Chapter 6 Chapter 1 Special Operations on Pearl Harbor

In November 1941, I was working as a torpedo chief (torpedo chief) on the No. 24 submarine, which had been out of the factory for only six months.Since that summer, I have been busy solving the problem of equipment and supplies on the boat.The boat's first trial voyage was from Wugang to Sasebo, but the results of the trial voyage were not satisfactory.However, after the boat returned to Wugang on November 10, it was immediately incorporated into the 1st Diving Team and the 3rd Diving Team under the command of the Sasaki Navy Lieutenant Commander.We were soon ordered to prepare for battle.I was designated as the person in charge of this preparation.Although the Iraqi submarine is a large submarine, there are not enough cabins on the boat to accommodate three months of food reserves.Therefore, all passages and all spaces are filled with food.The final sea trial of the submarine took a week, and all the crew members worked hard.

During this test voyage, we set off from Wugang Naval Base. A special superstructure that looks like a hangar was installed on the boat to cover the device for launching the pocket submarine.The trials were attended by representatives of the shipyard.After returning to Wugang, we immediately started to troubleshoot the fault in the main water tank. We have realized that war is inevitable, so everyone is waiting for the upcoming combat mission with anxiety and fear. On November 17, the eve of our first combat mission at sea, the situation in the Hawaiian Islands was the main topic at a meeting of submarine officers held at the Navy Club.This is the first hint of what we're about to accomplish.We also heard that pocket submarines were to be used in the attack on Pearl Harbor, the naval base of the US Pacific Fleet.

The idea of ​​using a pocket submarine was born in 1936.At that time, a submarine officer working in the military command saw a diving boat driven by a man to fish.Later, a mother ship dedicated to carrying pocket submarines was built.Since the beginning of 1941, experiments have been stepped up.In October of the same year, those who advocated the use of pocket submarines proposed a plan to use pocket submarines to attack Pearl Harbor when war broke out.The competent department believes that this suggestion can be adopted, but a supplementary plan should be formulated to ensure that the pocket submarine can return to the mother ship after attacking, and the pocket submarine can attack without breaking into the harbor.According to the above instructions, planning continued, and five large submarines were converted into motherships capable of carrying pocket submarines.After the plan is drawn up, the commander of the submarine fleet will submit it to the commander of the joint fleet for approval, but according to the plan stipulated in the plan, the pocket submarine still needs to break into the harbor before it can attack.Admiral Yamamoto, the commander of the Joint Fleet, believes that if they break into the port, they will never come back, and there is no need for them to break into the port.Later, this issue was handed over to the pocket submarine crew to discuss and determine.Since the crew firmly believed that they could break into the harbor, the commander finally agreed and approved the plan.But he insisted on drawing up a detailed plan for organizing the rescue of the crew.Therefore, at the same time as we received the final order to attack Pearl Harbor, we were also instructed to be ready to rescue the crews of the pocket submarines who survived the attack. The attack on Pearl Harbor was a bold plan.We were apprehensive because of insufficient preparation and lack of practical experience in this regard, although I myself had fought in the Yangtze River in China when I was serving in gunboats and minesweepers.

On November 18, a special attack team composed of five submarines set sail from Wugang, all of which carried pocket submarines.The crew of these pocket submarines must have narrow escapes when performing their missions.According to the voyage plan, we will sail through the Seto Inland Sea and the Bungo Channel into the Pacific Ocean.That night, there was no moon.When we were out of port, we found some lights on our parallel course, like a merchant ship.After walking with us for a while, the light disappeared due to the increasing distance. In order not to expose the pocket submarine on board, we had to sail underwater. At dawn the next day, when we observed the sea surface with a periscope, we found that it had been captured by us last night. What was regarded as a merchant ship turned out to be one of his own aircraft carriers.So we surfaced and sailed with our aircraft carrier.

After sailing into the ocean, we divided into three shifts to serve as watch shifts.The crew members in various positions were engaged in intense operations, and we practiced the submarine's diving action repeatedly.The captain asked if we were confident of victory, and I heard our captain reply that he must give it his all. At that time, there were only five I|16 large submarines serving as pocket submarine motherships, forming a special attack team.They should play a decisive role in the current campaign.Although these submarines are newly built, the crew members are all novice and lack sufficient training.Therefore, we are not fully sure of the success of this operation.

We practice diving three times a day, and we don't stop until the crew has mastered the speed diving movements proficiently. According to the provisions of the navigation order, we must take all measures to avoid being discovered by the enemy's submarine observation equipment.But we know very little about these observational devices.According to the scheduled route, we turned east and sailed to the Hawaiian Islands.During the voyage, the boats of our team kept an interval of 20 nautical miles.In the meantime, two other diving teams (Diving Teams 1 and 2) of eleven submarines had also sailed from Yokosuka, heading north on the Great Circle, preparing to pass between the Aleutian Islands and Midway.The 3rd Diving Team, consisting of nine submarines, sailed from the forward base on Kwajalin Island, between Johnston Island and Howland, and quickly sailed to the Hawaiian Islands.Our commandos also sailed along this route to the Hawaiian Islands.Sailing on this route is very dangerous, and may be spotted by enemy patrol forces at any time.However, because the work of installing equipment on the boat was not completed on time, the date of sailing was postponed, so this route had to be adopted.

We sailed without incident on the water, and found nothing in the air and the endless sea.During the day, the crew charged and inflated the pocket submarine on the upper deck; the officers were in the cabin around the chart of the Hawaiian Islands to study the attack plan.After entering the waters of Wake Island patrolled by enemy planes, we sailed underwater during the day and only sailed on the surface at night.From the point of view of training the crew, such a long submersion is beneficial, but due to the lack of fresh air in the cabin and the rising temperature, everyone feels tired and lethargic.

On November 26, we were informed that negotiations between Japan and the United States would lead to no results.We are also told that two battleships and several other ships were stationed at Pearl. On December 2 we were informed that military operations would begin on the 7th.On the eve of the war, they were informed that there were eight battleships moored in Pearl Harbor, but there were no aircraft carriers.Although we were somewhat disappointed by the news that there were no aircraft carriers in Pearl Harbor, battleships were also important targets at that time, so we were still unspeakably happy.

As the time for battle drew near, we had to make a final check on the torpedoes.To do this, we need to remove the torpedo from the launch tube while underwater.This job was very dangerous because the submarine had to trim while checking the torpedoes.As usual, I stayed in the center cabin with the watch officer so that I could watch the changes in trim with the help of various instruments.Suddenly, the trim increased and the submarine began to sink.The navigator who was on duty quickly ordered: Drain the main water tank at the bow!But this measure, as well as the use of drainage pumps to drain the water, did not have the desired effect, and the submarine continued to sink.At this time, we wanted to balance the submarine by sharply reversing and turning the rudder properly, but it was too late. I hurried to the torpedo cabin and found that the intake valve of the bow balance cabinet was stuck, and it could not be opened no matter how hard I tried.The submarine continued to sink, the water pressure continued to increase, and the situation became more and more dangerous.The needle of the depth gauge began to turn faster, and the submarine was about to be crushed by the water.So I grabbed a wrench and tried turning the intake valve wheel again; finally I opened the intake valve and air began to enter the tank.After the submarine continued to sink for a while, it stopped moving.After a while, the depth gauge rose from the 90-meter scale, and the submarine began to float up. At this time, the drainage water pump also started, and the submarine surfaced quickly.Before diving again, the submarine balanced well: the normal safe diving depth of the Yi|16 submarine is 90 meters, and the limit diving depth is 140 meters.Therefore, if my boat continues to sink, it is likely that it will never float again.It is unpleasant to think that we were almost drowned at the bottom of the sea before the war.When we surfaced that night, we found another misfortune aboard: as we had gone too deep, one of the torpedoes on the pocket submarine had been deformed and lodged in the torpedo tube.We worked all night to get the spare torpedo out of the longboat's hold to replace the deformed torpedo.This job looks easy, but it is not so simple to do.The upper deck is not only narrow but also has very little free space, so it is very difficult to move a ton of torpedo on the deck, let alone throw the damaged torpedo silently into the sea.

As we approached the Hawaiian Islands, the weather turned bad with high winds and waves.Preparations for the pocket submarine were going on every night, but under extremely difficult conditions, as the waves kept coming up on the upper decks of the longboats, and we were supposed to be near Pearl Harbor by the night of December 6th.Thanks to the skilful work of our nautical master, we finally saw the Hawaiian Islands on the horizon.According to instructions, we took position eight miles from Pearl Harbor.It was learned from the notification that other submarines also arrived at the designated positions.Even though we were secluded, we could still see the bright lights of the shore and the neon lights of Waikiki Beach.The rows of lights on the airport can also be seen clearly, and jazz music can be heard on the loudspeakers.It was almost 23 o'clock at this time, and the enemy did not notice our arrival at all.Before the Pocket Sub was launched, it was given a final inspection.A crew member who participated in the inspection reported that the gyro compass on the pocket submarine was broken.But the launch time of the pocket submarine was approaching, and it seemed impossible to get the gyro compass repaired in time.At this time, all other preparations have been made, and the crew of the pocket submarine has also taken their positions.The gunner (gunner) of Yi｜24 had been to the Hawaiian Islands when he was studying at the sea school. He introduced some details to the captain of the pocket submarine that should be paid attention to when entering Pearl Harbor.The 23 o'clock stipulated launch time for the pocket submarine has passed, but the gyro compass has not been repaired. At 1 o'clock, it is decided not to use the gyro compass to enter the port.The captain of the pocket submarine took his time to the bridge, made a final report to our boat, and then got into his own.Then our boat began to dive, and after all the safety fixtures were opened, the pocket submarine sailed alone to the entrance of Pearl Harbor.

At 7:55 on December 7, 1941, the air raid on Pearl Harbor began.Then there was a storm at sea.The waves were so strong that we dived to a depth of 27 meters and still felt swaying, with a heel of 5°. At 8:25, there was a faint explosion from Pearl Harbor, but no enemy ships appeared.Due to the increase in heel, the submarine sometimes floats up and sometimes sinks.We tried our best to keep the submarine out of the water.The water pump was running almost non-stop.For a while, the submarine began to dive due to water injection, so that it could not be observed with the periscope;Finally, the submarine finally surfaced in broad daylight.At this time, in any case cannot be found by the enemy.So, we quickly filled the buoyancy adjustment tank with water.But after injecting 20 tons of water, the submarine still floated on the water.At this time, the captain issued an order: Hurry up, two water reconnaissance planes were found!The submarine finally dived to a depth of 27 meters, but the heel did not disappear.Then, it was found that the equalizing pump was faulty and could not eliminate the trim of the bow.We felt very uncomfortable, and really wished not to be suddenly captured by the enemy in this situation, and I kept looking at my watch, looking forward to the sunset, after which we could safely surface. It was not until long after we returned to Japan that we learned that an American clear-coded telegram had been intercepted announcing the sighting of a Japanese submarine ten nautical miles south of Cape Barbiero.This was probably our I|24, but the enemy was too busy fighting the air attack at that time to go out of port and pursue the submarines.On the first day of the battle we did not see any enemy ships and were not attacked by artillery or depth charges. After dark, we routinely started draining the main tank and surfacing.When floating, the hull was very unbalanced, and it tilted violently to starboard.We immediately stopped injecting gas into the port tank, but the hull continued to tilt to starboard.We checked immediately and found that the main valve of the water tank was stuck by a small piece of wood and was not closed tightly. Fortunately, the piece of wood was taken out without serious consequences.It has been a month since Yi｜24 was completed, but the garbage accumulated in the shipyard has not been completely removed, which has caused us a lot of trouble.Although everything was cleaned before sailing, some things fell into the pipeline, which made us panic at the enemy's gate. After the valve was repaired, we immediately surfaced and sailed to the designated position at full speed, waiting for the pocket The submarine is back.The sea was calm.When the submarine arrived at the position, it saw the gray outlines of some islands and several other submarines on our side.We kept getting briefed about the results of the air raids, but nothing about the pocket submarines.Five large submarines were waiting for their children, but they never came back.On the second day of the attack, we heard what appeared to be a depth charge explosion at the mouth of the harbor while underwater.At that time, we thought that this might be an enemy attack on the submarines of the 3rd Diving Team, because their positions were there.After the appointed rendezvous time, we waited all day, but the children still did not return.At this time we received instructions to abandon our plan to rescue the pocket submarine and return to Kwajalin Island. The pocket submarine crews seemed to have expected that they would not come back from this trip.They tidied up their personal belongings left on board the large submarine and left a farewell letter to their parents and a will about disposing of their personal belongings.It now appears that these preparations were correct, for none of them came back, I am the mine chief on board, and I am responsible for the pocket submarine.But my responsibility was limited to launching the boat.The first time I saw a pocket submarine was in Kure, but I didn't have a chance to study its construction at that time.At that time, we had little time to study this problem, and the decision to use the pocket submarine was so sudden. The entrance to the pearl is equipped with an anti-submarine net. At about 8:00 am on December 7, the passage in the anti-submarine net was open, which allowed the pocket submarine to enter the port.But only one pocket submarine sneaked into the harbor and attacked the battleship USS Arizona.Two pocket submarines are said to be missing.The fourth pocket submarine was sunk at the entrance of the harbor (Note: According to American data, the American minesweeper USS Condor, which was inspecting minesweeping at the entrance of Pearl Harbor, reported finding a submarine's periscope, a Catalina A type of aircraft also spotted a pocket submarine sailing behind the USS Antes. The boat may have attempted to follow the USS into the harbor, but was sunk by the USS Ward with artillery and depth charges. Breaking into the harbor A pocket submarine inside was also sunk by the destroyer USS Monaghan.).The fifth, the above-mentioned pocket submarine whose launch was delayed due to a malfunction of the gyrocompass, appeared to have eliminated the malfunction of the gyrocompass after launching.It overcame many difficulties and sailed to the entrance of the harbor, but was spotted by an enemy destroyer and attacked with depth charges.The captain tried to rush into the harbor again, but the gyro compass was still not accurate enough, so he ran aground twice.Later, the captain tried to sail to the rendezvous area, but ran aground again, and could no longer get out of the shoal, nor could he launch torpedoes.Difficult to breathe due to lack of fresh air, the crew decided to go up.After surfacing, he was captured by the enemy.Compared with the aircraft of the mothership, the results achieved by our submarines in this battle are insignificant. At the end of December, we returned to Kwajalin Island and celebrated the New Year there.On the whole, the attack on Pearl Harbor was a success, so each of us had a great time.Local cultured residents held a dance performance for us, and all the people spent the day happily.