Type C3 submarines were operated by 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...

, designed and built by Mitsubishi

Mitsubishi

The Mitsubishi Group , Mitsubishi Group of Companies, or Mitsubishi Companies is a Japanese multinational conglomerate company that consists of a range of autonomous businesses which share the Mitsubishi brand, trademark and legacy...

 Corporation, between 1943 and 1944, as cargo carriers.

The Japanese constructed only three of these during World War II (I-52, I-53 and I-55), although twenty were planned. They were among the largest submarines ever built to date, and were known as the most advanced submarines of the period.

• I-52 was laid down on 18 March 1942, and she was commissioned on 28 December 1943 into the 11th Submarine Squadron. After training in Japan she was selected for a Yanagi (exchange) mission to Germany. She was sunk on 24 June 1944 by aircraft from 800 mi (1,287.5 km) southwest of the Azores. Her cargo consisted of rubber, gold, quinine, and Japanese engineers to Germany.
• I-53 survived the war, but she was scuttled by the US Navy off the Gotō Islands
  Goto Islands
  The are Japanese islands in the East China Sea, off the western coast of Kyūshū. The islands are a part of Nagasaki Prefecture.- Geography :There are 140 islands in total, including five main islands:,,,, and....
  
   in 1946.
• I-55 was sunk after three months in commission by destroyer and destroyer escort off Saipan
  Saipan
  Saipan is the largest island of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , a chain of 15 tropical islands belonging to the Marianas archipelago in the western Pacific Ocean with a total area of . The 2000 census population was 62,392...
  
  on 14 July 1944.