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Operation
Rising Sun is a group of professionals dedicated to the raising
and preservation of the WWII Mitsubishi C-3 cargo submarine, the I-52.
There are no WWII Japanese full-sized submarines on display anywhere
in the world. The I-52 can be raised. The U-534 was raised in August
of 1993 from a depth of over 200'. The U-534 was sunk on May 6th,
1945, the last day of WWII. Plenty of unique items survived, including
paper documents, even after years of being submerged in water. The
same can be true for the I-52. What secrets remain to be discovered
? Was there a peace proposal from Tokyo that never made it into the
hands of its intended recipient, Yoshikazu Fujimura ? Yoshikazu Fujimura,
the assistant naval attache in Switzerland, had been in secret peace
negotiations with a US representative, Allen Dulles. Is it posible
that this document survived ? Also there is the recovery of the 49
boxes containing 146 bars of gold. The gold, about 2.2 metric tons,
is worth millions in todays market. Lost for over 5o years, the I-52
was found, after 5 years of research, on May 2, 1995 by Paul Tidwell.
The I-52 is amazingly intact and well preserved in water 17,000 feet
deep. Her identification numbers can still be clearly read on the
conning tower. Now the recovery story of the I-52 is about to begin
and you can be a part of this historical event. The technology exist
to make this project a reality.
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Note
that even after so many years under water, the painted indentification
numbers are still clearly visible. This is rare, because by this time
in the war Japan had gone to not painting I.D. numbers on their submarines
and would display I.D. banners that could easily be removed to identify
their submarines. This kept Allied bombers from recognizing their
submarines easily. It also shows the importance of this mission. Not
only were the I.D. numbers prominately displayed, they were also displayed
twice on each side of the conning tower. The numbers may have been
dispayed so prominately so that the German U-530 would have no problem
identifying the I-52 for their secret rendevouz in the Mid-Atlantic.
Communications between Japan and Germany, after the I-52's sinking,
showed both countries were devistated by the loss of the I-52.. Why
was this mission so important to both Germany and Japan ? Why were
the Allies also so desperate to sink the I-52 ? Remember that the
Allies had broken the Enigma Codes and were listening in on the coded
transmissions between Germany and Japan. Did this have something to
do with the secret cargo waiting on the docks for the I-52's arrival
? A shipment that also contained Uranium Oxide ? Some of the questions
that we hope to answer when we raise the I-52...... Commander Uno
Kameo (US documents had mistakenly listed his name as Uchino Kameo ) was in command
of I-52, a new Kaidai on her first and only mission. Kameo was a graduate
of Etajima, the Japanese naval academy. Before he could be assigned
to the submarine force, considered to be an elite group, he had to
go through years of intense undersea training. Kameo, a desendant
from a samurai family, was hand picked for the I-52 Yanagi (exchange)
mission with Germany.
It was very likely that Kameo and Gamo Santonobu (Mitsubishi engineer and also Chief Ordinance officer of the I-52) were the only persons onboard who knew of the special cargo that had been stowed on I-52 before her departure from Kure, Japan. Although Kameo may have known the cargo, it was very unlikely that he knew about the contents of the diplomatic pouches that may have held the key to changing the future of Japan. |
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The
only known photo of the I-52. The I-52 was sunk while on her maiden
Yanagi (exchange) mission.
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Commander
Uno Kameo
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