World War II Database

Contributor: David Stubblebine

ww2dbaseHostilities between the United States and the Empire of Japan began with the Pearl Harbor Attack of 7 Dec 1941. This attack was followed by a series of much smaller Japanese attacks against the larger continental United States. These attacks were more strategic than tactical; none accomplished any traditional military purpose and none were likely to. They were mainly intended to create panic among the American civilian population and draw military resources to coastal defense.

ww2dbaseJapanese Submarines Approach the United States

ww2dbaseAlthough less has been said about Japanese submarines at Pearl Harbor, the Japanese strike force included an advance force of twenty-nine fleet submarines. The submarines were assigned to ring the islands, act as reconnaissance scouts, and attack any ships exiting the harbor following the air attack. Five of them also launched midget submarines prior to the air attack. At the conclusion of this operation, nine of the long-range I-class submarines were ordered to approach the west coast of the United States with instructions to sink coastal shipping (some sources incorrectly list the number of submarines on this assignment as seven). Additionally, Rear Admiral Tsutomu Sato aboard I-9 was ordered to coordinate a shelling attack by all nine submarines against specified targets up and down the American coast to occur simultaneously on the night of 25 Dec 1941.

ww2dbasePrior to their Christmas attack, each submarine was assigned a particular area along the coast where it was to attack shipping. First to arrive was I-25 commanded by Lieutenant Commander Meiji Tagami off Seattle, Washington on 16 Dec 1941. The first ship attacked in this operation came two days later when Commander Kozo Nishino in I-17 fired several rounds from the deck gun plus one torpedo at the 2,000-ton steamer SS Samoa off Cape Mendocino, California. Samoa was not damaged and steamed on for San Diego.

ww2dbaseThese nine submarines prowled the US coast for two weeks. Among them, they made nine more attacks on merchant shipping and destroyed three ships. Realistically, the Japanese goal was not so much to impede American shipping as it was to encourage American panic by bringing the war directly to their beaches. German submarine warfare had hoped for something similar on America's Atlantic coast, but the level of anxiety along the Pacific coast ran much higher.

ww2dbaseThe shelling barrage planned for Christmas Day was first postponed to the 27 Dec and then cancelled altogether at the last minute. Low on fuel and ammunition, the submarines left American shores on 27 Dec 1941.

ww2dbaseSecond Sortie by Japanese Submarines to the United States

ww2dbaseTwo months later on 20 Feb 1942, Japanese submarine I-17 returned to the American coast off San Diego. This time she was alone and on 22 Feb 1942, Commander Nishino received orders to shell a shore target of his choice on the following evening. Using the list of targets prepared for the aborted Christmas Day attack, he chose the Ellwood oil refinery at Goleta, California. Shortly after sunset on 23 Feb 1942, as President Roosevelt was beginning his Fireside Chat radio broadcast, I-17 surfaced and approached her firing position. I-17's deck gun fired seventeen rounds at the refinery, with some falling short into the sea, some firing long into ranchland beyond the refinery, and some landing within the refinery's boundaries. I-17 then withdrew, steaming on the surface southward through the Santa Barbara Channel. The shelling had caused only superficial damage to the installation. This was the first of only two naval bombardments of the continental United States in World War II.

ww2dbaseWitnesses swore the submarine had relied on signal lights blinking from the hills behind the refinery. No Japanese records corroborate this but the belief at the time, among many other things, was used to advocate for the internment of Japanese-Americans that would follow.

ww2dbaseI-17 remained in American waters for nearly three more weeks, making two more attacks on merchant shipping but sinking no ships.

ww2dbaseThe Battle of Los Angeles

ww2dbaseNone of these skirmishes seriously dented the Americans' ability to wage war, but only twelve weeks into the war with Pearl Harbor still very fresh in everyone's mind, the coordinated naval activity all along the western coastline certainly gave Americans cause for concern. If it had been the Japanese intent to sow panic among the Americans, and it was, then it worked. Already, there had been two incidents blamed on submarine attacks that postwar records suggest were probably something else. Coastal communities were under mandatory nighttime blackouts and anti-aircraft batteries were set up all along the coast, all fueling the invasion rumors that ran rampant. Nerves were raw and the shelling at Ellwood was the final straw.

ww2dbaseThe night after the Ellwood shelling, radar operators in Los Angeles picked up an unidentified airborne target 120 miles off the coast. Air raid sirens sounded, anti-aircraft emplacements were manned, and shore batteries were alerted. Shortly after 3:00 AM on 25 Feb 1942, an hour after the radar sighting, someone at one of the area's coastal artillery positions thought he saw or heard an aircraft overhead and the shooting started. Searchlights snapped on, other gun batteries joined in, and invasion alerts were flashed. The shooting continued sporadically for nearly an hour. Over 1,400 anti-aircraft shells were fired that brought down exactly zero aircraft. After the shooting stopped, everyone remained at the ready for several more hours until the "All Clear" was sounded just after 7:00 AM. In the night's aftermath, many witnesses described having seen a wide variety of aircraft in the skies above Los Angeles, yet the principal effect of the encounter was the considerable damage to civilian property from falling anti-aircraft shells and shrapnel. There had been no enemy aircraft; there had been no aircraft at all. It was just nerves. Five people died; two from heart attacks and three in automobile accidents. This incident became known as the Battle of Los Angeles and some of its details are still debated to this day. No one really knows what happened except that the Americans did a lot of shooting and the Japanese were in no way involved. Submarine I-17 was still in American waters, but miles up the coast. The incident, along with all the finger-pointing that followed, were copiously reported in the press which allowed the Japanese planners to learn of it; something that undoubtedly pleased them no end.

ww2dbaseJapanese Submarines Return

ww2dbaseFor the next several weeks, Japanese submarine forces regrouped ahead of the upcoming Aleutian Island/Midway Operations. This left America's Pacific coast free of Japanese submarines for a while, though the Americans had no way of knowing this. As part of the Japanese Aleutian Operation, I-25 and I-26 were assigned to reconnoiter Dutch Harbor and then interdict shipping off the American coast near the Canada-United States border. On 7 Jun 1942 off the Strait of Juan de Fuca and while the smoke was still settling around Midway, I-26 attacked and sunk the 3,300-ton freighter SS Coast Trader 40 miles off Cape Flattery in the state of Washington, near the border with Canada.

ww2dbaseOn 14 Jun 1942, I-25 arrived off the Oregon coast and released a number of bamboo decoy periscopes intended to confuse American anti-submarine efforts.

ww2dbaseDuring the night of 20 Jun 1942, Commander Minoru Yokota's I-26 surfaced off the Estevan Point light on British Columbia's Vancouver Island for the purpose of shelling the nearby Hesquiat radio direction finding station. The submarine fired seventeen shells (including two exercise rounds filled with sand) but rough seas greatly reduced the accuracy. None of the shells landed near the radio station with most falling short into the sea and some landing around the lighthouse. This bombardment was the first enemy attack on Canadian soil since 1870. Despite occurring 100 miles outside the United States borders and thus not an actual attack on the United States, this bombardment nevertheless added to the American anxiety.

ww2dbaseThe day after I-26 attacked the Estevan Point lighthouse, I-25 approached the Oregon shoreline off the mouth of the Columbia River. Careful to avoid any minefields by following fishing boats, I-25 arrived within 1,100 yards of the beach. Intending to shoot over Clatsop Spit and shell the US Navy's Tongue Point seaplane base at Astoria, the submarine fired seventeen rounds from her deck gun. The shells all fell well short, however, landing in undeveloped areas of Fort Stevens. This was Japan's second and last naval bombardment of the continental United States during World War II.

ww2dbaseThe following day on 22 Jun 1942, I-25 departed American waters and returned to Japan by way of the Aleutians. A week later, I-26 followed. Once again, the coastal waters of North America were briefly free of Japanese submarines.

ww2dbaseLast Trip by a Japanese Submarine

ww2dbaseWith dwindling submarine resources due to the start of the Guadalcanal-Solomon Island campaigns, the Japanese submarine attacks on the United States, while fewer, became more aggressive. The Japanese General Staff initiated a plan to make incendiary attacks against the dense forests of the United States Pacific Northwest. It was hoped that a large forest fire would cause the US Navy to move its Pacific Fleet to defend the mainland. Lieutenant Commander Tagami in I-25 was assigned to execute the operation.

ww2dbaseOn 7 Sep 1942, I-25 arrived off the Oregon coast in bad weather. Two days later, the submarine surfaced in the early morning calm 25 miles off shore and assembled her Yokosuka E14Y "Glen" floatplane. Warrant Officer Nobuo Fujita piloted the plane as it was catapulted off the submarine's bow. The plane flew 10 miles inland over Mount Emily near Brookings, Oregon, three miles north of the California border. The fire lookout on Mount Emily heard the airplane pass overhead, saying it sounded like a sputtering Model A Ford. Over the forested Wheeler Ridge, Warrant Officer Fujita dropped two incendiary bombs. He flew back out to sea where he and his plane were recovered aboard the submarine. As the morning fog lifted, the Mount Emily lookout saw smoke rising from the forest. The source was discovered to be a slow smoldering patch of ground about 75 feet across with a spent thermite canister at its center. This attack might have been more successful had the area not been soaked with an unseasonal half-inch of rain the day before; rain from the same bad weather that had delayed Fujita's flight.

ww2dbaseOn 29 Sep 1942, Lieutenant Commander Tagami tried again. Warrant Officer Fujita took off in his E14Y floatplane in the early morning darkness and flew toward Oregon's Cape Blanco light. After flying beyond the lighthouse, Warrant Officer Fujita again dropped his two incendiary bombs that again had minimal results. Heavy seas and light rain over the following days prohibited any further attacks. These two flights by Warrant Officer Fujita were the first ever aerial bombardment of the United States mainland and the only such bombardments of World War II.

ww2dbaseOver the following week, I-25 sank two merchant ships along the Oregon coast before departing for Japan on 10 Oct 1942. This would be the last trip to the American coast by a Japanese submarine during World War II. On her way across the Pacific, however, I-25 took one more parting shot. About 700 miles off the Washington coast, Lieutenant Commander Tagami observed two submarines running on the surface, apparently on a course toward San Francisco. I-25 fired the last of her compliment of 17 torpedoes and an explosion was heard 30 seconds later, followed by several more heavy explosions. The lead submarine began sinking quickly by the stern. Although Lieutenant Commander Tagami had identified the submarines as American boats, they were, in fact, the Soviet minelaying submarines L-15 and L-16. The two were transiting from Petropavlovsk, Russia on the Kamchatka Peninsula to the United Kingdom by way of Dutch Harbor, San Francisco, Panama Canal, and Canada. It had been L-16 that was sunk and all 56 aboard were lost. L-15 returned fire with five rounds from her deck gun but I-25 continued toward Japan without damage.

ww2dbase1943

ww2dbaseDue to the changing fortunes of war throughout the Pacific, the Japanese had to be content for a time with the heightened levels of American anxiety created thus far. Tactical requirements meant Japan had no assets available in all of 1943 and most of 1944 for any actions against the continental United States.

ww2dbaseOperation Fu-Go Balloon Bombs

ww2dbaseEver since the Doolittle Raiders dropped bombs on Japanese cities on 18 Apr 1942, the Japanese leaders had been searching for ways to bomb the United States mainland. Those efforts gave rise to Operation Fu-Go that proposed to launch balloons from Japan to ride the high-altitude winds across the Pacific to North America with a small load of bombs. The operation launched its first live bombs on 3 Nov 1944 and the first confirmed balloon bomb over North America was discovered on 6 Dec 1944 near Thermopolis, Wyoming, United States. Operation Fu-Go was prepared to launch 100 balloons a day and a total of 10,000 balloons over the five-months of favorable winds.

ww2dbaseFor the rest of the war, parts and pieces of these balloons, and sometimes whole balloons, were found spread all over western North America. There were 169 such reports from United States, with the farthest inland being just west of Detroit, Michigan. Twenty-four were found in Alaska and 80 were found in Canada, but all authorities agree the vastness of the Alaskan and western Canadian landscape may mean not all were found. One was found as recently as 2014 in British Columbia and another in 2019, both with live bombs still attached. By far, the most active period for balloons reaching North America was the month of Mar 1945 with 113 different reports. Then, just as quickly as it started, Operation Fu-Go launched its last balloon in the first week of Apr 1945.

ww2dbaseThe purpose behind Operation Fu-Go was to deliver incendiary bombs to the North American forests, much as the two aerial attacks in southern Oregon had intended two years earlier. The winds delivering the Fu-Go's balloons were strongest and most reliable between the months of November and March, which is also when the North American forests received the most rain and often snow. No forest fires were attributed to the balloon bombs but the closest thing to a strategic success occurred on 10 Mar 1945 and it happened completely by accident.

ww2dbaseOn that date, a balloon landed across some electrical wires in Toppenish, Washington. These just happened to be the main electrical lines running from the Bonneville Dam to the Hanford Facility. At the time, Hanford was the location of "Site W" of the Manhattan Project where nuclear reactors produced plutonium for the atomic bombs. The balloon landing on the wires caused a "blink" in Hanford's electricity. Backup systems quickly corrected the situation but it took three days before the reactors were operating back at full capacity. So secret was the work being done at Hanford that not only did the Japanese not know anything about the near catastrophe, neither did the American public for another ten years.

ww2dbasePart of the American response to the Fu-Go program was a complete press blackout of the subject, lest Japanese intelligence learn of their effectiveness, minimal as it was. Because of this, on 5 May 1945 when a Sunday School class came across parts of a balloon during a church outing to Gearhart Mountain near Bly, Oregon, they had no idea what it was. As they dragged it from the woods, the balloon's 15-kilogram high-explosive anti-personnel bomb detonated. Five children and one pregnant woman were killed. Ironically, this occurred a month after Japan had stopped launching the Fu-Go balloons. These six fatalities were the only known American deaths caused by enemy action within the continental United States during World War II.

ww2dbaseSubmarine Aircraft Carriers

ww2dbaseIn addition to the balloon bombs of Operation Fu-Go, 1942 also saw Japanese designers begin work on creating a larger class of submarine than the long-range I-Boats. These designs turned into the I-400-class, the largest submarines of World War II in any Navy. The idea behind these new submarines came from Isoroku Yamamoto himself. Shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, he thought of using submarine-launched naval aircraft on long-rage strikes against the Panama Canal and the continental United States. The I-400s were to carry three Aichi M6A1 Seiran floatplanes, each one twice the aircraft that the single Yokosuka E14Y "Glen" carried by I-25 was and with ten times the bomb load. Unfortunately for the Japanese, their development came too late in the war. Of the eighteen I-400-class boats originally planned, only three were built and the first one was not completed until the very end of 1944. None sailed to the Panama Canal or the United States and none launched any air strikes. The I-400-class submarines were a statement about what the Japanese intentions were but other factors denied their use.

ww2dbaseConclusion

ww2dbaseOverall, the Japanese campaign against the continental United States did not amount to very much militarily. All of the attacks on North America combined accomplished only a small fraction of what was meted out in just a few hours at Pearl Harbor. But on the deeper levels of the psychological impact on the American public, the American allocation of resources to protect the Pacific coast from attacks that never came, and the morale boost in Japan, the minimal effort invested by the Japanese yielded tenfold in results.

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1.  Alan Chanter says:
27 Mar 2023 01:32:23 AM

Thank you. A lot of interesting facts that I had not seen before. It is good to find that after Eighteen Years of WWIIDB we can still fimd new material.