Bangkok Post

The Day the Japanese Bombed the American Mainland
by Harold Stephens

A Greyhound bus driver first told me about it. We were nearing Brookings en route to San Francisco, and he said, "Japanese aircraft bombed this place during World War II."

I didn¹t want to argue, but the Japanese had never bombed the US mainland. They had launched a series of ill-directed high-altitude balloon bombs destined for the North American continent, and all but one fell harmlessly. A Japanese submarine had shelled Fort Stevens in Oregon, and another sub fired 25 rounds at a California coastal oil refinery, but the mainland had never been bombed. Something else, however, the bus diver said that bothered me.

He mentioned the local newspaper ran a story about the incident a week before. Two years passed, and this time I was driving up the coast. When I reached Brookings I remembered the bus driver¹s tale and went to the newspaper. "That¹s right," the editor said, "one of those war secrets; would probably still be hush-hush had not the Japanese pilot come through here last Memorial Day on a peace mission." I could hardly believe it. The newspaper carried a photograph of an elderly Japanese gentleman. The caption read that Nobuo Fujita, 78, was appearing in Brookings "nearly 48 years after he flew the only successful bombing mission against the US mainland."

That was ten years ago, and only now has one of the most daring feats of the Pacific war been acknowledged. At the entrance to the town of Brookings, the city erected a plaque with the inscription that on September 9, 1942, the Japanese dropped four bombs from a submarine launched aircraft.

Why the secrecy? Why after all these years has the government finally acknowledged that the attack did take place? Secret or not, the attack was one of the most daring feats to come out of the war. It was the effort of one man, a courageous 29-year Japanese flying officer named Nobuo Fujita. From the editor I got the pilot¹s address and wrote to him. He agreed to meet with me. From Tokyo I made the two-hour train trip to his village, and spent two afternoons with this incredible man. This is his remarkable story.

On November 21, 1941, Submarine I-25 left Yokosuka under sealed orders to proceed to Pearl Harbour and join forces with the Japanese strike force that was to attack Oahu on the morning of December 7.
Submarine I-25 was an attack vessel which carried a small ZERO-type reconnaissance seaplane on board. The plane was kept in a sealed deck hanger and had to be-assembled before it could be launched, and taken apart and stored before the I-25 could submerge. The method was primitive but it worked. Once assembled, the plane had to be catapulted with compressed down a ramp on the deck. The plane¹s top speed was barely 150 mph, and its only armament was one machine gun. But it did carry two 76-kg bombs.

During the attack at Pearl Harbour, I-25 caught sight of the USS Enterprise and other ships and gave chase but could not get into position for an attack. After the Pearl Harbour, Fujita flew reconnaissance missions from I-25 over Sydney and Melbourne in Australia, Wellington and Auckland in New Zealand and other Pacific ports that included Suva in the Fiji Islands and Noumea in New Caledonia. He admitted he and his observer were in constant fear of discovery, but they were never seen or attacked.

After the Battle of Midway, I-25 was stationed off the west coast of the United States. During this time the I-25 shelled Fort Stevens after coming through a fishing fleet where they knew there would be no mines. And it was the I-25 that fired 17 rounds, not 25, at the shore installations off California.
I-25 returned to Yokosuka Naval Base, whereupon Fujita was ordered to report to Naval Headquarters. He was nervous when he entered the commander's office. "Warrant Officer Fujita," Commander Iura said, "we have a special mission for you. You are going to bomb the American mainland." Fujita looked at him in disbelief. Where would it be‹Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles? The whole thing seemed like a dream.

An officer spread charts out on the table. He pointed to the American coast along the Oregon-California border.
"Here," he said, "you will bomb these forests." Forests? Fujita's dreams came crashing down! "Northwest United States is filled with trees," he said. "Once a fire starts it will be hard to put out. The country will panic when they discover Japan can bomb their country."

Fujita said he felt a somewhat better, especially after it was emphasised that his bombing mission was considered important and urgent. Americans would have to defend their homeland.1-25 sailed from Yokosuka on August 15, 1942, and on an early morning in September sighted Cape Blanco light-house. Fujita made his final preparations. He placed a clip of his hair and his will in a small box in the bottom of his desk drawer. If he was to die, the "remains" would go to Japan and be presented to his wife. I-26 surfaced due west of the Oregon-California border and nipped into a cove. The aircraft was assembled and armed. Fujita and Okuda and two 76 kg incendiary bombs were soon airborne. They flew toward Cape Blanco Light, crossed the coastline and went inland on a southeast course about 50 miles.

The sun was rising above the fog as they climbed to 2,500 metres. When they reached a heavily wooded area, Fujita gave the signal and Okuda released the bombs. Moments later they saw flickering fires through the trees.
On the return Fujita took the plane down to treetop level and hedgehopped back to the sea. I-25 was waiting. The aircraft was quickly disassembled and stored. They were beginning to submerge when the duty officer sighted an enemy airplane coming out of the sun.I-25 dove and was 18 metres under the surface when the first bomb exploded. The submarine rolled sharply and the lights went out. Another bomb dropped by but missed. Fortunately damage was minor and repairs could be made later.1-25 crept along the ocean floor and lay on the bottom of Port Orford harbour until night. They surfaced and made repairs.

Since they still had four incendiary bombs left, Fujita decided to make a second bombing mission. He knew it was too dangerous to fly during daylight hours so he planned a night flight. Before midnight on September 29, about 50 miles west of Cape Blanco, I-25 surfaced and the crew assembled and armed the plane. Fujita and Okuda took off in the dark, flew inland for about half and hour, and dropped their bombs in a forest area east of Port Orford. They saw the explosions of red fire in the dark.

On the return flight, Fujita was very careful to avoid being seen. He turned off the engine when they reached the coast, passed north by the Cape Blanco Light, and glided well out to sea before starting the engine. They reached the rendezvous point safely, but he could not see the I-25. He suddenly remembered the faulty compass which had given him trouble over Australia. He had no alternative but to return to the light house and begin a new course.
Fujita flew back out to sea on the new course and presently they saw a streak that gleamed on the surface of the water. It looked like oil which he followed until it narrowed to the black outline of a surfaced submarine dead ahead. Fujita landed on the water and taxied up to the starboard side to the derrick. They were immediately hoisted aboard.
Fujita reported the success of the mission and told the captain of the leakage of oil. The leak occurred during the difficult night launching. It was lucky for Fujita, for he was able to find the sub, but it was even more lucky that American planes did not see it first.

They spent the rest of the patrol time attacking merchant shipping. I-25 sank two tankers, one on October 5 and another on October 6. Not until they were down to their last torpedo did they decide to return home. Then on October 11, they fired their last torpedo at one of two submarines travelling on the surface about 80 miles off the Washington coast. The submarine, a Soviet L-16, blew up in a terrific explosion.
Only when they neared the dock at Yokosuka did Fujita realised his accomplishment. He had bombed America, twice! And I-25 had sunk three enemy ships and a submarine! They had been damaged by enemy bombs yet they lost no lives. Fujita wept.

How was it possible that an enemy plane could fly over US territory and not be spotted. And why weren't the bombings ever made known? For the answer, I had to go back to the archives in America.
The truth is Fujita in his low-flying plane was spotted by four people and reported in each incident. A milkman was driving his truck when there was a break in the fog and he saw an airplane coming in over the coast. He called the Coast Guard and was told he didn¹t know what an airplane looked like.

A teenager who was out hunting instead of in school saw the plane but was afraid to report it.
An unidentified soldier at Cape Blanco saw the plane and wondered what stupid fool was flying around in a putt-putt with a Japanese insignia trying to frighten the daylights out of everyone. His CO told him to get some sleep
A Forest Service officer on watch heard what ssounded like a Model A Ford backfiring, looked up to see a pontoon plane. He called headquarters but the operator attached "no significance to the report."

The most interesting report concerned the US bomber. The twin-engine Lockheed neared the California-Oregon border when the pilot saw something dark in the water ahead. He made a pass and seeing that it might be an enemy submarine, dropped two 300 pound bombs. He then banked and made another approach but did not see any damage or oil on the water. It was long after the war that he learned he had not only seen a submarine and dropped a bomb on it, but that he had actually hit and damaged it.

A little more than a year ago I was in Tokyo and thought I¹d like to see Fujita again. I phoned his home. I was too late. Nobuo Fujita had passed away a few weeks before.

All that remains is a plaque on the California-Oregon border, a wooden marker on a mountain side, and the memories of a few people who are still alive. But even those will soon be forgotten.

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