Operation Storm: Japan's Top Secret Submarines and Its Plan to Change the Course of World War II

532 Pages·2013·4.82 MB·English

by  John Geoghegan

Copyright © 2013 by John Geoghegan All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Crown Publishers, an imprint of the
Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
www.crownpublishing.com
CROWN and the Crown colophon are registered trademarks of Random
House, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on
request.
eISBN: 978-0-307-46481-1
Illustrations by Emil Petrinic
Jacket design by Eric White
v3.1
For Emma and Nina,
because it’s always better to know
both sides
C
ONTENTS
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Author’s Note
Principal Actors
Map
P I PROLOGUE
ART
Chapter 1 FACE-OFF
Chapter 2 THE I-401
P II PREPARATION
ART
Chapter 3 BIRTH
Chapter 4 NAMBU
Chapter 5 UNDERWATER AIRCRAFT CARRIERS
Chapter 6 PROOF OF CONCEPT
Chapter 7 CHALLENGES
P III COMPLICATIONS
ART
Chapter 8 REDUCTION AND REVIVAL
Chapter 9 NAMBU UNDER FIRE
Chapter 10 NAMBU BECOMES A MOLE
Chapter 11 SEIRAN TAKES FLIGHT
Chapter 12 THE PANAMA CANAL
Chapter 13 ARIIZUMI
Chapter 14 ARIIZUMI UNDER FIRE
Chapter 15 THE SEGUNDO (SS 398)
Chapter 16 DECLINE
P IV THE MISSION
ART
Chapter 17 NAMBU AND THE I-401 141
Chapter 18 THE 631ST
Chapter 19 FULP ON PATROL
Chapter 20 KURE
Chapter 21 ADVERSITY
Chapter 22 ATTACKING THE CANAL
Chapter 23 GREEN LIGHT
Chapter 24 FULP’S LAST PATROL
Chapter 25 NANAO BAY
Chapter 26 THE TASTE OF PERSIMMON
Photo Insert
Chapter 27 JOHNSON TAKES COMMAND
Chapter 28 OPERATION STORM
P V RACE AGAINST TIME
ART
Chapter 29 DEPARTURE
Chapter 30 UNDER WAY
Chapter 31 CROSSED WIRES
Chapter 32 THE EMPEROR’S VOICE
Chapter 33 ANARCHY
Chapter 34 ESCAPE
Chapter 35 INTERCEPTION
Chapter 36 SPOILS OF WAR
Chapter 37 RECKONING
Chapter 38 BOARDING PARTY
Chapter 39 THE TENTH WAR GOD
Chapter 40 BITTERSWEET
Chapter 41 FREEDOM
Chapter 42 THE LONG ROAD HOME
Chapter 43 REDISCOVERY
E
PILOGUE
Acknowledgments
Notes
Sources
’
A N
UTHOR S OTE
Under the supervision of the Demobilization Bureau, the basic material
contained in this monograph was compiled and written in Japanese by
former officers … The paucity of original orders, plans and unit journals,
which are normally essential in the preparation of this type of record,
most of which were lost or destroyed during field operations or bombing
raids rendered the task of compilation most difficult … However, while
many of the important orders, plans and estimates have been
reconstructed from memory and therefore are not textually identical with
the original, they are believed to be generally accurate and reliable.
—Japanese Operational Monograph, JAPANESE RESEARCH
DIVISION, MILITARY HISTORY SECTION, HEADQUARTERS, ARMY
FORCES FAR EAST, 1946, PREFACE, P. V.
RASHOMON IS A JAPANESE TERM THAT DESCRIBES HOW DIFFERENT witnesses to the
same event can shape its story differently, based on individual
perception. Rashomon also applies to the history of the I-400 submarines
because the memories of their officers and crew sometimes differ. As the
preface to the Allied monograph on Japanese military history indicates
above, many Japanese records were destroyed during or immediately
after the war. As a result, I have relied primarily on first-person accounts
either oral or written. When accounts differ, I have indicated the
differences in a footnote.
Additionally, Japanese records show an event happening a day later
than U.S. records. This is because Japanese time is 13 to 16 hours ahead
of U.S. time, depending on the U.S. time zone and daylight savings. For
example, the attack on Pearl Harbor happened on Monday, December 8,
in Japan, but the date is emblazoned in American memory as Sunday,
December 7. The fact that many Japanese records were lost, or
intentionally destroyed, at the end of the war means dates can be
difficult to establish. When dates are in conflict or doubt, a footnote
explains the difference. Any errors are my own.
Finally, Japanese names appear in Western style, with the family
name coming last. In the interest of simplicity, I have also omitted any
macrons. Ages are also stated in Western terms. (Prior to World War II,
Japanese children were considered one year old when they were born.)
And though the Japanese do not refer to ships as male or female, I have
done so throughout the text to maintain consistency with Western
convention.
P A
RINCIPAL CTORS
IMPERIAL JAPANESE NAVY
(IJN, OR DAI-NIPPON TEIKOKU KAIGUN)
NAVAL GENERAL STAFF (GUNREIBU)
• Cdr. Yasuo Fujimori, staff officer submarines. He was dedicated
to steering the I-400 program through a hostile bureaucracy.
• Cdr. Shojiro Iura, staff officer submarines. He opposed the I-
400 program, even though he wanted to bomb Oregon.
COMBINED FLEET (RENGO KANTAI)
• Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto, commander in chief of the Combined
Fleet. He dreamed up the I-400 submarines as a follow-up
punch to Pearl Harbor.
• Capt. Kamato Kurojima, Yamamoto’s chief staff officer. He
helped make sure a resistant naval bureaucracy built
Yamamoto’s underwater aircraft carriers.
SIXTH FLEET (IJN SUBMARINE FORCE, OR Dai-roku Kantai)
Submarine Squadron 1 (SubRon 1, or Daiichi Sensuitai),
sometimes called Sensuikan tokugata (Special submarine), or
Sen-toku for short. In some instances the I-400 submarines were
also referred to as tokugata, or “special model” subs.1
• Cdr. Tatsunosuke Ariizumi, squadron commander. The British
may have called him “the Butcher,” but his reputation inside
the Imperial Japanese Navy was just as tough.
I-401 (SQUADRON FLAGSHIP) KEY OFFICERS AND CREW
• Lt. Cdr. Nobukiyo Nambu, commanding officer. The emotional