I-15 was a Japanese B1 type submarine

B1 type submarine

The Type B1 submarine were the most numerous submarine class of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II...

. She was completed at Kure Navy Yard

Kure, Hiroshima

is a city in Hiroshima prefecture, Japan.As of October 1, 2010, the city has an estimated population of 240,820 and a population density of 681 persons per km². The total area is 353.74 km².- History :...

 on September 30, 1940, whereupon she entered into service with the Imperial Japanese Navy

Imperial Japanese Navy

The Imperial Japanese Navy was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1869 until 1947, when it was dissolved following Japan's constitutional renunciation of the use of force as a means of settling international disputes...

. Her first and only commanding officer was Commander Nobuo Ishikawa. I-15 operated off the north coast of Oahu

Oahu

Oahu or Oahu , known as "The Gathering Place", is the third largest of the Hawaiian Islands and most populous of the islands in the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital Honolulu is located on the southeast coast...

 during the raid on Pearl Harbor

Attack on Pearl Harbor

The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...

. Her second wartime patrol, in May and June of 1942, took her to the Aleutians, where she conducted reconnaissance of several islands. I-15's third and final patrol took place from August to November 1942, when she operated in the Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...

 in the South Pacific, supporting the Japanese efforts to hold Guadalcanal

Guadalcanal

Guadalcanal is a tropical island in the South-Western Pacific. The largest island in the Solomons, it was discovered by the Spanish expedition of Alvaro de Mendaña in 1568...

. One source (Morison) suggests that I-15 hit the battleship USS North Carolina

USS North Carolina (BB-55)

USS North Carolina was the lead ship of her class of battleship and the fourth in the United States Navy to be named in honor of this U.S. state. She was the first new-construction U.S. battleship to enter service during World War II, participating in every major naval offensive in the Pacific...

 with a torpedo on September 15, 1942, but more recent authorities (Hackett & Kingsepp) maintain that the torpedo came from another submarine operating in the area, I-19. On December 14, 1942, a U.S. ex-destroyer (modified to a fast minesweeper), USS Southard (SS-238) sank I-15 in Cape Rechereche, San Cristobal, with all hands lost. Commander Ishikawa was promoted to the rank of Captain posthumously.