December 5, 2004

Mini-Subs a Pearl Harbor Secret Weapon

The "day that will live in infamy" will be recalled Tuesday -- 63rd anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor - but nearly forgotten is the role of Japan's midget submarines that launched it prematurely.  

Ironically the first shot in the engagement was fired by Americans.

The opening salvo was so bizarre that American authorities failed to recognize its significance.

Japanese Admiral Nagumo was put in command of a fleet of aircraft carriers and giant submarines with midget submarines clamped to them.

The expedition took off secretly from the Kurile Islands on Nov. 26 with intent to destroy the American fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.  

An advance contingent of five midget submarines (each with two men and two torpedoes) arrived outside Pearl Harbor during the dark early hours of Sunday, Dec. 7, 1941.

Their mission was to sneak in and join the fight when the attack planes arrived. Sunday was chosen on assumption Americans would be standing down for weekend activities.

The U.S.S. Destroyer Ward, on patrol, spotted a small conning tower and fired upon it at 4:55 a.m. The incident was reported to base. As there were no signs of engagement or wreckage, the report was filed.  

At 7 a.m., a U.S. radar station detected in-coming aircraft and reported it to Pearl. The planes were assumed to be a flight of U.S. bombers expected that morning from the U.S. mainland.

As flags at Pearl were being raised for reveille at 7:55 a.m., the first Japanese air flight attacked.

Seven battleships were anchored in a row - a virtual shooting gallery of targets. An eighth was in dry dock. A second wave of Japanese bombers swooped in at 9:30 a.m.

In the ensuing carnage, all battleships were sunk or heavily damaged. Fortunately the Navy's three aircraft carriers were at sea on various errands.

Upon discovering that the American carriers had avoided his trap, Nagumo feared discovery. He canceled a third wave slated to destroy the oil storage facilities at Oahu.

His fear was well founded. Six months later, the fully fueled U.S. carriers caught up with the main Japanese fleet off Midway Island and decimated it.

 Carnage

The Japanese sank or severely damaged 18 ships at Pearl Harbor -- including the eight battleships, three light cruisers, three destroyers and several support vessels.

On the Army and Navy airfields, 161 fighter planes were destroyed and 102 heavily damaged.

A total of 2,402 people were killed -- including  2,117 Navy personnel, 228 Army soldiers and 57 civilians.

(Note in comparison: 3,100 people were killed by the 9-11-01 airliner suicide bombings in New York City  Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania by 16 Al Queda terrorists.)  

The Japanese lost 29 planes and pilots, all five midget subs and a large "mother" submarine that had ferried in one of the midgets.

President Franklin Roosevelt and Congress declared war against Japan the next day. Three days later. Japan's "Partite Partners" - Germany and Italy -- declared war on the U.S.

 Fate Of Midgets

Of the five midget subs that participated in the attack, four were sunk. One designated I-24 was disabled and drifted around to the opposite side of Oahu.

It's commander, Kazub Sakamaki, waded ashore and was captured to become Prisoner of War Number One. His crewman triggered a demolition charge that slightly damaged the vessel but killed him.

The sub was taken to the U.S. mainland, repaired and trucked around the country to promote War Bond sales.

For 25 years it rested at Key West, Fla., as a museum attraction. It was moved in 1991 to the Admiral Nimitz Museum at Fredericksburg, Texas.

Sakamaka returned to Japan after the war and was reviled as a coward. After awhile, common sense set in and the hapless commander of I-24 was well respected by his countrymen.  

Fates

Midget subs were 80 feet long, battery driven and carried two torpedoes. A commander guided the vessel by periscope while a crewman operated the motor controls and the flotation valves.

The young men were not specifically designated "kamikaze" (suicide) heroes, but they understood their chances of surviving were minimal.

Research by Japan-101 Information Source provides details of the fates of the other four midgets.

Midget I-16 radioed on the evening of Dec. 7 a report that the attacks had been successful and was credited with sinking the USS Arizona.

Photographs by Japanese pilots during the attack show a midget sub firing two torpedoes toward the U.S.S. Arizona.

However, that battleship was hit by several torpedoes and aerial bombs. One of the latter pierced a forward turret and exploded its magazine of gunpowder, which sank the Arizona immediately.

Fate of I-16 is unknown, but it likely was damaged by return fire and limped outside the harbor before sinking.  

Midget I-18 was depth charged outside the harbor. The wreck was discovered in 1960 and raised. Its bow containing its still-dangerous torpedoes wad cut off and re-sunk.

The rest of the sub was shipped to Japan where a new bow was fabricated, and the vessel put on display.

I-20 was ordered to attack close to Waikiki. It is believed this sub was the one fired upon by the USS Ward. The sub was discovered in 2002 with a 3.5-inch hole in its conning tower.

I-22 was rammed and depth-charged in a running battle with destroyers. It was raised years later and buried as landfill with bodies of the crew still inside.

As the Japanese fleet of warships dwindled at the hands of a growing and relentless U.S. Navy, a weakened Japan struggled to resist with midget subs and kamikaze aircraft pilots.

Scores of suicide pilots died, and hundreds of midget subs were in the shipyards, when two U.S. atomic bombs convinced the Japanese that they had lost the war they triggered by perfidy.

Author: Lindsey Williams

Cutlines

1 - 6 col. ?  -- aerial view battleships - THIS PHOTO ONLY RECENTLY RELEASED BY JAPAN IMPERIAL NAVY AND HAS RARELY BEEN SEEN PUBLICLY.

Photo courtesy U.S. Naval Historical Center, by permission Japan Imperial Navy.

This newly released aerial photograph of Pearl Harbor was taken by a Japanese bomber pilot during the Dec. 7, 1941, surprise attack. It has been released recently by the Japan Imperial Navy. Battleship Row is in forefront. Smoke in background is from Hickham Army Air Field also under attack. Arrow (added by your writer) points to Japanese midget submarine I-16 firing its two torpedoes - one on the USS Arizona and the other on the USS West Virginia. Note the torpedo trails streaking toward their targets. The Arizona was hit several times with torpedoes and aerial bombs. One of the latter hit her ammunition locker. The internal explosion sank the ship within minutes - 1,300 crewmen went down with their ship. Ship and men were left in place. The hull and mortal remains are a solemn memorial of the event.

2 - 3 col. Midget sub on beach.

Photo courtesy U.S. Naval Historical Center  

Midget Sub I-24 was disabled during the attack and did not fire its torpedoes. The vessel drifted to the other side of Oahu and beached itself. The commander was captured and became Prisoner of War Number One.

Oooooooooo

3 - 3 col. - sub's control station.

Photo courtesy U.S. Naval Historical Center

The two-man crew could not stand upright. Malfunction of a gyrocompass rendered the midget submarine helpless. The vessel was taken to U.S. mainland and trucked around to promote War Bonds.

 Oooooooooo

4 - 3 col. - stern view of sub on display

Photo by Lindsey Williams

The trophy submarine after the war was mounted for display across the street from the home of famous writer Ernest Hemingway at Key West, Florida. The vessel was moved in 1991 to the Admiral Nimitz Museum in Texas.