That single torpedo salvo that ended up sinking an aircraft carrier, destroyer and damaged a battleship so badly it was out of action for quite a while was a major feat on naval warfare.
After causing the sinking of the aircraft carrier USS Wasp and destroyer USS O'Brien and seriously damaging the battleship USS North Carolina, the Japanese submarine I-19 assisted in nocturnal resupply and reinforcement deliveries to the Japanese forces on Guadalcanal from November 1942 to February 1943. These missions were labeled the "Tokyo Express" by the Allies.
The I-19 later was involved in the evacuation of those troops.
Between April and September 1943, the I-19 was stationed off Fiji. During this time, the submarine under the command of Kinashi Takakuzi, sank two Allied cargo ships and heavily damaged another one. Reportedly, after sinking the SS William K. Vanderbilt, on May 16, 1943, the I-19 surfaced on machine-gunned the survivors in their lifeboats, killing one.
On November 25, 1943, at 20:49, about 50 nautical miles off Makin Island, the destroyer USS Radford detected the I-19 on the surface by radar and attacked with depth charges after the submarine dived. The I-19 was lost with all hands.
--GreGen
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