Japanese submarine Ha-208

Ha-208 was an Imperial Japanese Navy Ha-201-class submarine. Completed and commissioned in August 1945 only eleven days before hostilities ended in World War II, she surrendered 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-208 was laid down on 1 May 1945 by the Sasebo Naval Arsenal at Sasebo, Japan, as Submarine No. 4918. She was renamed Ha-208 and was attached provisionally to the Sasebo Naval District that day. She was launched simultaneously with her sister ship JAPANESE SUBMARINE Ha-207 on 26 May 1945 and was completed and commissioned on 4 August 1945.

Service history
Upon commissioning, Ha-208 was attached formally to the Sasebo Naval District and assigned to Submarine Division 52. 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.

Disposal
The Japanese struck Ha-208 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.