Japanese submarine attack on Pearl Harbor, US enters WW-II   On the morning (07:55) of December 7, 1941 a massive Japanese air attack accrued on the American Naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, an historical event dragging the US into World War II.   Enemy planes appeared to make a simultaneous attack – the bombers attacking Ford Island coming from the Southwest, and the torpedo planes coming from the Southeast Kamikaze airplane were crash diving into destroyers and aircraft carriers.   Less known is the submarine attack on Pearl Harbor that day, led by no les then a few midget submarines.   Japanese submarines participated in the attack, but without any real effect. Twenty-five I class boats had been put on station around the island. They did not see any American warships, although one Japanese boat was spotted and sunk by airplanes from USS Enterprise. Five Ko-Hyoteki, HA-midget submarines, joined the attack carried to the area aboard I class boats, I-16, I-18, I-20, I-22, and I-24, attempted to penetrate theharbor before the air attacks began, but achieved nothing but their distraction. One became the first casualty of the war. She was sunk by gunfire and a depth-charge attack from the venerable World War I destroyer Ward. I-16tou, commanded by Masaji Yokoyama and crewed by Sadamu Uyeda, radioed on the evening of December 7 a report that the attacks had been successful, and was credited with the sinking of USS Arizona-appearing to be not truth. I-16tou has not yet been located. I-18tou, commanded by Shigemi Furuno and crewed by Shigenori Yokohama, was depth-charged outside the harbor in Keehi Lagoon. The wreck was discovered in 1960 and raised. I-20tou, commanded by Akira Hiro-o and crewed by Yoshio Katayama, was ordered to attack from a location closer to Waikiki than any of the other ko-hyoteki. Near their assigned location and before the air attack on Pearl began, the USS Ward reported firing on a submarine. In late August, 2002, the wreck of a ko-hyoteki was discovered with a three-inch shell hole in its sail. I-22tou, was rammed and depth-charged during a running battle with destroyers, later raised, and used as landfill with the bodies of commander Naoji Iwasa and crewman Naokicki Sasaki still aboard. I-24tou(Ha-19) was captured the day after the attack. Its crewman, Kiyoshi Inagake, was killed, and its commander, Kazuo Sakamaki, was made a prisoner of war, the first for America. The sub was displayed throughout the Unitd States. Back to History Index Image Country Year Description Uganda 1991 Pearl Harbor 7.12.1941 & Battle of Midway 4-6.6.1942 (sheetlet of 10 stamps) Saint Vincent & Grenadines 1991 Japanese submarine and aircraft leav Truk to attack Pearl Harbor Saint Vincent & Grenadines 1991 Pearl Harbor 7:55am Sunday 7th Dec` 1944 (sheetlet of 10 stamps) Guyana 1991 Target:Pearl-Harbor,07:55 Sunday,7 Dec` 1941 (sheetlet of 10 stamps+ss) Dominica 1991 50th anni' of Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor (set of 8 stamps+2ss) Gambia, The 1992 The Pacific theatre of war,Pearl harbor -Battle of Midway(sheetlet of 10 stamp) Micronesia 2001 60th anni` Pearl Harbor 1941 (sheetlet of 6 stamps+ss)