NOVA - Killer subs in Pearl Habor

[divengolf]

I received the following email from the curator of the Submarime Force Museum (Groton) concerning the Jap mini-sub on display:

Ref your query on Japanese midget submarine at the museum. It was not at Pearl Harbor, it was recovered at Guadalcanal, toured the US for war bond rallies and ended up here during the war and has been here ever since.
Its designation and type classification have been fairly consistent but with the advent of the internet, some minor different ways of naming the type and measurements continues to arise.

Ko-hyoteki class submarine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I have also attached a Word file that the curator sent to me.

Harry

 

[Guy Alcala]

The one thing missing from the documentary was any paper trail documenting the finding, salvaging and intel exploitation of this sub. Despite the damage to LSTs from the explosion and the wish to clear the debris from West loch, it's not as if they'd just say, "Oh, look, another Japanese mini-sub from the attack. Ho-hum, toss it on the pile with the other trash." I'd expect there'd be records from the Pac Fleet Intelligence Center, at a minimum. Despite the passage of time (per Nova Dec. '41 - May 1944, IIRR), I'd think they would make an attempt to enter the control room and recover documents, and the Tech Int people would want to give it a look to see if there were any significant differences from the others that were recovered. And if there were bodies still inside, they would have probably been removed and buried. Somewhere there's sure to be a record, it's just a question of finding it.

Guy