WORLD WAR 2 IN REVIEW: The Mystery of Midget D: Crew of Sunken Japanese Submarine Never Found

by Daniel F. Gilmore

Published in 1974

Thirty-three years later, a mystery still surrounds one of the five Japanese midget subs that secretly entered Pearl Harbor during the 7 December 1941 attack that thrust the U.S. into World War II.

The question: What happened to the two-man crew of Midget D, which was found 13 June 1960, by Navy student divers seventy-six feet below the surface of the entrance to Pearl Harbor?

“Her torpedoes were still in their tubes, her hatch undogged, and, although her hull was encrusted with coral she appeared to be structurally sound and a determination was made to raise her,” Lieutenant Commander A. J. Stewart wrote in the December 1974 issue of the U.S. Naval Institute’s Proceedings.

Stewart recounted the saga of the five battery-powered subs, each eighty feet long and weighing fifty-six tons, that spearheaded the Japanese assault on Pearl Harbor.

Each midget sub was launched at sea from the deck of a mother sub shortly after midnight, 6 December 1941.

At one point, Stewart recounted: “The crews of the special attack unit could watch the dancing neon signs along Waikiki beach. Rows of landing lights at Hickam Air Base and John Rodgers Airfield blazed like jewels. Haunting strains of jazz music drifted from shore radios and honky-tonks, but all were too excited and busy to notice.

“A malfunctioning gyrocompass in the midget carried by I-24 remained defective in spite of all efforts to fix it. The midget’s young skipper, Ensign Sakamaki, was asked by I-24’s commander if he still wanted to go.

“Determined to perform the mission for which all his military training had prepared him, he replied without hesitation ‘Captain, I am going ahead… on to Pearl Harbor!’ ”

Midget A, another sub apparently cruising on the surface, became the first casualty of the Pacific war an hour before the surprise Japanese air assault on Pearl. The U.S.S. Ward, an inshore patrol destroyer, sent her to the bottom with a shot from her 4-inch guns that pierced the sub’s hull.

Midget A sank in 1,000 feet of water with her two-man crew, and is still on the bottom.

A little later, Midget B launched one of her two 18-inch torpedoes at the U.S. seaplane tender Curtis, missed and hit a pier at Pearl City. The destroyer Monaghan spotted the sub, rammed it with a glancing blow and finished it off with depth charges.

Midget B later was retrieved from the harbor bottom. The two bodies within were removed and buried with military honors, and the sub became fill material for a new pier at the Pearl Harbor sub base.

Ensign Sakamaki’s ill-fated boat, Midget C, hit reefs while trying to enter the harbor. Her batteries began leaking chemicals which almost suffocated the two crewmen.

After drifting all night on the surface with dead motors, Sakamaki and Petty Officer Inagaki lit the fuse to a self-destruct bomb and abandoned ship. Inagaki drowned. Sakamaki was washed ashore unconscious on 8 December at Waimanalo Bay, fifty miles from Pearl Harbor, and became America’s first POW of the war.

The self-destruct bomb was a dud, and Midget C washed ashore to become the key attraction in a coast-to-coast U.S. War Bond drive. The submarine ended up as an exhibit at the Key West, Florida, Lighthouse Museum.

Midget E is assumed to have been a victim of one of four U.S. destroyers that dropped depth charges after they reported being under attack by an enemy submarine. The wreckage of Midget E has never been found.

Stewart described the scene when Midget D was raised. “There followed the first, dramatic entry into the sub as Captain H. A. Thompson pried open the conning tower hatch and climbed down into the sub.

“In the dark, muddy interior, bent piping, a door twisted off its hinges, her large electric motor torn from its mountings and much battered glass gave mute evidence that Midget D had suffered great damage from depth charges.

“However, no trace of documents or crew was found. No bone fragments or teeth were found. Experts agree that even if human remains had disintegrated over the two decades, the victims’ teeth would have resisted the water’s corrosive effects.

“Second, a study of the small lengths of time fuse found, along with detonators, indicated that inasmuch as sulfur was still present in the fuse, the scuttling charge had never been activated.”

The two still-live torpedoes were cemented by corrosion into their tubes and could not be removed. So the bow section was unbolted and dumped with them into the sea.

At the request of Masayaki Harigai, Japanese Consul General in Hawaii, Midget D was returned to Japan and is now on display at the Japanese Naval Academy at Ewa Jima.

“But what of her crewmen?” Stewart asks.

“The conning tower hatch of Midget D was undogged, an action that had to be accomplished from inside the boat. Little doubt exists that her two-man crew left the sub. Whether or not they survived remains a mystery.

“If they were in the craft during the depth charge explosions, which caused extensive damage inside, they probably suffered gross injury.

If they escaped from their boat after it had settled to the bottom, it would have been possible for them to reach the surface.

“If they were able to swim the mile to shore across placid Keehi Lagoon, they could have easily melted into the local populace of Hawaii with its many Orientals.

“Had they been able to do this, their determination to avoid capture might have caused them to seek aid from those friendly to their cause, a difficult task indeed.

“Their devotion to Japanese ideology would likely have caused them to reveal to no one, either during or after the war, that they failed their mission.

“Therefore, it is a remote possibility that one or both may be alive today.”

Type A Midget Submarine Data

Displacement submerged: 46 metric tons.

Dimensions: 23.9 × 1.8 meters.

Crew: two.

Armament: two 18-inch torpedo tubes with one torpedo each.

Machinery: one electric motor, 600-horsepower.

Speed: 23 knots surfaced; 19 knots submerged (55 minutes).

Radius: 129 kilometers at 2 knots submerged.

Further Reading

For further reading, besides the issue of USNI Proceedings already cited, articles covering various aspects of the subject can be found in the August 1952, December 1961 and December 1968 issues of Proceedings.

For additional data on the submarines themselves, see:

Watts, A. J. Japanese Warships Of World War II. Doubleday, Garden City, New York, 1966.

Watts, A. J., and B. G. Gordon. The Imperial Japanese Navy. Doubleday, Garden City, New York, 1971.

Wartime painting in oils on silk, by an unidentified Japanese artist, depicting the four officers and five crewmen who were lost with the five Japanese midget submarines that participated in the attack. The single survivor of that effort is omitted from the painting, which features a view of the attack on Ford Island in its center.

7 December 1941 Chart of Pearl Harbor recovered from a Japanese midget submarine captured after the attack. The chart shows various courses around Ford Island and gives ship locations which do not necessarily correspond to actual 7 December ship positions. Since it presumably came from the midget submarine HA-19, which was unsuccessful in its attempts to enter the harbor, these details probably represent expected ship locations and intended maneuvers by the submarine.

Mounted on the after deck of the "mother" submarine I-24, mini submarine HA-19 is boarded by its crew, Kazuo Sakamaki and Kiyoshi Inagaki, in the pre-dawn hours of December 7, 1941. Painting by Tom W. Freeman, courtesy of Valor in the Pacific National Historical Park.

Japanese Type A midget submarine annotated photograph of the starboard side of the submarine's conning tower, showing periscope, net cutting wire and other features, taken after salvage by U.S. forces, December 1941. HA-19 had grounded on 7 December 1941, following unsuccessful attempts to enter Pearl Harbor during the Japanese attack. Copied in 1980 from Commander Submarine Squadron Four report, Serial 0570, of 26 December 1941.

Japanese Type A midget submarine annotated photograph of the submarine's midships section, taken after salvage and disassembly by U.S. forces, December 1941. HA-19 had grounded on 7 December 1941, following unsuccessful attempts to enter Pearl Harbor during the Japanese attack. Copied in 1980 from Commander Submarine Squadron Four report, Serial 0570, of 26 December 1941.

The disassembled midget submarine HA-19 at Pearl Harbor, December 1941.

Museum display model of a Type A midget submarine.

Type A midget submarine.

Map of Oahu showing Pearl Harbor and other installations and cities, operating areas of Japanese submarines assigned to the Pearl Harbor attack, and the location of Midgets A, B, C and D were found.

Early on the morning of 7 December at least one Japanese midget submarine was reconnoitering inside Pearl Harbor, having slipped past the anti-submarine net. After making a complete circuit of Ford Island the submarine, Ha-19, left the harbor and later ran aground on the beach where it was captured intact.

Japanese Type A midget submarine aground on an eastern Oahu beach, following attempts to enter Pearl Harbor during the 7 December 1941 Japanese attack. The photograph was taken on or shortly after 8 December 1941. Copied in 1980 from Commander Submarine Squadron Four report, Serial 0570, of 26 December 1941.

Japanese Type A midget submarine beached on Oahu, after it went aground following attempts to enter Pearl Harbor during the 7 December 1941 Japanese attack. The photograph was taken on or shortly after 8 December 1941.

Japanese Type A midget submarine on an eastern Oahu beach, after it went aground following attempts to enter Pearl Harbor during the 7 December 1941 Japanese attack. The photograph was taken on or shortly after 8 December 1941.

Japanese Type A midget submarine in the surf on an eastern Oahu beach, after it unsuccessfully attempted to enter Pearl Harbor during the 7 December 1941 Japanese attack. Photographed on or shortly after 8 December 1941.

Japanese Type A midget submarine beached in eastern Oahu after it grounded following attempts to enter Pearl Harbor during the 7 December 1941 Japanese attack. The photograph was taken on or shortly after 8 December 1941. Copied in 1980 from Commander Submarine Squadron Four report, Serial 0570, of 26 December 1941.

Salvaging a Japanese midget submarine, 1945.

Japanese Type A midget submarine annotated photograph of the submarine's bow, showing her two torpedo tubes (with noses of 45cm Type 97 torpedoes visible) and damaged anti-submarine net cutter, taken after salvage by U.S. forces, December 1941. HA-19 had grounded on 7 December 1941, following unsuccessful attempts to enter Pearl Harbor during the Japanese attack. Copied in 1980 from Commander Submarine Squadron Four report, Serial 0570, of 26 December 1941.

Japanese Type A midget submarine annotated photograph of the submarine's control room, showing a control wheel and the gyro compass (which was non-functional during her last mission), taken after salvage by U.S. forces, December 1941. HA-19 had grounded on 7 December 1941, following unsuccessful attempts to enter Pearl Harbor during the Japanese attack. Copied in 1980 from Commander Submarine Squadron Four report, Serial 0570, of 26 December 1941.

Japanese Type A midget submarine annotated photograph of the submarine's interior, showing the motor meter board, taken after salvage by U.S. forces, December 1941. HA-19 had grounded on 7 December 1941, following unsuccessful attempts to enter Pearl Harbor during the Japanese attack. Copied in 1980 from Commander Submarine Squadron Four report, Serial 0570, of 26 December 1941.

Japanese Type A midget submarine partially hauled up on and eastern Oahu beach, during salvage by U.S. forces. It had grounded on 7 December 1941, following attempts to enter Pearl Harbor during the Japanese attack, and was discovered the following day. Copied in 1980 from Commander Submarine Squadron Four report, Serial 0570, of 26 December 1941.

Japanese Type A midget submarine at the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard in December 1941. This submarine had been sunk by USS Monaghan (DD-354) in Pearl Harbor during the 7 December 1941 Japanese attack and was subsequently recovered and buried in a landfill. The submarine's hull shows the effects of depth charges and ramming. A hole visible in the after part of the conning tower may be from a 5 shell. The upper background had been overpainted for censorship purposes.

Ha-19 on display at Mare Island, 10 September 1942.

Ha-19 at Mare Island on 10 September 1942.

Bow view of the business end of Ha-19 at Mare Island on 10 September 1942.

Bow view of the Japanese 2 man submarine Ha-19 at Mare Island on 10 September 1942.

Torpedo tubes aboard the Japanese 2 man submarine Ha-19 at Mare Island on 10 September 1942.

Interior view of Ha-19 looking forward at Mare Island on 10 September 1942.

Inscription written on the bow of the Ha-19 while being prepared for its subsequent bond drive says; "TOJO CIGARS INC. The bonds you buy will liquidate this corporation. Buy more, Buy now;" at Mare Island on 10 September 1942. The photo lab had fun adding the art work to the bow.

The original photo before the artwork and inscription was added by the photo lab.

Mare Island auctioned fragments of Ha-19 captured at Pearl Harbor as part of the yard's War Bond drive during Navy Day on 27 October 1942. Pictured from left to right are auctioneer Hadley, Burton H. Landensohn, who purchased $200 worth of War Bonds for an engraved operating rod, and Fred Lutz; whose $750 bought a $1000 War Bond and a two-foot Japanese battery box cover.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt, seated in an automobile, while touring the Mare Island Navy Yard in 1942. With him are Vice Admiral John W. Greenslade, Commander 12th Naval District, and Rear Admiral Wilhelm L. Friedell, Commandant Mare Island Navy Yard. Secret Servicemen are on duty around the car. In the background is the Japanese midget submarine HA-19, which had been captured on 8 December 1941, immediately after the attack on Pearl Harbor. During World War II, it was taken around the country on War Bond tours.

Japanese Type A midget submarine in Fredericksburg, Texas, birthplace of Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, during a national War Bond tour, circa 1943. HA-19 was captured on 8 December 1941, after it unsuccessfully attempted to enter Pearl Harbor during the Japanese attack on the previous day. The Hotel Nimitz is in the background. Note police cars, Boy Scouts and truck from the Bigge Drayage Co., Oakland, California.

Broadside view of the Japanese two-man submarine Ha-19 captured at Pearl Harbor, 1941, in Fredericksburg, Texas, during a national War Bond tour, circa 1943.

Ha-18 recovered by USS Current off of the Keehi lagoon in 1960.

Japanese Type A Midget submarine. Photographed soon after its recovery near the entrance to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, circa late July 1960. It had participated in the attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, but had apparently been unable to enter the harbor as its torpedoes had not been fired.

Photographed soon after its recovery near the entrance to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, circa late July 1960. It had participated in the attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, but had apparently been unable to enter the harbor as its torpedoes had not been fired. Note bright red corrosion on the submarine's counter-rotating propellers.

Anthony B. Lippincott, boatswain's mate first class and member of the disposal team, lowers battle lamp into the interior of the sail. He found the interior to be rusty and muddy (quoted from the original caption). This midget submarine, which took part in the 7 December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, was recovered outside the harbor entrance in 1960. Photograph is dated 28 July 1960.

Probing into the Interior of the sub, Ensign Glenn Miller, disposal team officer (with flashlight in hand) and Lt(jg) James Connor, ordnance disposal team commander, check forward section of the vessel where the torpedoes are mounted. (quoted from the original caption). This midget submarine, which took part in the 7 December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, was recovered outside the harbor entrance in 1960. Photograph is dated 28 July 1960.

The sub's propellers are slightly damaged although part of the prop guard on the right side has disappeared. (quoted from the original caption). This midget submarine, which took part in the 7 December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, was recovered outside the harbor entrance in 1960. Photograph is dated 28 July 1960.