the next day, the ships released their deadly payloads.įor the crews, getting inside Pearl Harbor posed a serious challenge. Then, between the hours of midnight and 3:30 A.M. 6, 1941, the C-1s swam to points within 12 miles of Pearl Harbor. While on route, the so-called “Special Attack Unit” received the coded message “Climb Mount Niitaka 1208.” This meant authorities in Tokyo had not found a diplomatic solution and signaled the go-ahead for the Pearl Harbor attack.
25, 1941, The motherships set sail for Pearl Harbor. Workers at the Kure Naval District painted over the submarine’s running lights to help hide them from enemy spotters.Īfterwards the midgets went to the Kamegakubi Naval Proving Ground and crews loaded them onto the backs of five large Type C-1 submarines, the I-16, I-18, I-20, I-22 and I-24. 19, 1941, the Japanese Navy began modifying five Type A subs with improved pneumatic steering devices, as well as net-cutters and guards for fending off anti-submarine nets. Since the small boats were difficult to control even while swimming in a straight line, crews had to manually move lead weights backwards and forwards to stabilize the vessel. Just getting to the designation was difficult enough. Each one had a 300-pound scuttling charge as a self-destruct device. Even so, the battery limitations made it unlikely the midget sub could make it back to safety. Pacific fleet at their home base of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii to buy the Japanese Army time to complete the conquest of the Western Pacific.Īs a result, a larger submarine mothership had to bring the Type As close to the target area.
Yamamoto began planning for a “short victorious war.” The key to this idea was knocking out the battleships of the U.S. While U.S.-Japanese negotiations came within striking distance of a peace agreement, Roosevelt was a hard bargainer, demanding Japan’s leaders order a complete withdrawal from China. Japanese military leaders had wanted to capture the Dutch East Indies to secure its oil wealth but knew it would trigger a war with the United States. The United States responded to the incursion into China with increasing sanctions, culminating with an embargo on petroleum in July 1941 that crippled Japan’s economy.
Tokyo’s decision to invade China in 1931 and intensify their brutal campaign six years had provoked ultimately irrevocable tensions. Unlike the aerial assault, the sailors failed spectacularly - and the story is often forgotten.īy the 1930s, Imperial Japan and the United States were set on a collision course. But Japanese warplanes didn’t actually fire the first shots that brought America into a massive Pacific War.Īn hour before the air attack, a squadron of tiny Japanese midget submarines attempted to slip into the harbor’s defenses, like burglars in the night, to wreak havoc on Battleship Row. 7, 1941, the aircraft of the Imperial Japanese Navy rained devastation upon the U.S.
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