provide concealment for midget bases. When they go pick-a-back on larger subs, attacks are possible at any distance.
