| Japanese Submarine I-58, view of the forward torpedo room. Shows 21-inch (53.34 centimeter) torpedo tubes and 3 crew members. This submarine torpedoed and sank USS Indianapolis (CA-35) on July 30, 1945, from these torpedo tubes. I-58 was a Japanese B3 type cruiser submarine that served in the final year of World War II. She was modified to carry Kaiten manned torpedoes, making several attacks that inflicted minor damage in exchange for every Kaiten launched being sunk. Her only significant wartime success came with a conventional torpedo attack upon USS Indianapolis (CA-35) on July 30, 1945. At 2300 Hours on July 29, 1945 I-58 surfaced 250 miles (400 kilometers) north of Palau and headed south. Shortly afterwards the navigation officer spotted a ship approaching from the east, making 12 knots (22 kilometers an hour; 14 miles per hour) and not zigzagging. I-58’s Captain, Lieutenant Commander Hashimoto (October 14, 1909 – October 25, 2000) incorrectly identified the target as an “Idaho-class battleship.” She was in fact the heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis; she had sailed from Guam for Leyte the previous day, after having delivered parts and nuclear material for the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombs to Tinian from San Francisco. I-58 submerged and prepared to attack with Type 95 torpedoes. After maneuvering into position, at 2326 Hours, the submarine fired a spread of 6 torpedoes at 2-second intervals. At 2335, Hashimoto observed 2 equally spaced hits on the cruiser’s starboard side. The ship stopped, listed to starboard, and was down by the bow, but Hashimoto decided to attack again and dived to a 100 feet (30 meters) to open the range and reload torpedo tubes. While the submarine was submerged, at 0027 Hours on July 30, Indianapolis capsized and sank. When I-58 made a periscope check, the target was gone. The submarine surfaced, and departed the area at full speed, heading north while recharging batteries. With no report of arrival, and denied an escort, Indianapolis was not declared overdue. Some 900 survivors went into the water; only 300 were rescued alive 4 days later, many taken by sharks or dead by dehydration. Hashimoto was summoned by the United States military to be a witness for the prosecution in the court-martial against Indianapolis commander Captain Charles B. McVay III (August 31, 1898 – November 6, 1968), who was on trial on charges of negligence leading to the ship’s sinking. On December 9, 1945, he was transported from Tokyo to Oakland, California, aboard an aircraft of the Naval Air Transport Service. Hashimoto was assured he would be treated as a naval officer instead of a prisoner of war or war criminal, but he remained under guard during his time in the United States and was not allowed to leave his hotel, as his appearance had been front-page news that day in the New York Times and in other newspapers. The next day he arrived in Washington, where hearings were taking place. For the duration of his time in the United States, he spoke through translator Francis Earl Eastlake from the Office of Naval Intelligence. Hashimoto spoke 1st with Judge Advocate Captain Thomas John Ryan, Jr. (August 5, 1901 – January 28, 1970) for 4 hours on December 11. He spoke the next day with Captain John P. Cady (July 11, 1900 – October 31, 1993), McVay’s chief defense counsel, for several hours, as both officers sought to determine his credibility and competence to take the stand in the trial. Hashimoto told them the visibility was good on the night of the attack, and he had been able to easily spot the Indianapolis. Hashimoto testified in the court on December 13 in a crowded courtroom. It was the 1st time that an officer of a nation at war with the United States had testified against an officer of the United States Navy in a court martial. At the behest of Cady, Hashimoto took both a Japanese civil oath and a United States Navy oath, and so he could be charged for perjury in both nations if he lied. Hashimoto’s 50 minutes of testimony focused on whether or not Indianapolis was “zigzagging” and he noted the ship did not deviate from its course. However, he also noted that its position would have made such evasive maneuvers ineffectual in thwarting his ability to attack the ship. Still, his testimony is considered integral in McVay’s eventual conviction that he had been negligent. Charles Butler McVay III was exonerated in 2001. Following his appearance at the trial, Hashimoto remained in United States custody under guard until early 1946, when he was returned to Japan aboard USS Effingham. With the Nuremberg Trials underway and Japanese war crimes during the war coming to light, the announcement of Hashimoto’s appearance in testimony against an American officer caused considerable controversy in the American news media. Though Hashimoto was himself known to be innocent of any war crimes and was generally treated well by his guards, he spoke little English and was subject to derision in the press. Among the public responses, socialite Evalyn Walsh McLean (August 1, 1886 – April 26, 1947) sent an angry telegram to Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal to complain, and U.S. Representative Robert L. Doughton (November 7, 1863 – October 1, 1954) publicly stated, “It is the most contemptible thing I ever heard of to summon a Jap officer to testify against one of our own officers. I made my living practicing law before Navy courts and boards for twenty-five years, and this reaches an all-time low in courts, board or congressional investigation.” Columnist Robert Ruark (December 29, 1915 – July 1, 1965) accused the Navy of using Hashimoto to “hype up” the court martial. Even after his departure his testimony remained controversial, and the Chicago Sun criticized his trip, which it estimated to have cost $1,820 (equivalent to $31,800 in 2024). After the capitulation of the Empire of Japan, the submarine surrendered in September 1945, and was later scuttled by the United States Navy. The wreck of I-58 was located and identified in 2017. | |
| Image Filename | wwii1978.jpg |
| Image Size | 1.37 MB |
| Image Dimensions | 5656 x 4471 |
| Photographer | |
| Photographer Title | United States Marine Corps |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | January 28, 1946 |
| Location | |
| City | Sasebo |
| State or Province | Nagasaki |
| Country | Japan |
| Archive | Naval History and Heritage Command |
| Record Number | USMC 139986 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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