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
coastline for ships and aircraft that might attack. Dawn
was approaching; the first rays of the sun were flickering
off the periscope's 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.
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The only plane ever to drop a bomb on the Continental
United States during WWII was this submarine-based "Glen"
float-plane. |
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The aircraft carried two incendiary 168 pound bombs
and a crew of two. |
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.
September 9, 1942: Nebraska forestry student Keith V.
Johnson was on duty atop a forest fire lookout tower between
Gold’s 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. |
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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
doors 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 its hangar built next to the
conning tower. The wings and tail were unfolded, and two
168-pound incendiary bombs were attached 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 signalked and the catapult
launched the aircraft. After a short climb to altitude
the pilot turned on a heading for the Oregon coast. |
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The “Glen” was launched via catapult from
an 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 the Oregon shores.
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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. |
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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
armed 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. |
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This Memorial Plaque is located in Brookings , Oregon
at the site of the 1942 bombing |
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 that coastal fog, mist and heavy doses of
rain made the forests so wet they simply would not catch
fire. |
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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.
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