Pearl Harbor - the missing Japanese midget submarine crew?

70 years ago this morning, never forget. RIP to those who lost their lives that day

I have read in several books that the Japanese midget submarine that was found in the Keehi Lagoon next to Honolulu International Airport in 1960 showed signs that it's 2 member crew were able to escape the submarine after they set the scuttling charges.

What happened to the 2 crewmembers? Did they drown while swimming to shore? Did they actually make it ashore and blend into Honolulu's large Japanese-American population?

What happened to the 2 crewmembers? Did they drown while swimming to shore? Did they actually make it ashore and blend into Honolulu's large Japanese-American population?

Correct me if im wrong but I think the Midget bit refers to the name of the sub because its small not that it was actually manned by midgets...

Sydney Harbour also had a few midget submarines (yes they are miniature submarines, not subs manned by midgets lol) that managed to get into our Harbour. From memory they were spotted and destroyed, at least one made it back to the parent sub waiting off the coast and there is still one unaccounted for that is lying somewhere at the bottom of Sydney Harbour.

Just a bit of relevant info for you

There's nothing in that post that implies he's talking about midgets...

Originally posted by Kolya
There's nothing in that post that implies he's talking about midgets...

other than this sentence:

"Did they actually make it ashore and blend into Honolulu's large Japanese-American population? "

reply to post by ladyteeny


The OP means the population is large, as in many people, not tall people.

Originally posted by ladyteeny

Originally posted by Kolya
There's nothing in that post that implies he's talking about midgets...

other than this sentence:

"Did they actually make it ashore and blend into Honolulu's large Japanese-American population? "

And wheres he implying they are midgets? They were midget submarines, anyone that has a take on the item knows its not about midget crews. Get down of the ignorance horse please.

reply to post by InvisibleAlbatross



Yeah, I ment in terms of numbers. I thought we would be mature enough to know what I was referring too. Roughly 150,000 of the 400,000 people living in the Territory of Hawaii in 1941 were of Japanese descent hence my use of "large Japanese-American population".

Bloody hell... So by "blend in" did you think he meant one got on the others shoulders and they wore a long coat?

there were 5 midget subs that day, two crew members in each. all sank and only one person lived and was captured. The japanese formally said the one member that survived no longer existed, because he did the dishonorable thing and did not kill himself, instead, let himself get captured.

Just to add I'm thankful somebody cleared it up early. I had a Homer moment where I went "A midget submarine eh?" and my mind seen a bunch of little guys running around inside "We're a little short of tiny island" "heh heh heh.... island"

Originally posted by ladyteeny

Originally posted by Kolya
There's nothing in that post that implies he's talking about midgets...

other than this sentence:

"Did they actually make it ashore and blend into Honolulu's large Japanese-American population? "

That cracked me up. I can see it now...some midget submariners trying to blend in among the large....



I agree with the others...the population is large, NOT the people in comparison with the submariners.

reply to post by ChrisF231


I am not a regular moderator of this forum so I can't really act on this, but I might suggest renaming the title of your thread to replace the offending phrase with ".... miniature submarine....."

As for the rest of the members; please recall that most here don't "live down" to your lowest expectations. Show some common courtesy. ... just a word of advice.

Originally posted by Maxmars
reply to post by ChrisF231

 

I am not a regular moderator of this forum so I can't really act on this, but I might suggest renaming the title of your thread to replace the offending phrase with ".... miniature submarine....."

Those subs were referred to as "Midget Subs" here in the States going back decades all the way back to WW-II.

midg·et /ˈmɪdʒɪt/ Show Spelled[mij-it] Show IPA noun

1. (not in technical use) an extremely small person having normal physical proportions.

2. any animal or thing that is very small for its kind.

Modern Political correctness?

reply to post by SLAYER69


Modern political correctness? .... hardly.

[snipped for pointlessness]

... but I digress.... let's stay on the OP now, so I don't get OT'd.

Originally posted by Saltarello

Originally posted by ladyteeny

Originally posted by Kolya
There's nothing in that post that implies he's talking about midgets...

other than this sentence:

"Did they actually make it ashore and blend into Honolulu's large Japanese-American population? "

And wheres he implying they are midgets? They were midget submarines, anyone that has a take on the item knows its not about midget crews. Get down of the ignorance horse please.

sure, i'll get down off the ignorance horse, as long as you get off your superior one.

NM.

There was a midget submarine with an even worse name in the Axis arsenal. If you're interested (or want an excuse to be offended), seek it out for yourself - all I'm trying to say is that this argument over terminology is stupid.

reply to post by Kolya

Could you enlighten me?

Are you referring to the Kaiten class suicide subs?

What's so bad about the name Kaiten? No, I meant en.wikipedia.org...

"Offending blacks AND dwarfs?!? OMGWTFBBQ911" *explodes*