Japanese submarine Ha-203

Ha-203 was an Imperial Japanese Navy Ha-201-class submarine. Completed and commissioned in May 1945, she served during the final months of World War II. She surrendered at the end of the war in September 1945 and was scuttled in April 1946.

Design and description
At the end of 1944, the Imperial Japanese Navy decided it needed large numbers of high-speed coastal submarines to defend the Japanese Home Islands against an anticipated Allied invasion (named Operation Downfall by the Allies). To meet this requirement, the Ha-201-class submarines were designed as small, fast submarines incorporating many of the same advanced ideas implemented in the German Type XXI and Type XXIII submarines. They were capable of submerged speeds of almost 14 kn.

The Ha-201 class displaced 320 LT surfaced and 440 LT submerged. The submarines were 53 m long, had a beam of 4.00 m and a draft of 3.44 m. For surface running, the submarines were powered by a single 400 bhp diesel engine that drove one propeller shaft. When submerged the propeller was driven by a 1,250 shp electric motor. They could reach 11.8 kn on the surface and 13.9 kn submerged. On the surface, the Ha-201-class submarines had a range of 3000 nmi at 10 kn; submerged, they had a range of 105 nmi at 2 kn. Their armament consisted of two 533 mm torpedo tubes with four torpedoes and a single mount for a 7.7-millimeter machine gun.

Construction and commissioning
Ha-203 was laid down on 5 April 1945 by the Sasebo Naval Arsenal at Sasebo, Japan, as Submarine No. 4913. She was renamed Ha-203 on 1 May 1945 and was attached provisionally to the Sasebo Naval District that day. Launched on 25 May 1945, she was completed and commissioned on 20 June 1945.

Service history
Upon commissioning, Ha-203 was attached formally to the Sasebo Naval District and assigned to Submarine Division 33 in the Kure Submarine Flotilla for workups. She had not yet conducted an operational patrol when hostilities between Japan and the Allies ended on 15 August 1945. She surrendered to the Allies at Sasebo on 2 September 1945. On 2 November 1945, she was reassigned to Japanese Submarine Division Three under United States Navy command along with her sister ships JAPANESE SUBMARINE Ha-201, JAPANESE SUBMARINE Ha-202, JAPANESE SUBMARINE Ha-205, and JAPANESE SUBMARINE Ha-210.

Disposal
The Japanese struck Ha-203 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 in Operation Road's End on 1 April 1946, sinking just beyond the 100 fathom line at 32.61667°N, 129.28333°W.