I don't know if this is the correct thread for this question but something has always puzzled me about the Pearl Harbour attack. If the USS Ward attacked a Japanese submarine some time before the surprise air attack on the harbour ( and I believe it is generally accepted that the air attack was a surprise - at least to those based at Pearl), was that depth-charge attack not an act of war in itself? Please, I am not a subscriber to any of the "isms" discussed in this thread nor a Conspiracy Theorist but I am genuinely perplexed. Pete
I don't know if this is the correct thread for this question but something has always puzzled me about the Pearl Harbour attack. If the USS Ward attacked a Japanese submarine some time before the surprise air attack on the harbour ( and I believe it is generally accepted that the air attack was a surprise - at least to those based at Pearl), was that depth-charge attack not an act of war in itself? Please, I am not a subscriber to any of the "isms" discussed in this thread nor a Conspiracy Theorist but I am genuinely perplexed. Pete The midget sub was in the exclusion zone out the harbor. NOBODY operated submerged there unless they wanted to get TLC from a destroyer. The Japanese and everybody else that might operate any kind of ships near Hawaii were notified of the zone via the usual diplomatic channels.
I would agree with OP about the exclusion zone. I would further opine that for the Japanese to place a warship in such a position is in itself an act of war.
the fact is that the Japanese naval forces knew that sending a combat vessel into an area that had been declared an exclusion zone was an act of war. they knew exactly what could happened to any of their vessels. it would have been the same kind of action that would have happened if say a British or dutch or us navy vessel had wondered into certain areas of the Japanese home islands
From the little I know about this, the submarine was approaching Pearl whilst submerged. My understanding is that orders stated that any friendly sub approached on the surface. Keith
Thanks for clearing that up for me guys. It makes sense now I know the exclusion zone was well 'flagged'. BTW, what happened to the sub? Pete
Now, I wonder if any of the men of the USS Ward, especially those manning the gun, were still living when the sub was found, to know that there is proof that they hit their target.
Now, I wonder if any of the men of the USS Ward, especially those manning the gun, were still living when the sub was found, to know that there is proof that they hit their target. One of the gunners went down to see it. I don't know if he was the only survivor, but he was the only one there. Sorry, don't know his name. This was the Dennis Hasstert (sp?) two hour special that recreated the supposed minisub torp firing.
Five Japanese mini-subs were to participate in the Pearl Harbor strike, but four were scuttled, destroyed or run aground without being a factor in the attack. The fate of the fifth has remained a mystery. But a variety of new evidence suggests that the fifth fired its two 800-pound torpedoes, most likely at the battleships West Virginia and Oklahoma, capsizing the latter. A day later, researchers think, the mini-sub's crew scuttled it in nearby West Loch.
Five Japanese mini-subs were to participate in the Pearl Harbor strike, but four were scuttled, destroyed or run aground without being a factor in the attack. The fate of the fifth has remained a mystery. But a variety of new evidence suggests that the fifth fired its two 800-pound torpedoes, most likely at the battleships West Virginia and Oklahoma, capsizing the latter. A day later, researchers think, the mini-sub's crew scuttled it in nearby West Loch. That's the one they studied in the Hasstert special. I have issues with the idea.
It remains a controversial theory. Pro Pearl Harbor CSI: NOVA Discovers the Mini-Sub That Fired on the Arizona | Techland | TIME.com Con Problems with the Mini-Submarine at Pearl Harbor Theory
It remains a controversial theory. Pro Pearl Harbor CSI: NOVA Discovers the Mini-Sub That Fired on the Arizona | Techland | TIME.com Con Problems with the Mini-Submarine at Pearl Harbor Theory The one in the Hasstert special is claimed to have fired at, I think West Virginia, but definitely not the Big A. So we have three theories at least.
