Ha-19
(Midget Submarine, 1938-1941).
One of the most interesting stories
surrounding Japan’s use of submarines in the attack on Pearl Harbor is the case
of the midget submarine Ha-19, the
46-ton Type “A” midget submarine built in Kure in 1938 and transported to the
region of Pearl Harbor aboard the big submarine I-24.
Unfortunately, when the Ha-19 was dispatched into Pearl Harbor with the five other
Japanese midget submarines on December 7th 1941, its gyrocompass
broke. This malfunction prevented its pilot Ensign Kazuo Shakamaki and crewman
Kyoshi Inagaki from completing its attack mission at Pearl Harbor.
The midget wandered around without
direction, overcome by battery fumes, spending the night of December 7th
unconscious and drifting in the waters surrounding Oahu. The midget submarine
went aground at Waimanalo, on the east coast of Oahu. Ensign Sakamaki and his
submarine were captured by American forces on December 8th, and he
became the first Japanese prisoner of war taken by the United States during the
Pacific War. Inagaki died in the adventures of getting ashore. Sakamaki was
humiliated to be taken alive, as the rest of the midget submariners died in
Pearl Harbor combat. He demanded to be allowed to commit suicide in Oahu
prison; American guards refused. Later he returned to Japan, deeply committed
to pacifism, and was received with hostility among his fellow countrymen.
The Ha-19 itself was reclaimed and sent to the United States’
mainland, where it was displayed
at various War Bond tours across the nation, becoming a valuable recruiting
tool as an odd sort of P.O.W artefact of propaganda, symbolizing the American
effort against the Japanese. Below is an image of President Frankilin D.
Roosevelt touring the Mare Island Navy Yard in 1942, with the captured Ha-19
in the background.The midget sub remains
on display at the Admiral Nimitz Museum in Fredericksburg, Texas.
Ensign Kazuo Shakamaki, captured
December 8th 1941 on an east-coast beach of Oahu, becoming the first
Japanese prisoner of War. The triangular marks on his cheeks are cigarette
burns from his shame after being captured alive. He survived the war completely
and died on November 29, 1999. [1]
The salvaged Ha-19 on an eastern Oahu beach. Click to enlarge.[2]
President Franklin D. Roosevelt touring Mare Island Navy Yard, with the midget sub Ha-19 in the background. Click to enlarge.[3]