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voor de liefhebbers van papieren modelbouw met dank aan de originele uploader nick & roadhawk :)

GPM Nr 55 I-19

I-19 was a Japanese Type B1 submarine which saw service during World War II in the Imperial Japanese Navy. It was responsible for sinking the USS Wasp (CV-7) and USS O'Brien (DD-415) during the Guadalcanal campaign.

Operation K-1
On February 23, 1942, I-19's floatplane made a night reconnaissance over Pearl Harbor, Hawaii in support of Operation K-1, a second attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese Navy. On March 4, she arrived at the French Frigate Shoals to serve as a radio beacon for the "Emily" floatplanes that were to attack Pearl Harbor. The "Emily" attack was canceled.

Sinking of USS Wasp and USS O'Brien 
On September 15, 1942, while patrolling south of the Solomon Islands during the Guadalcanal campaign, I-19 sighted and attacked the U.S. carrier Wasp, firing six torpedoes. Three of the torpedoes hit Wasp, causing heavy damage. With power knocked out due to damage from the torpedo explosions, Wasp?s damage-control teams were unable to contain the ensuing large fires, and she was abandoned and scuttled. The remaining three torpedoes during the same attack, often incorrectly attributed to a second Japanese submarine, hit U.S. battleship North Carolina and destroyer O'Brien, sinking the O'Brien and causing significant damage to the North Carolina, which was under repair at Pearl Harbor until November 16, 1942.

"Tokyo Express"
From November, 1942, until February, 1943, I-19 assisted with the nocturnal supply and reinforcement deliveries, and later, evacuations for Japanese forces on Guadalcanal. These missions were labeled the "Tokyo Express" by Allied forces.

Fiji
Between April and September, 1943, I-19 was stationed off of Fiji. During this time, the submarine sank two and heavily damaged one Allied cargo ships. After sinking one of the ships SS William K. Vanderbilt on May 16, 1943, I-19 surfaced and machine-gunned the surviving crew members in their lifeboats, killing one of them.

Loss
On November 25, 1943, at 20:49, 50 nautical miles (93 km) west of Makin Island, destroyer USS Radford detected I-19 on the surface with radar. After I-19 submerged, Radford attacked her with depth charges. I-19 was lost with all hands in this attack.

In the Article about Japanese B1 type submarines it is said, that I-19 had been sunk by US Navy Aircraft.

Met dank aan roadhawk ;)