The Secret Weapons Behind The Japanese Attack On Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor was too shallow for conventional torpedoes; they would’ve just dived in and stuck to the bottom of the ocean floor. So a few months before the attack, Japanese designers created finned torpedoes that could perform “a feat like that of an acrobat high-diving in shallow water.”

By the fall of 1941, they had perfected the weapon. Now all they had to do was transport it to the American naval base. Japan’s fleet of ships managed to stay undetected throughout the journey to Hawaii that began in November of 1941. Here’s how:

Braving gales, high seas, and fog, the fleet took a far-northern course beyond range of island-based U.S. patrol planes, and remote from shipping lanes. Should an American merchantman be encountered, orders were explicit and ruthless–sink it on sight, before it could radio an alarm. As it turned out, however, a lone Japanese ship was the only one seen.

They had miniature submarines too. However the real prizes, U.S. Aircraft Carriers were luckily not at Pearl on
Dec. 7, 1941.

Although Pearl Harbor was a victory for the Japanese–a triumph of their technological prowess and their brutal military tactics–the war, of course, did not end well for them. Most of their battleships sunk by the time World War II came to a close. The attack’s chief planner, Admiral Yamamoto, died in a plane that’d been shot down by U.S. airmen in 1943. Dictator Tojo, who ordered the attack, was hung as a war criminal in 1948.

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beckyromero · 36-40, F

The Japanese Ships That Attacked Pearl Harbor and Their Fate

1st Air Fleet Kidō Butai ("Mobile Force"), Admiral C. Nagumo, IJN

CV-Akagi
Set on fire by planes from Enterprise (CV-6), 4 June 1942. Torpedoed and scuttled by destroyers Arashi and Nowaki on 5 June 1942 northwest of Midway Island

CV- Kaga
Set on fire by planes from Enterprise (CV-6) and sunk, 4 June 1942 northwest of Midway Island

CV- Hiryu
Set on fire by planes from Yorktown (CV-5) and Enterprise (CV-6), 4 June 1942 Torpedoed and scuttled by destroyers Kazegumo and Yugumo, 5 June 1942. North West of Midway Island

CV- Soryu
Set on fire and blown up by planes from Yorktown (CV-5). Sunk northwest of Midway Island, 4 June 1942
Nautilus (SS-168) claims to have delivered the death blow by hitting Soryu with two torpedoes shortly after she was hit by Yorktown`s aircraft

CV- Shokaku
Sunk by 3 torpedoes fired from Cavalla (SS-244) 140 miles north of Yap Island, 19 June 1944

CV- Zuikaku
Struck by 6 torpedoes and 7 bombs from aircraft from Essex (CV-9) and Lexington (CV-16) and sunk 220 miles east northeast of Cape Engano, 25 October 1944

BB- Hiei
Crippled by 50 shell hits of 8 inch or less during the first Naval Battle Of Guadalcanal. Struck by 4 torpedoes from aircraft of Enterprise (CV-6) and sunk off Savo Island, 13 November 1942

BB- Kirishima
Disabled by gunfire from Washington (BB-56) during the Second Battle Of Guadalcanal. Kirishima received nine 16 inch and over forty 5 inch hits at a range of only 8400 yards and was scuttled, 15 November 1942

CA- Tone
Sunk in shallow water by aircraft from Task Force 38 near Kure Island, 24 July 1945, broken up for scrap in 1948

CA - Chickuma
Torpedoed by aircraft from Task Force 77.4.2 northeast of Samar. Scuttled by torpedoes from destroyer Nowake October 25 1944

CL- Abukuma
Bombed by U.S.A.A.F. aircraft 10 miles Southeast of Negros, Philippine Islands, 24 October 1944. Sank 26 October 1944

DD- Tanikaze
Torpedoed and sunk by Harder (SS-257) 90 miles South West of Basilan, 9 June 1944

DD- Urakaze
Torpedoed and sunk by Sealion (SS-315) 65 miles north northwest of Keelung, Formosa, 21 November 1944

DD- Isokaze
Damaged by aircraft of Task Force 58. Scuttled 150 miles southwest of Nagasaki, 7 April 1945

DD- Hamakaze
Sunk by aircraft from Hornet (CV-12) and Cabot (CVL-28) 150 miles Southwest of Nagasaki, 7 April 1945

DD- Kasumi
Badly damaged by aircraft from Task Force 58. Scuttled 150 miles Southwest of Nagasaki, 7 April 1945

DD- Arare
Torpedoed and sunk by Growler (SS-215) 7 miles east of Kiska Harbor, Alaska 5 July 1942

DD- Kagero
Damaged by a mine and sunk by US Navy aircraft 5 miles southwest of Rendova, 8 May 1943

DD- Shiranui
Sunk by aircraft of Task Force 77 80 miles north of Panay, 27 October 1944

DD- Akigumo
Torpedoed and sunk by Redfin (SS-272) 30 miles southeast of Zamboanga, 11 April 1944

DD- Akebono
Sailed with Pearl Harbor Task Force but was assigned to bombard Midway Island. Sunk by aircraft from Task Force 38 in Manila Bay, 13 November 1944

DD- Ushio
Sailed with Pearl Harbor Task Force but was assigned to bombard Midway Island. Ushio was the only Japanese ship that took part on the attack on Pearl Harbor not to be sunk during the war. Ushio surrendered badly damaged and was scrapped in 1946

Supply Group No.1, Captain, Masanao, IJN

Kyokuto Maru - Sunk by US Navy aircraft, 21 September 1944

Kenyo Maru - Sunk by Whale (SS-239), 23 March

Kokuyo Maru - Sunk By Bonefish (SS-223), 30 July 1944

Shinkoku Maru - Sunk by US Navy Aircraft at Truk, 17 February 1944

Supply Group No.2, Captain Kazutaka Niimi IJN

Toho Maru - Sunk by Gudgeon (SS-211), 29 March 1943

Nippon Maru (i.e. Nihon Maru) - Sunk by Scamp (SS-277), 14 January 1944

Toei Maru - Sunk By Silversides (SS-236), 18 January 1943.

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