Japanese submarine Ha-111

Ha-111 was an Imperial Japanese Navy Ha-101-class submarine. Converted during construction into a submarine tender for midget submarines, she was completed and commissioned in July 1945, only a few weeks before the end of World War II, the last Ha-101-class submarine to be completed. She surrendered at the end of the war in September 1945, and was scuttled in April 1946.

Design and description
The Ha-101-class submarines were designed as small, cheap transport submarines to resupply isolated island garrisons. They displaced 429 LT surfaced and 493 LT submerged. The submarines were 44.5 m long, had a beam of 6.1 m and a draft of 4.04 m. They were designed to carry 60 t of cargo.

For surface running, the boats were powered by a single 400 bhp diesel engine that drove one propeller shaft. When submerged the propeller was driven by a 140 hp electric motor. They could reach 10 kn on the surface and 5 kn underwater. On the surface, the Ha-101s had a range of 3000 nmi at 10 kn; submerged, they had a range of 46 nmi at 2.3 kn. The boats were armed a single mount for a 25 mm Type 96 anti-aircraft gun.

Construction and commissioning
Ha-111 was laid down on 6 November 1944 by Mitsubishi at Kobe, Japan, as Small Supply Submarine No. 4611. Renamed Ha-111, she was launched in 1945. During construction, she underwent conversion to a submarine tender for midget submarines, the conversion involving modifying her cargo hold to accommodate ten 450 mm torpedoes for midget submarines. She was completed and commissioned on 13 July 1945.

Service history
Upon commissioning, Ha-111 was assigned to the 10th Special Attack Unit. Hostilities between Japan and the Allies ended on 15 August 1945. and she surrendered to the Allies at Saeki on 2 September 1945.

On 2 November 1945, Ha-109 was reassigned to Japanese Submarine Division Two under United States Navy command along with her sister ships JAPANESE SUBMARINE Ha-103, JAPANESE SUBMARINE Ha-105, JAPANESE SUBMARINE Ha-106, JAPANESE SUBMARINE Ha-107, JAPANESE SUBMARINE Ha-108, and JAPANESE SUBMARINE Ha-109. In November 1945, the U.S. Navy ordered Ha-111 to move to Sasebo, Japan.

Disposal
The Japanese struck Ha-111 from the Navy list on 30 November 1945. She was among a number of Japanese submarines the U.S. Navy scuttled off the Goto Islands near Sasebo in Operation Road's End on 1 April 1946, sinking just beyond the 100 fathom line at 32.61667°N, 129.28333°W.