Nov. 13, 1944 the I-34 became the first Japanese submarine to be sunk by a British sub, HMS Taurus P-339.
I-34 was a I-15 class submarine built at the Sasebo Navy Yard, at 356' 6" long and a displacement of 3,654 tons she could carry seventeen 21" torpedoes for her 6 forward tubes.

The I-34 was located by Taurus after being directed to her location by a Ultra decrypt, which put her going through the Malacca Strait. When Taurus found her she was running at 14 knots some 30 miles south of Penang Island, Malaya. The commander of the Taurus fired 6 torpedoes of which one found the mark and sent the I-34 to the bottom. Sixty four of her crew had perished but twenty were still alive in the after section of the boat. They pressurized the compartment and escaped to the surface 100' above however, only 13 survived.

The Taurus nearly paid for sinking the I-34 with her own demise when she was attacked by SC-20 the following day. During the depth charge attack Taurus buried her nose in the mud following a crash dive, it was only another depth charge attack that shook her loose from the bottom.

Of the twenty boats in the I-15 class only the I-36 survived the war. Surrendering at Kure she was scuttled by the US Navy off Goto Island in 1946.

© 2006 Michael W. Pocock
MaritimeQuest.com

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