Another piece of history ... Thanks Sonny Hoskins!

Another



piece of history.



September 9,



1942, the I-25 class Japanese submarine was cruising in an easterly direction



raising its periscope occasionally as it neared the United States Coastline.



Japan had attacked Pearl Harbor less than a year ago and the Captain of the



attack submarine knew that Americans were watching their coast line for ships



and aircraft that might attack our country. Dawn was approaching; the first rays



of the sun were flickering off the periscopes lens. Their mission; attack the



west coast with incendiary bombs in hopes of starting a devastating forest fire.



If this test run were successful, Japan had hopes of using their huge submarine



fleet to attack the eastern end of the Panama Canal to slow down shipping from



the Atlantic to the Pacific. The Japanese Navy had a large number of I-400



submarines under construction. Each capable of carrying three aircraft. Pilot



Chief Warrant Officer Nobuo Fujita and his crewman Petty Officer Shoji Okuda



were making last minute checks of their charts making sure they matched those of



the submarine's navigator.





The only plane ever to drop



a bomb on the United States during WWII was this submarine based



Glen.

September 9, 1942: Nebraska forestry student Keith V.



Johnson was on duty atop a forest fire lookout tower between Gold Beach and



Brookings Oregon. Keith had memorized the silhouettes of Japanese long distance



bombers and those of our own aircraft. He felt confident that he could spot and



identify, friend or foe, almost immediately. It was cold on the coast this



September morning, and quiet. The residents of the area were still in bed or



preparing to head for work. Lumber was a large part of the industry in



Brookings, just a few miles north of the California Oregon state



lines.





The aircraft carried two incendiary 168 pound bombs



and a crew of two.



Aboard the submarine the Captain's voice



boomed over the PA system, 'Prepare to surface, aircrew report to your stations,



wait for the open hatch signal'. During training runs several subs were lost



when hangar door were opened too soon and sea water rushed into the hangars and



sank the boat with all hands lost. You could hear the change of sound as the bow



of the I-25 broke from the depths, nosed over for its run on the surface. A loud



bell signaled the 'All Clear'. The crew assigned to the single engine Yokosuki



E14Ys float equipped observation and light attack aircraft sprang into action.



They rolled the plane out of its hangar built next to the conning tower. The



wings and tail were unfolded, and several 176 pound incendiary bombs were



attached to the hard points under the wings. This was a small two passenger



float plane with a nine cylinder 340 hp radial engine. It was full daylight when



the Captain ordered the aircraft to be placed on the catapult. Warrant Officer



Fujita started the engine, let it warm up, checked the magnetos and oil



pressure. There was a slight breeze blowing and the seas were calm. A perfect



day to attack the United States of America. When the gauges were in the green



the pilot signaled and the catapult launched the aircraft. After a short climb



to altitude the pilot turned on a heading for the Oregon coast.





The Glen was launched via catapult from a I-25



class Japanese submarine.

Johnson was sweeping the horizon but



could see nothing, he went back to his duties as a forestry agent which was



searching for any signs of a forest fire. The morning moved on. Every few



minutes he would scan low, medium and high but nothing caught his eye. The small



Japanese float plane had climbed to several thousand feet of altitude for better



visibility and to get above the coastal fog. The pilot had calculated land fall



in a few minutes and right on schedule he could see the breakers flashing white



as they hit theOregon shores. Johnson was about to put his binoculars down when



something flashed in the sun just above the fog bank. It was unusual because in



the past all air traffic had been flying up and down the coast, not aiming into



the coast. The pilot of the aircraft checked his course and alerted his observer



to be on the lookout for a fire tower which was on the edge of the wooded area



where they were supposed to drop their bombs. These airplanes carried very



little fuel and all flights were in and out without any loitering. The plane



reached the shore line and the pilot made a course correction 20 degrees to the



north. The huge trees were easy to spot and certainly easy to hit with the



bombs. The fog was very wispy by this time.

Warrant Officer



Fujita is shown with his Yokosuka E14Y (Glen) float plane prior to his



flight.



Johnson watched in awe as the small floatplane with a red



meat ball on the wings flew overhead, the plane was not a bomber and there was



no way that it could have flown across the Pacific, Johnson could not understand



what was happening. He locked onto the plane and followed it as it headed



inland. The pilot activated the release locks so that when he would pickle the



bombs, they would release. His instructions were simple, fly at 500 feet, drop



the bombs into the trees and circle once to see if they had started any fires



and then head back to the submarine. Johnson could see the two bombs under the



wing of the plane and knew that they would be dropped. He grabbed his



communications radio and called the Forest Fire Headquarters informing them of



what he was watching unfold. The bombs tumbled from the small seaplane and



impacted the forests, the pilot circled once and spotted fire around the impact



point. He executed an 180 degree turn and headed back to the submarine. There



was no air activity, the skies were clear. The small float plane lined up with



the surfaced submarine and landed gently on the ocean, then taxied to the sub. A



long boom swung out from the stern. His crewman caught the cable and hooked it



into the pickup attached to the roll over cage between the cockpits. The plane



was swung onto the deck, The plane's crew folded the wings and tail, pushed it



into its hangar and secured the water tight doors. The I-25 submerged and headed



back to Japan.



This event, which caused no damage, marked the only time



during World War II that an enemy plane had dropped bombs on the United States



mainland. What the Japanese didn't count on was coastal fog, mist and heavy



doses of rain made the forests so wet they simply would not catch



fire.

This Memorial Plaque is located in Brookings , Oregon at the



site of the 1942 bombing

Fifty years later the



Japanese pilot, who survived the war, would return to Oregon to help dedicate a



historical plaque at the exact spot where his two bombs had impacted. The



elderly pilot then donated his ceremonial sword as a gesture of peace and



closure of the bombing of Oregon in 1942.