I-1 surfaced off Kamimbo Bay in a heavy rain squall at 20:30 on 29 January 1943 and headed towards shore, trimmed with her decks awash.Bertke, Kindell, and Smith, p. 259. At 20:35, Kiwi, which was patrolling with Moa off Kamimbo Bay, detected I-1, first with her listening gear and then with asdic, at a range of .Wright, Matthew, "David and Goliath in the Solomons: the ‘pocket corvettes’ Kiwi and Moa vs I-1," navygeneralboard.com, May 6, 2019 Retrieved 15 August 2020 Moa attempted to confirm the contact, but could not. Kiwi closed the range. When one of I-1s lookouts sighted Kiwi and Moa—misidentifying them as torpedo boats—I-1 turned to port and submerged, diving to , and rigging for silent running. Kiwi saw I-1 submerging and moved in to attack, dropping 12 depth charges in two patterns of six. The depth charges detonated close to I-1, knocking several of her men off their feet, and I-1 sprang a leak in her aft provision room.
