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The ko-hyoteki ("Type 'A' Target") class of Japanese midget submarines
had no names, but were referred to by the designations of their "mother"
I-16 class submarines, plus the suffix "tou" (艟). Thus, the midget carried
by I-16 was known as I-16tou. They also had hull numbers beginning with the
character "ha" (は), which can only be seen on a builder's plate inside the
hull. They carried one commander and one crewman.
Twenty ko-hyoteki were built. The "Type 'A' Target" name was assigned as
a ruse -- if their design was prematurely discovered by Japan's foes, the
Japanese Navy could insist that the vessels were battle practice targets.
The first two, Ha-1 and Ha-2, were used only in testing. Ha-19 was used as
I-24tou (see below). The other hull numbers are unaccounted for.
On December 7, 1941, five ko-hyoteki joined the attack on Pearl Harbor,
having been carried there by I-16, I-18, I-20, I-22, and I-24.
I-16tou, commanded by Masaji Yokoyama and crewed by Sadamu Uyeda, radioed
on the evening of December 7 a report that the attacks had been successful,
and was credited with the sinking of USS Arizona (BB-39). Photographs show
what appears to be a ko-hyoteki inside Pearl Harbor firing torpedoes at
Battleship Row, and the light cruiser St. Louis (CL-49) reported being
attacked by torpedoes just outside the harbor. In October 2002, I-16tou has
not yet been located.
Photographic analysis conducted in 1999 has determined that not only was
a ko-hyoteki present in Pearl Harbor, but that it fired both of its torpedos
and likely scored a hit on the USS West Virginia.
I-18tou, commanded by Shigemi Furuno and crewed by Shigenori Yokohama,
was depth-charged outside the harbor in Keehi Lagoon. The wreck was
discovered in 1960 and raised. Its bow (with its still-dangerous torpedoes)
was cut off and resunk, and the rest of the boat shipped to Japan. There, a
new bow was fabricated and the boat put on display on Eta Jima.
I-20tou, commanded by Akira Hiro-o and crewed by Yoshio Katayama, was
ordered to attack from a location closer to Waikiki than any of the other
ko-hyoteki. Near their assigned location and before the air attack on Pearl
began, the destroyer USS Ward (DD-139) reported firing on a submarine. In
late August, 2002, the wreck of a ko-hyoteki was discovered with a
three-inch shell hole in its sail. That shell must have killed Hiro-o,
making him the very first enemy killed by United States forces in World War
II.
I-22tou was rammed and depth-charged during a running battle with
destroyers, later raised, and used as landfill with the bodies of commander
Naoji Iwasa and crewman Naokicki Sasaki still aboard.
I-24tou (Ha-19) was captured the day after the attack. Its crewman,
Kiyoshi Inagake, was killed, and its commander, Kazuo Sakamaki, was made a
prisoner of war -- the first for America. The sub was displayed throughout
the United States.
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