Ships are listed by the three-digit boat name if they had one, two-digit if they were not granted one or left service before 20 May 1942.

The sole Kaidai I, I-51, was based on World War I-era German submarines.

The nine Kaidai IIIs were based on earlier designs, but featured a strengthened hull.

[4] Of the nine Kaidai IIIs, seven survived the war, as they spent much of their time as training vessels.

Slightly smaller than her predecessors and with only four torpedo tubes, three Kaidai IVs were constructed between 1929 and 1930; I-61, I-162, and I-164.

The design saw the upgrade of the deck weapon from a 50 caliber to a 65-caliber long dual-purpose gun.

I-165 was modified in 1945, her gun removed and two Kaiten manned torpedo suicide attack craft substituted.

I-166 was sunk by the British submarine HMS Telemachus on 17 July 1944, off the coast of Singapore.

[8] Kaidai VIs contributed to the sinking of two American aircraft carriers during World War II.

The destruction of these submarines also hold some milestones; I-70 was Japan's first major warship casualty in World War II, and the sinking of I-73 represented the first warship kill by a United States Navy submarine in the war.