Golden Gate Torpedo Attack - Japanese Assault on San Francisco 1941

[Music] play hunting clash a next generation hunting simulator and shooting game in hunting clash you can hunt all over the world from the woods of montana to the plains of africa track all kinds of animals from bison to grizzly bears choose an animal prepare your gun aim and shoot as well as hunting animals you can participate in loads of events every day showing off your tracking aiming and sniper skills you can also play with others in a 1v1 pvp duel or shooting battle what's your weapon of choice sniper rifle or bow you decide play hunting clash and feel the thrill no other hunting games can provide the 2021 hunting season is in full swing so dust off your gun the game is free and available on ios and android see the link in the description and download hunting clash today japan launched several attacks on the mainland united states during world war ii and if you are a follower of this channel you've probably seen some of my videos made about them at the beginning of the pacific war in december 1941 japan launched a submarine campaign against the u.s west coast in an attempt to interfere with merchant shipping and intimidate a u.s population that was already unsettled and nervous following the attack on pearl harbor in the early part of 1942 a few of those japanese submarines returned to the west coast and actually attacked shore targets bombarding them with their deck guns before escaping later in 1942 the japanese used a small reconnaissance float plane launched from a submarine to attempt to start huge forest fires in the pacific northwest by bombing the forest with incendiaries this plan failed as did a later operation using paper balloons fitted with bombs these weapons landing all over north america from canada to mexico i even wrote a book about all these attacks in 2006 called the fujita plan but there was one attack that i missed and it seems everyone else did as well a forgotten assault on an american landmark the japanese attack on the golden gate bridge i first came across this story in a newspaper archive dated 1946 in june 1946 the people of san francisco read in the newspaper that a live japanese world war ii torpedo had been found half buried in a sand bank in a beach close to the golden gate bridge it was at the time and even today a complete mystery as to how it got there but i think i can answer that question based on my previous research into japanese submarines off the west coast in 1941-42 the torpedo appears to be physical evidence of a previously unrecorded japanese attack on a u.s city a daring attempt to destroy a landmark that evidently went awry on the 5th of june 1946 a man walking on marshall's beach close to the golden gate bridge spotted something in the surf recognizing it as a torpedo he called the police who in turn alerted the us navy the torpedo was partially buried in a sand bank it was soon identified as a world war ii japanese long lance torpedo one of the best weapons of the war the type 93 long lance entered service aboard imperial japanese navy submarines cruisers and destroyers in 1933. the japanese called it the oxygen torpedo due to its propulsion system which used highly compressed oxygen as the fuel oxidizer in the weapons propulsion system the type 93 had a range of 44 000 yards or 40 kilometers hammering along at 38 knots or 70 kilometers an hour the 29 foot long or 9 meter long torpedo weighed 6 000 pounds or 2.7 tons with an explosive warhead of 1080 pounds or 490 kilos in june 1946 ensign r e mcbride and a u.s navy demolition squad arrived on marshall's beach to deal with the long lands as a precaution all land and water traffic was stopped below and over the golden gate bridge dealing with the weapon took place the following day under difficult conditions in the surf the torpedo's warhead was still live and mcbride estimated that the weapon had been embedded in the sandbank for at least two or three years and maybe more the sailors cut the warhead off the torpedo and hauled it out of the surf the main body of the long lance was also hauled onto the beach using ropes and pulleys a demolition charge was fixed to the warhead and detonated though the explosion was quite weak as the warhead was very corroded after sitting in the ocean for years it's believed that the rest of the torpedo was taken away by the navy and scrapped so who fired the torpedo and when this wasn't addressed in 1946 and has not been until now for my research has pinpointed which japanese submarine was responsible and the date when the attack took place on the 10th of december 1941 three days after the surprise japanese air and submarine attacks on pearl harbor a japanese submarine reported that the aircraft carrier uss lexington and two cruisers were heading northeast from hawaii the japanese failure to destroy the us aircraft carriers at pearl harbor had been a very grave era and the imperial japanese navy was determined to locate and sink them as soon as possible vice admiral shinjuku ordered all available japanese submarines to locate and sink the lexington the large fleet submarines i-15 9 17 19 21 23 and 25 set off at flank speed by the 14th of december they had failed to find the lexington the submarines were joined by the i-10 and i-26 and the nine japanese vessels received orders to go to the u.s west coast and sink merchant shipping close in shore these vessels lurk close to los angeles seattle the mouth of the columbia river cape blanco in oregon cape mendocino monterey bay and estero bay in california and san diego but the one we are interested in was the i-15 allotted a patrol area of san francisco west of the farallon islands her skipper was the experienced 50-year-old commander nobuyo ishikawa the i-15 being a large submarine in comparison to german u-boats at the time completed in 1940 she was a b-1 type submarine 3654 tons submerged 357 feet or 108 meters long with a massive range of 14 000 nautical miles or 26 000 kilometers she had a crew of 94 and even had an aircraft carried in a watertight deck hangar and launched using a catapult and retrieved using a crane the yokosuka e14yc plane used for reconnaissance regarding armament the i-15 had six torpedo tubes and carried 17 long lance torpedoes and also had a 140 millimeter deck gun on the 14th of december 1941 imperial headquarters in tokyo ordered a supplementary mission for the nine japanese submarines lurking off the u.s west coast on the night of the 25th of december christmas day the submarines were to surface a mile or two offshore and proceed to bombard targets with 30 rounds each from their deck guns the propaganda value of such a symbolic assault on christmas day the enemy's special holiday would be immense ishikawa and the other japanese sub-skippers were all keen to carry out this operation against the hated enemy homeland on the 17th of december the i-15 surfaced near the faralon islands in order to recharge her batteries and air the boat the crew were allowed up to the conning tower bridge in groups to view the lights of san francisco through the optics in the distance the citizens of the city evidently unaware of the danger lurking in the dark waters offshore the i-15 continued to linger off san francisco for several more days but no merchant ships were intercepted then on the 22nd of december came disappointing news the shore bombardment operation set for christmas day was postponed by express order of the commander of the combined fleet admiral isoku yamamoto to the 27th of december why the japanese feared offending their german and italian allies by launching an attack on christmas day the holy christian festival but the delays scuppered the plan by the 27th of december most of the submarines were reporting that they were running low on fuel and must return to kwajalein in the marshall islands at once in tokyo the bombardment plan was abandoned the navy was evidently worried that american submarines would do exactly what the japanese were doing and shell coastal settlements in japan in retaliation reluctantly the submarines began to turn for home leaving the west coast but clearly commander ishikawa decided to strike at san francisco before departing as the long lance found in 1946 could only have come from his submarine as no other japanese submarines operated off san francisco during the war clearly he ordered an attack on the city using torpedoes instead of his stat gun so as not to violate his orders a torpedo hitting a target ashore would have been reported by ishikawa as a miss while firing at an enemy merchant ship which was the purpose of his submarine being positioned off san francisco in the first place but what to target with a submarine why not the golden gate bridge the very symbol of san francisco the art deco masterpiece had first opened to traffic in 1937. then it was the world's longest suspension bridge at 4 200 feet or nearly 3 kilometers and the tallest at 746 feet or 227 meters it connects san francisco to marin county it was difficult to build the channel is deep at over 370 feet and prone to violent winds and thick fogs the two weak points for the suspension bridge are its supporting towers if substantial damage could be caused to either the north or south tower the bridge could be structurally compromised though how much damage a long lance could realistically cause to the massive structure remains doubtful ishikawa must have fired some way off the torpedo aimed at the bridge's south tower but the long lance went further south by a few hundred yards and instead impacted the soft sand of marshall's beach where it lay undisturbed until 1946 however it seems unlikely that an experienced sub-driver like commander ishikawa would have bet everything on one shot from some distance it seems more likely that in order to increase his chances of hitting a bridge tower he would have fired a spread of two or three torpedoes as he would have done against a single merchant ship or indeed a convoy though the bridge tower was of course a static target the action of the sea could cause a single torpedo to run wide especially if fired from a great distance this is only speculation on my part but i wouldn't be surprised if another one or two long lancers are buried in beaches adjacent to marshalls or even within san francisco bay itself yet to be found certainly asking commander ishikawa or any of his officers to confirm what really occurred on the 27th of december 1941 has been impossible since the war because the i-15 was sunk with all hands on the 10th of november 1942 by a u.s minesweeper of the british solomon islands so the marshall's beach japanese torpedo remains an intriguing mystery and one that perhaps may yield up further clues in the future but that's what i love about world war ii there are still so many mysteries just waiting to be explained many thanks for watching please subscribe and share and also visit my audiobook channel war stories with mark felton you can also help to support both of my channels at paypal and patreon details in the description box below you

Channel: Mark Felton Productions

Views: 384,229

Rating: 4.9222493 out of 5

Keywords: Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, Long Lance, Japanese Submarine, Pearl Harbor, Admiral Yamamoto, Torpedo

Id: FEA0dN3aTR0

Length: 13min 22sec (802 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 17 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/oohgodyeah]

Link where actual story content starts so you can skip his annoying advert https://youtu.be/FEA0dN3aTR0?t=73