I-47 was the second of three Type C cruiser submarines of the C2 sub-class built for the Imperial Japanese Navy. Commissioned in July 1944, she operated as a kaiten manned suicide attack torpedo carrier during the final year of World War II. Surrendered at the end of the war, she was scuttled by the United States Navy in 1946. Design and description The Type C submarines were derived from the earlier KD6 sub-class of the with a heavier torpedo armament for long-range attacks. They displaced surfaced and submerged. The submarines were long, had a beam of and a draft of . They had a diving depth of . For surface running, the boats were powered by two diesel engines, each driving one propeller shaft. When submerged each propeller was driven by a electric motor. They could reach on the surface and underwater. On the surface, the C1s had a range of at ; submerged, they had a range of at . The boats were armed with eight internal bow torpedo tubes and carried a total of 20 torpedoes. They were also armed with a single /40 deck gun and two single or twin mounts for Type 96 anti-aircraft guns. They were equipped to carry one Type A midget submarine aft of the conning tower. Construction and commissioning Ordered under the Rapid Naval Armaments Supplement Programme and built by the Sasebo Naval Arsenal at Sasebo, Japan, I-47 was laid down on 21 November 1942 with the name Submarine No. 377. She was numbered I-47 and provisionally attached to the Yokosuka Naval District on 31 July 1943. Launched on 29 September 1943, she was completed and commissioned on 10 July 1944. Service history Upon commissioning, I-47 was attached formally to the Yokosuka Naval District. From July through September 1944, she was assigned to Submarine Squadron 11 in the 6th Fleet for work-ups in the Iyo-nada. On 8 October 1944, she was reassigned to Submarine Division 15 in the 6th Fleet, and during October she was configured to carry four kaiten manned suicide attack torpedoes on her after deck, two of them with access tubes that allowed their pilots to enter them while she was submerged. She conducted kaiten launch exercises in Tokuyama Bay from 29 to 31 October 1944, and on 6 November 1944 embarked four kaitens at Otsujima Naval Base. First kaiten mission On 7 November 1944, the commander-in-chief of the