Pearl Harbor Midget Submarine Found
On 28 August 2002, the University of Hawaii’s Undersea Research Laboratory (HURL) located a Japanese World War II Type-A midget submarine. Two deep- diving submersibles found the vessel three to four miles off the entrance to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. This find culminated a search initiated in 1988 by the National Park Service’s Submerged Cultural Resource Unit, under the supervision of Daniel Lenihan and Larry Murphy. The USS Arizona (BB-39) Memorial has continued a cooperative partnership with HURL in the search for the midget sub. The finding of this vessel solves a persistent 61-year puzzle of what happened on one of the nation’s most historic days and adds a significant artifact to the history of the attack on Pearl Harbor.
In the early hours of 7 December 1941, a signalman on board the Navy supply ship USS Antares (AKS-3) sighted a small submarine. The USS Ward (DD-139), the destroyer assigned to the offshore patrol in the defensive sea area that protected the entrance to Pearl Harbor, received notification that an intruder was lurking about and investigated. The destroyer sounded General Quarters and closed with her target.
At approximately 0645 the captain of the Ward, William Outerbridge, ordered his 4-inch guns to open fire. The first shot from Number 1 gun barely missed the sub; the second blast, from Number 3 gun, struck the sub’s conning tower. A relentless attack continued with the dropping of depth charges. Oil slicks and debris were sighted by several crew members. It was all over by 0653.
A message went out from the Ward to the Commandant of the 14th Naval District at Pearl Harbor: “We have attacked, fired upon, and dropped depth charges upon a submarine operating in defensive area.” An hour later, the main Japanese naval air attack on Pearl Harbor and the surrounding airfields on Oahu unfolded with deadly precision.
For 61 years, sailors from the Ward always had described the events of that morning. But until now, no physical proof existed of the event. Five Japanese midget submarines were deployed as part of the combined sea and air attack on Pearl Harbor. Three of the subs were recovered. With the discovery of the sub sunk by the Ward, only one of midget subs remains missing.
The future of this midget submarine is uncertain. For now, no plans are in place to raise her. Issues regarding ownership are at the forefront of ongoing discussions. The National Park Service has voiced its concern and interest in this matter. “Our biggest concern is that it’s protected,” said Doug Lentz, superintendent of the USS Arizona Memorial.
What is of primary interest is that a key artifact of 7 December 1941 has been found. It elaborates and confirms a historic incident. This war grave needs and requires sound thinking regarding its future and a plan agreed on by all parties that protects the artifact and the souls of those who reside within it.
The fact that the crew members likely still are on board the vessel presents special consideration. A State Department spokesperson said to the Associated Press: “Because this is such an exceptional situation and an artifact of such historic significance, the State Department would like to discuss that in some detail with the Foreign Ministry in Japan.”
Complicating the issue further is that live ordnance in the form of two torpedoes, each with a 770-pound warhead, still are in place on the vessel. Any discussion of raising the artifact would require explosive ordnance disposal experts to evaluate the possibility of disarming these lethal weapons. When you mix the final resting place of two Japanese sailors and two live torpedoes, the issue becomes very complex.
Finally, the artifact itself is hardly a midget in dimensions. The Japanese sub is 78 feet long and weighs nearly 48 tons. She is resting off the entrance of Pearl Harbor in 1,200 feet of water. The fact that the sub was holed by a 4-inch projectile means her water integrity has been compromised. In raising the vessel, the factor of increased weight because of water penetration creates a further engineering hurdle.
Any talk of raising the submarine is premature. It would be a huge and expensive engineering feat. And the challenge will be to create the partnerships needed to complete such a task. One cannot glibly say whether the artifact should be raised or not. Much study and evaluation need to come first.
At this point, the future of the Japanese midget submarine is uncertain. It will take six months to a year to sort out stewardship of the vessel before any recovery can begin.
Daniel A. Martinez, National Park Service historian, USS Arizona Memorial
Wreck of 1930s Airship Surveyed off New Jersey
During a four-day mission in mid-June 2002, the remains of the giant airship USS Akron (ZRS-4), which crashed and sank in a storm off Bamegat Inlet on 4 April 1933, were surveyed from the Navy’s nuclear-powered research submarine NR-1. The Akron disaster was one of the blackest days in the history of U.S. naval aviation, as 73 of 76 aviators died. Among the dead was Medal of Honor recipient Rear Admiral William A. Moffett. The Coast Guard brought the three survivors to shore.
The wreck site was discovered early in the morning of 13 June, as the NR-1 made one of a series of passes over the presumed coordinates of the wreck. As it turned out, the wreck was located nearly a mile farther east than recorded by Coast Guard rescuers and Navy salvage teams in 1933. It is believed that sand slides or hurricanes may have shifted the wreckage in the years since the disaster.
The NR-1 crew and her support team on board the SSV Carolyn Chouest were joined by project archaeologist Dr. P. J. Capelotti and Dr. Robert Browning, U.S. Coast Guard historian. The mission was supported logistically by the Coast Guard Cutter Mako (WPB-87303), Coast Guard Group Atlantic City, and by the First Coast Guard District Operations Center in Boston. For Dr. Capelotti, a lecturer of Anthropology and American Studies at Penn State University Abington College recalled to active duty to support Coast Guard historical documentation after 11 September, the new historical and archaeological cooperation between the services can lead to the kinds of strategic insights on which senior decision makers depend. “Akron was the most sophisticated technology of its day,” Dr. Capelotti says, “and as machine-dependent humans it is vital for us to understand the reasons why and when advanced technology fails us so catastrophically.” Study of the wreck also will, he believes, yield an integrated analysis of both archaeological and written data related to naval aviation strategy in the interwar period.
Dr. Capelotti sees a direct connection to homeland security in such service cooperation. “The relationships we developed and the operational expertise we gained during the Akron expeditions,” he says, “will allow us to better defend the cultural resources of our homeland environment. A significant part of that environment consists of the cultural treasure embedded in our home waters, and in the stories of the defenders of those waters. As such, archaeological treasures like the Akron tell our story as a people and a nation.”
The portion of the Akron located was approximately 200 feet long by 40 feet wide, and is believed to comprise the stern of the airship. If this supposition is borne out by direct scuba surveys, then further study of this section of the wreck, as well as further searching for the remaining forward section of the airship, will be required both to document the entire event and plan the long-term protection and study of the site.
Navy Reinstates First Jack
In early September 2002, Secretary of the Navy Gordon England directed that all Navy ships, beginning on 11 September, raise the historic “First Navy Jack” in lieu of the Union Jack, and continue to do so until the end of the war on terrorism. The flag, emblazoned with a rattlesnake and the words “Don’t Tread on Me,” will honor those who perished at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and on United Airlines Flight 93.
A “Don’t Tread on Me” flag first was flown in fall 1775 by Commodore Esek Hopkins, while fitting out the first Continental Navy squadron at Philadelphia. Tradition has it that First Lieutenant John Paul Jones of the Alfred might have been the one who actually raised the flag for the first time.
Since the 1780s, the First Navy Jack has been used officially in only two other instances. In the bicentennial year of 1976, all Navy ships flew the flag as part of that year’s celebration. In 1980, Secretary of the Navy Edward Hidalgo directed that the ship with the longest total period of active service display the First Navy Jack until decommissioned or transferred to inactive service, and then pass the flag to the next ship in line. Since 1998, the Kitty Hawk (CV-63) has had the honor of flying the First Navy Jack.
The Jack used today was not the original design of the flag first hoisted over the Alfred in 1775. That flag consisted of a coiled rattlesnake on a yellow field, with the words “Don’t Tread on Me” below. At some point during the Revolution, not known for certain by historians, the current design of 13 red and white stripes was adopted. These flags were among many different rattlesnake flags of various designs used on land and sea during the war as symbols of rebellion.
“New England’s Titanic” Discovered
On 29 August 2002, researchers announced the discovery of the remains of the steamship Portland, which sank with no survivors in a storm on the night of 26 November 1898 while on her way from Boston to Portland, Maine. An estimated 190 people perished in the disaster.
Officials at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Undersea Research Center at the University of Connecticut, which conducted the search for the vessel, reported they had found what is believed to be the Portland lying in about 460 feet of water between Cape Cod and Cape Ann off the coast of Massachusetts. Researchers said video footage of the ship’s rudder and other identifying marks provided “solid” evidence she is the Portland. The wreck was found within the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary.
Video of the wreck taken by a remotely operated vehicle from the RV Connecticut shows the Portland resting upright, with much of her superstructure missing.
“We are excited to be able to bring some closure to one of New England’s most mysterious shipwrecks,” said Craig MacDonald, the sanctuary’s superintendent. “The story of the Steamship Portland and its fatal last run from Boston to Portland, Maine, has intrigued maritime historians for years due to the wide-ranging reported sightings of the ship during the storm. This mission allows us to start putting some answers to the questions about its loss.”
The Portland left Boston Harbor at 1900 on the Saturday after Thanksgiving despite warnings of an impending storm. Her distress whistle reportedly was heard at about 2300 that night, off Race Point on Cape Cod, before disappearing. The next morning, debris and bodies began appearing on Cape Cod beaches; only 38 bodies were recovered. For more than 100 years, the exact fate of the Portland remained unsolved.
The expedition to find the Portland is part of a larger effort by NOAA to find and document sites of human interest in its marine sanctuaries. “While the [Stellwagen Bank] sanctuary has been most associated with whales and whale watching, it also serves as a steward of the submerged historical and cultural resources within its boundaries,” said MacDonald. “We are extremely proud that our first dedicated mission to search and explore has produced such exciting results. Future missions hold promise for similarly rewarding finds.”