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INDIVIDUAL SHIP

IJN I-159

IJN I-59 is documented as a ships with time-bounded service identities where renaming or reclassification occurred.

Kaidai IIIbImperial Japanese NavyJapanInterwar period and World War IIVerified subject image
Japanese submarine I-159 on sea trials
Japanese submarine I-159 on sea trialsImperial Japanese Navy Photograph Archive · Public domainImage source
ClassKaidai IIIb
NavyImperial Japanese Navy
CountryJapan
Builder / shipyardYokosuka Naval Arsenal
Laid down1927-03
Launched1929-03-25
Completed1930-03
Recorded statusScuttled

Overview

IJN I-59 is documented as a ships with time-bounded service identities where renaming or reclassification occurred.

IJN I-159 is associated with Japan and Imperial Japanese Navy. It belonged to Kaidai IIIb, so the class page provides the shared design history while this page concentrates on the individual ship.

Construction and identity

The available construction record identifies IJN I-159 as built by Yokosuka Naval Arsenal, laid down on 1927-03, launched on 1929-03-25, and completed on 1930-03.

The ship's documented identity includes alternate or later names I-59 and IJN I-59 and service with Imperial Japanese Navy.

Service history

Improved Kaidai IIIb fleet submarine with revised hull form and stability changes from the IIIa design.

The ship's configuration should be interpreted through the documented class and the dates attached to this individual vessel; equipment should not be assumed to have remained unchanged throughout service.

Class context: Kaidai IIIb

Five improved Japanese Kaidai IIIb fleet submarines completed from 1928 to 1930.

As a member of Kaidai IIIb, IJN I-159 shared the class's documented design framework and intended roles of Fleet submarine and Long range submarine. Individual refits, transfers, and wartime changes belong to this ship only when separately documented.

Later service and disposition

scuttled after surrender. The associated date is 1946-04-01.

IJN I-159 matters as an individual career within Kaidai IIIb, allowing class-wide design history to be separated from this ship's own construction, identities, service, and fate.

This ship is recorded as a member of Kaidai IIIb. Shared design history belongs on the class page; this page concentrates on the individual hull where evidence is available.

Sources and further reading

  1. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1922–1946Conway Maritime Press
  2. Treaty Between the United States of America, the British Empire, France, Italy, and Japan, Limiting Naval Armament ↗U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian · accessed 2026-09-18
  3. Kaidai 3b submarines (I56), 1928–1930 ↗Navypedia · accessed 2026-09-18
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