The I-52 was a Japanese submarine whose keel was laid in 1942, launched in November 1942, and commissioned in the Imperial Japanese Navy in December 1943. The length of the ship at the time of launching was 108.7 m, width 9.3 m, and the underwater displacement - about 3,650 tons. The maximum surface speed of the I-52 was 17.8 knots on the surface. The main armament was six 533 mm torpedo launchers, and the secondary armament was two 140 mm guns and two 25 mm Type 96 anti-aircraft guns.
The I-52 was an ocean submarine of type C (subtype C3), which in turn was a development of ships of subtypes C1 and C2. Compared to its predecessors, the C3 subtype differed in a modernized hull and reinforced secondary armament, with a reduction in torpedo armament. The most important change, however, was in the engines used, which had less power, which influenced the performance of the ship, but were also slightly smaller in size. Ships of the C3 sub-type had a clearly greater range than the ships of the previous sub-types. They also had nostrils. Shortly after entering service, the I-52 was adapted to the role of an underwater transport and in March 1944 set sail towards the port of Lorient in German-occupied France. He carried on board gold intended for the Nazi government and small amounts of raw materials as payment for the transfer of military technology and various types of war material. The ship was sunk on June 24, 1944 as a result of an on-board aviation attack from the USS Bogue, approximately 800 nautical miles southwest of the Azores.