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.
