One of the little know tales of WWII. Which is odd, considering it took place within the borders of the contiguous 48 states.

Many of the Imperial Japanese Navy's first class subs (The "I" boats) carried float planes, dissassembled down to major components, which could be quickly put together and launched via catapult. Then recovered by taxiing alongside, winched aboard, dissassembled & stowed.

The idea was that subs would form picket lines, and scout far ahead of the fleet. And by putting planes on the subs, the IJN could send eyes even farther ahead of the fleet.

Fujita Nobuo proposed arming his aircraft so that if he did encounter ships he could do more than just report; his proposal crossed paths with a proposal from a Japanese diplomat who had served in Seattle. He suggested starting large forest fires in the PACNORWEST to spread panic, and by mid '42 Japanese naval planners began hoping such panic might create enough public pressure on the Roosevelt admin. to pull naval units from the central & southwestern Pacific, where by that time we were putting the big hurt on the Japanese, and place them idly on the US west coast where they could do the IJN no harm.

The upshot was, by the time I-25, Tagami Meiji commanding, arrived off of Cape Blanco, Oregon, Fujita had bomb racks fitted to his aircraft so he could drop incendiaries on the forest. Which he and his radioman/gunner Petty Officer Okuda Shoji did. Twice. September 9th and 29th 1942, 68 years ago this month.

He didn't create much of a fire, near Brookings, and what damage he did cause was quickly hushed up by the press who, at that time, unlike now were remained on the American side.

It was still a ballsy thing to do. It's sort of comparable to the Doolittle raid. They brought what was essentially an aircraft carrier right off the US coast and launched a raid that did very little damage. The first time the sub was very nearly sunk by alert US aircraft before it could submerge. The second time Fujita only found the sub by following an oil slick it was trailing; something any US aircraft could have done had they spotted it.

After the war Mr. Fujita visited the US at the residents of Brookings' request. The first time he suspected it might be a trap, to lure him to the US and charge him with war crimes. So he brought his ancestral katana, to do the "honorable thing" if that were the case. When he realized that as far as Americans were concerned bygones were really bygones, he donated his family's sword to the people of Brookings, Oregon, and devoted his life to making amends.

His sword is on display now at the Chetco Public Library.

Interesting story. I am reading Undersea Victory by W. J. Holmes & he tells about that mission.

Thanks for the post. That was interesting.

The Japs also launched firebombs suspended under balloons into the Pacific northwest.

Some if the incendary devises did not go off and are found from time to time...

quote:

Originally posted by N E 450 No2:
The Japs also launched firebombs suspended under balloons into the Pacific northwest.

Some if the incendary devises did not go off and are found from time to time...

This is very true.

But it's important to note that the Japanese put considerably more lives at risk by surfacing a submarine within 100 miles of the coast of an alerted enemy, and then launching a manned aircraft that could, at best, do 90 knots.

The Japanese called these float-equipped scouts "Geta" because to them the floats looked like the wooden sandals they sometimes wore. They weren't substantial aircraft. Fujita said he nearly crashed when he dropped the first incendiary bomb, as the sudden imbalance due to the weight of the remaining one nearly flipped the plane.

The Japanese submarine service didn't acquit itself well, given its pre-war capabilities. It certainly didn't produce anywhere near the results that the Germans did in the Atlantic, or the US in the Pacific.

But I place the blame for that squarely on the shoulders of the senior naval commanders who only perceived submarines as scouts for the fleet and never recognized their potential.

Japanese skippers and crews did demonstrate when allowed that they could handle their boats skillfully with devastating effect.

As the I-168 did when she slipped by a screen of 5 destroyers to sink the Yorktown and accompanying DD Hammon during the final action of the Battle of Midway, and the I-19 which bagged the Wasp, the O'Brien, and put the battleship North Carolina out of action with a single salvo out of a task force going to the relief of the Marines on Guadalcanal (despite the losses, the Navy pushed on and completed its mission).

And of course the I-25 off the coast of Oregon.

Thank the Lord for stupid enemies; had the senior command listened to its submariners, these guys could have caused the US real trouble. Fortunately, the Naval HQ employed them wastefully and frittered them away.