Japanese Submarine I-29 - Second Exchange

Second Exchange

On December 17, 1943, I-29 was dispatched on a second Yanagi mission, this time to Lorient, France under star Japanese submarine Commander Takakazu Kinashi. At Singapore she was loaded with 80 tons of raw rubber, 80 tons of tungsten, 50 tons of tin, two tons of zinc, and three tons of quinine, opium and coffee.

In spite of Allied Ultra decrypts of her mission, I-29 managed to reach Lorient 11 March 1944. On her way she was refueled twice by German vessels. Also, she had three close brushes with Allied aircraft tracking her signals. Of special note is the attack of six RAF aircraft including two Tse-tse De Havilland Mosquito F Mk. XVIII fighters equipped with 57 mm cannons from the No. 248 RAF Squadron off Cape Peñas, Bay of Biscay 43°40′N 5°51′W / 43.66°N 5.85°W / 43.66; -5.85, and the protection provided to her during the entry into Lorient by the Luftwaffe's only Long Range Maritime Fighter Unit, V Gruppe/Kampfgeschwader 40 using Ju-88s. At least one Ju-88 was shot down by British fighters over Spanish waters.

She left Lorient 16 April 1944 for the long voyage home with a cargo of 18 passengers, torpedo boat engines, Enigma coding machines, radar components, a Walter HWK 509A rocket engine, and Messerschmitt Me 163 & Messerschmitt Me 262 blueprints for the development of the rocket plane Mitsubishi J8M. After an uneventful trip she arrived at Singapore in 14 July 1944, disembarking her passengers, though not the cargo.

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