Japan Bombs the West Coast - November ‘98 Aviation History Feature

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Japan Bombs the West Coast

A floatplane launched from an Imperial Japanese Navy submarine dropped its bombs in September 1942–the first time the continental United States was bombed from the air.

By William H. Langenberg

Most Americans probably believe that continental United States has never been bombed. The relative isolation of America, plus the defensive strengths of its Air Force and Navy, have supposedly eliminated such a threat. But is that really true? The answer is no–America has been bombed from the air, not once but twice. These little-publicized events took place in September 1942, and the attacker was an aircraft launched from a submarine of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN).

The IJN began experimenting with aircraft-carrying submarines in 1925. By the time of Pearl Harbor, 11 of its submarines were equipped to carry, launch, and recover one specially configured floatplane. Most of those early boats were classified as scouting submarines, B1 Type, of the I-15 class. They displaced 2,584 tons submerged and had a length of 356 feet. Powered by twin diesel engines and electric motors driving two propeller shafts, the B1 type boats had a cruising range of more than 14,000 miles. The crews were comprised of 97 officers and enlisted men, including the pilot and crewman for the single floatplane. Although the B1 type submarines carried an aircraft for reconnaissance purposes, they were also formidable attack boats, armed with 17 torpedoes and a 5.5.-inch thick deck gun.

Aboard a B1 type submarine, the floatplane was housed in a streamlined, water-tight, hangar installed forward of the conning tower. Its wings, fins and floats were removed, and the horizontal tailplane folded upward in order for it to fit inside. Two launching rails extended forward from the hangar to the bow, from which the reassembled floatplane was catapulted aloft by compressed air. In order to recover the aircraft, the pilot had to make an open-ocean landing and taxi to the starboard side, where a retractable crane hoisted it back on board the submarine. It took a well-trained crew 20 to 30 minutes to launch or recover the aircraft, depending on sea conditions. These were risky and dangerous minutes for the surfaced parent submarine, which lay virtually defenseless against air attack during that period.

The aircraft universally used for this purpose was the Uokosuka E14Y1, called “Glen” by the Allies. It was powered by a 9-cylinder, 340-hp Haitachi Tempu 12 radial engine that provided a maximum speed of about 150 mph, and a normal cruising speed of 85 mph. Constructed of a metal and wood airframe, with fabric-covered wing and tail surfaces, the aircraft weighed just 3,500 pounds, including the twin floats. With a wingspan of 36 feet, the Glen could remain airborne nearly five hours, giving it approximately a 200-mile operating radius. Normally, the aircraft carried a crew of two, plus a load of 340 pounds in small bombs. As defensive armament, it possessed only one rear-mounted 7.7mm machine gun.

The idea of bombing America using a submarine float plane apparently originated in December 1941 with Warrant Flying Officer Nobuo Fujita, who was then stationed aboard IJN submarine I-25, the sixth boat of the I-15 class. I-25 had been built by Mitsubishi at Kobe and was completed only two months previously. Fujita’s floatplane-equipped submarine had been stationed off Pearl Harbor during the surprise attack on December 7, 1941, but he was frustrated by his inability to survey battle conditions there because of damage to his aircraft. Fujita had been conscripted into the IJN in 1932 at the age of 21, and he began flight training the following year. In 1935, he served as a test pilot.

Because Fujita was recognized as an experienced pilot, his idea of using submarine floatplanes as bomber against shipping or shore bases was not dismissed. when Fujita’s executive officer, Lieutenant Tasuo Tsukudo, was approached with the idea in December 1941, he advised, “You ought to put your ideas in writing, Fujita, and forward the to the High Command.” Fujita did so, and his subsequent letter was endorsed favorably and forwarded by the commanding officer of I-25, Lt. Cmdr. Meiji Tagami. Fujita proposed that a B1 type submarine’s floatplane could attack the Panama Canal, plus U.S. West Coast naval bases, aircraft industries and shipping. In the meantime, Fujita continued to fly. During February and March of 1942, he made reconnaissance flights over Sydney and Melbourne, Australia; Hobar, Tasmania; and Wellington and Auckland, New Zealand. I-25 later proceeded to a station off the American West Coast where, on the night of June 21, 1942, it shelled Fort Stevens, a coastal defense base in northwest Oregon. During this bombardment, I-25 fired 17 rounds, most of which exploded harmlessly on the shore. But the attack did alarm the American public when it was later reported on the front page of the June 23 issue of The New York Times.

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