Fugos: Japanese Balloon Bombs of WWII

Ellwood shelling

The United States mainland was first shelled by the Axis on February 23, 1942 when the Japanese submarine I-17 attacked the Ellwood oil production facilities at Goleta, near Santa Barbara, California. Although only the pumphouse and catwalk were damaged, I-17 captain Nishino Kozo radioed Tokyo that he had left Santa Barbara in flames. No casualties were reported and the total cost of the damage was officially estimated at approximately $500-1000.^[1] However news of the shelling triggered an invasion scare along the West Coast.^[2]

[edit] Battle of the Aleutian Islands

Main article: Battle of the Aleutian Islands

On June 3, 1942 the Aleutian Islands, running southwest from mainland Alaska, were invaded by Japanese forces as a diversion to deflect attention from the main Japanese attack on Midway Atoll. Having broken the Japanese military codes, however, the United States military knew it was a diversion and did not expend large amounts of effort defending the islands. Although most of the civilian population had been moved to camps on the Alaska Panhandle, some Americans were captured and taken to Japan as prisoners of war.^[3]

In what became known as the Battle of the Aleutian Islands, American forces engaged the Japanese on Attu Island and regained control by the end of May 1943, after taking significant casualties in difficult terrain in which hundreds died. A large invasion force, mainly US, but including some Canadian troops, assaulted Kiska Island on August 7, 1943, but the Japanese had already withdrawn, undetected, ten days earlier.

Although Alaska was a U.S. territory and not yet a state (statehood was not granted until 1959) it was part of the North American continent. This battle also marks the only time since the War of 1812 that U.S. territory in North America has been occupied by a foreign power.

In response to the United States' success at the Battle of Midway, the invasion alert for San Francisco was canceled on June 8, 1942.

[edit] Estevan Point lighthouse attack

On June 20, 1942, the Japanese submarine I-26, under the command of Yokota Minoru^[4], fired 25-30 rounds of 5.5" shells at the Estevan Point lighthouse on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, but failed to hit its target.^[5] This marked the first enemy shelling of Canadian soil since the War of 1812. Though no casualties were reported, the subsequent decision to turn off the lights of outer stations was disastrous for shipping activity.^[6]

[edit] Fort Stevens attack

In what became the only attack on a mainland American military installation during World War II, the Japanese submarine I-25, under the command of Tagami Meiji,^[4], surfaced near the mouth of the Columbia River, Oregon on the night of June 21 and June 22, 1942, and fired shells toward Fort Stevens. The only damage officially recorded was to a baseball field's backstop. Probably the most significant damage was a shell that damaged some large phone cables. The Fort Stevens gunners were refused permission to return fire, since it would have helped the Japanese locate their target more accurately. American aircraft on training flights spotted the submarine, which was subsequently attacked by a US bomber, but it escaped.

[edit] Lookout Air Raid

Main article: Lookout Air Raid

The Lookout Air Raid occurred on September 9, 1942. The first aerial bombing of mainland America by a foreign power occurred when an attempt to start a forest fire was made by a Japanese Yokosuka E14Y1 seaplane dropping two 80 kg (170 pound) incendiary bombs over Mount Emily, near Brookings, Oregon. The seaplane, piloted by Nobuo Fujita, had been launched from the Japanese submarine aircraft carrier I-25. No significant damage was officially reported following the attack, nor after a repeat attempt on September 29.

[edit] Fire balloons

Main article: Fire balloon

Between November 1944 and April 1945, Japan launched over 9,000 fire balloons toward North America. Carried by the recently-discovered Pacific jet stream, they were to sail over the Pacific Ocean and land in North America, where the Japanese hoped they would start forest fires and cause other damage. About three hundred were reported as reaching North America, but little damage was caused. Six people (five children and a woman) became the only deaths due to enemy action to occur on mainland America during World War II when one of the children tampered with a bomb from the balloon near Bly, Oregon in the United States and it exploded. Recently released reports by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Canadian military indicate that fire balloons reached as far inland as Saskatchewan. A fire balloon is also considered to be a possible cause of the final fire in the Tillamook Burn. One member of the 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion (United States) died while responding to a fire in the Northwest 6 August 1945; other casualites of the 555th were 2 fractures and 20 other injuries.

Main article: Duquesne Spy Ring

Even before the war, a large Nazi spy ring was found operating in the United States. The Duquesne Spy Ring is still the largest espionage case in United States history that ended in convictions. The 33 German agents that formed the Duquesne spy ring were placed in key jobs in the United States to get information that could be used in the event of war and to carry out acts of sabotage: one person opened a restaurant and used his position to get information from his customers; another person worked on an airline so that he could report allied ships that were crossing the Atlantic Ocean; others in the ring worked as delivery people so that they could deliver secret messages alongside normal messages. The ring was led by Captain Fritz Joubert Duquesne, a colorful South African Boer who spied for Germany in both World Wars and is best known as "The man who killed Kitchener" after he was awarded the Iron Cross for his key role in the sabotage and sinking of HMS Hampshire in 1916.^[7] William G. Sebold, a double agent for the United States, was a major factor in the FBI's successful resolution of this case. For nearly two years, Sebold ran a radio station in New York for the ring, giving the FBI valuable information on what Germany was sending to its spies in the United States while also controlling the information that was being transmitted to Germany. On June 29, 1941, the FBI closed in. All 33 spies were arrested, found guilty, and sentenced to serve a total of over 300 years in prison.

Main article: Operation Pastorius

When the United States entered World War II, Adolf Hitler ordered the remaining German saboteurs to wreak havoc on the country. The responsibility for carrying this out was given to German Intelligence (Abwehr). In June 1942, eight agents were recruited and divided into two teams: the first, commanded by George John Dasch, with Ernest Burger, Heinrich Heinck and Richard Quirin. The second, under the command of Edward Kerling, with Hermann Neubauer, Werner Thiel and Herbert Haupt.

On June 12, 1942, U-Boat U-202 landed Dasch's team with explosives and plans at East Hampton, Long Island, New York.^[8] Their mission was to destroy power plants at Niagara Falls and three Aluminum Company of America (ALCOA) factories in Illinois, Tennessee and New York. However, the team was observed following landing by a Coast Guardsman who immediately raised the alarm. After being captured, Dasch and Burger gave a full confession to the FBI and obtained more lenient treatment.

Kerling's team landed from U-584 at Ponte Vedra Beach (25 miles [40 km] south-east of Jacksonville, Florida), on June 17. They were tasked with laying mines in four areas: the Pennsylvania Railroad in Newark NJ., canal sluices in both St. Louis and Cincinnati, and New York City's water supply pipes. The team made their way to Cincinnati, Ohio and split up, with two going to Chicago, Illinois and the others to New York. However, the Dasch confession led to the arrest of all of the men by July 10.

All eight were tried, convicted by the Military Commission with six men sentenced to death. President Roosevelt approved the sentences. The constitutionality of the military commissions was upheld by the Supreme Court in Ex parte Quirin and six of the eight men were executed by electrocution on August 8. Dasch and Burger were given thirty-year prison sentences. Both were released in 1948 and deported to Germany.^[9] Dasch (aka George Davis), who had been a longtime American resident prior to the war, suffered a difficult life in Germany after his return from U.S. custody due to his cooperation with U.S. authorities. As a condition of his deportation, he was not permitted to return to the United States, even though he spent many years writing letters to prominent American authorities (J. Edgar Hoover, President Eisenhower, etc.) requesting permission to return. He eventually fled to Switzerland and wrote a book, titled Eight Spies Against America. ^[10]

[edit] Operation Elster

In 1944 there was another attempt at infiltration, codenamed Operation Elster ("Magpie"). Elster involved Erich Gimpel and German American defector William Colepaugh. Their mission objective was to gather intelligence on the Manhattan Project and attempt sabotage if possible. The pair sailed from Kiel on U-1230 and landed at Hancock Point, Maine on November 30, 1944. Both made their way to New York, but the operation degenerated into total failure. Colepaugh turned himself in to the FBI on December 26, confessing the whole plan; Gimpel was arrested four days later in New York. Both men were sentenced to death but eventually had their sentences commuted. Gimpel spent 10 years in prison; Colepaugh was released in 1960 and operated a business in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania before retiring to Florida.

[edit] German landings in Canada

[edit] St. Martins, New Brunswick

At about the same time as the Dasch operation (on April 25), a solitary Abwehr agent (Marius A Langbein) was landed by U-boat (possibly U-217) near St. Martins, New Brunswick, Canada. His mission was to observe and report shipping movements at Halifax, Nova Scotia (a busy departure port for North Atlantic convoys). Langbein changed his mind, however, and moved to Ottawa where he lived off his Abwehr funds, before surrendering to the Canadian authorities in December 1944.

[edit] New Carlisle, Quebec

In November, the U-518 sank two iron ore freighters and damaged another off Bell Island in Conception Bay, Newfoundland, en route to the Gaspé Peninsula where, despite an attack by a Royal Canadian Air Force aircraft, it successfully landed a spy, Werner von Janowski, at New Carlisle, Quebec on November 9, 1942. He was soon apprehended after Earl Annett Jr., manager of the New Carlisle Hotel, at which Janowski was staying, became suspicious and alerted authorities to a stranger using obsolete currency at the hotel bar.^[11] The R.C.M.P. arrested Janowski on a CNR passenger train headed for Montreal. Inspection of Janowski's personal effects upon his arrest revealed that he was carrying a powerful radio transmitter, among other things. Janowski later spent some time as a double agent, sending false messages to the Abwehr in Germany, while gathering valuable intelligence for the Allies.

[edit] German landings in Newfoundland

[edit] Martin Bay

Accurate weather reporting was important to the sea war and on 18 September 1943, U-537 sailed from Kiel, via Bergen (Norway), with a meteorological team lead by Professor Kurt Sommermeyer. They landed at Martin Bay near the northern tip of Labrador on 22 October 1943 and successfully set up an automatic weather station ("Weather Station Kurt" or "Wetter-Funkgerät Land-26"), despite the constant risk of Allied air patrols; this only worked for a short time, however. At the beginning of July 1944, U-867 left Bergen to replace the failed equipment, but was sunk en route. The weather station was recovered in the 1980s and is now at the Canadian War Museum.

[edit] Newfoundland

Three significant attacks took place in 1942 when German U-boats attacked four iron ore carriers serving the DOSCO iron mine at Wabana on Bell Island in Newfoundland's Conception Bay. The ships S.S. Saganaga and the S.S. Lord Strathcona were sunk by U-513 on September 5, 1942, while the S.S. Rosecastle and P.L.M 27 were sunk by U-518 on November 2 with the loss of 69 lives. However, one of the most dramatic incidents of the attack occurred after the sinkings when the submarine fired a torpedo that missed its target, the 3000 ton collier Anna T, and struck the DOSCO loading pier and exploded. As a result of the torpedo missing its target, Bell Island became the only location in North America to be subject to direct attack by German forces during World War II. On October 14, 1942, the Newfoundland Railway ferry SS Caribou was torpedoed by the German U-boat U-69 and sunk in the Cabot Strait south of Port aux Basques. Caribou was carrying 45 crew and 206 civilian and military passengers. 137 lost their lives, many of them Newfoundlanders.

[edit] Caribbean

German submarines shelled a Standard Oil refinery on Dutch-owned Aruba on February 16, 1942, causing no damage.^[13][14]

A German sub shelled the island of Mona, some 40 miles from Puerto Rico, on March 2. No damage or casualties resulted.

An oil refinery on Curacao was shelled on April 19.

[edit] Mexico

Although not an attack on Mexican territory, the sinking of the Mexican tanker Faja de Oro and El Potrero de Llano by the German U-boat, U-160, on May 21, 1942 off Key West, prompted the entry of Mexico against Germany, Japan and Italy into World War II. Mexico and Brazil were the only Latin American countries to send troops to fight overseas against Germany and Japan.

[edit] U-Boat operations

[edit] United States

The Atlantic Ocean was a major strategic battle zone (Second Battle of the Atlantic) and when Germany declared war on the U.S., the East Coast of the United States offered easy pickings for German U-Boats (referred to as the Second happy time). After a highly successful foray by five Type IX long-range U-boats, the offensive was maximised by the use of short-range Type VII U-boats, with increased fuel stores, replenished from supply U-boats or "Milchkuh". From February to May, 1942, 348 ships were sunk, for the loss of 2 U-boats during April and May. U.S. naval commanders were reluctant to introduce the convoy system that had protected trans-Atlantic shipping and, without coastal blackouts, shipping was silhouetted against the bright lights of American towns and cities.

Several ships were torpedoed within sight of East Coast cities such as New York and Boston; indeed, some civilians sat on beaches and watched battles between U.S. and German ships. The only documented World War II sinking of a U-boat close to New England shores occurred on May 5, 1945, when the U-853 torpedoed and sank the collier ship Black Point off Newport, Rhode Island. When the Black Point was hit, the U.S. Navy immediately chased down the sub and began dropping depth charges. The next day, when an oil slick and floating debris appeared, they confirmed that the U-853 and its entire crew had been destroyed. In recent years, the U-853 has become a popular dive site. Its intact hull, with open hatches, is located in 130 feet of water off Block Island, Rhode Island.^[12]

Once convoys and air cover were introduced, sinking numbers were reduced and the U-boats shifted to attack shipping in the Gulf of Mexico, with 121 losses in June. In one instance, the tanker Virginia was torpedoed in the mouth of the Mississippi River by the German U-Boat U-507 on May 12, 1942, killing 26 crewmen. There were 14 survivors. Again, when defensive measures were introduced, ship sinkings decreased and U-boat sinkings increased.

The cumulative effect of this campaign was severe; a quarter of all wartime sinkings�?.1 million tons. There were several reasons for this. The naval commander, Admiral Ernest King, was averse to taking British recommendations to introduce convoys, U.S. Coast Guard and Navy patrols were predictable and could be avoided by U-boats, poor inter-service co-operation, and the U.S. Navy did not possess enough suitable escort vessels (British and Canadian warships were transferred to the U.S. east coast).

[edit] Canada

From the start of the war in 1939 through to VE Day, several of Canada's Atlantic coast ports became important to the resupply effort for the United Kingdom and later for the Allied land offensive on the Western Front. Halifax and Sydney, Nova Scotia became the primary convoy assembly ports, with Halifax being assigned the fast or priority convoys (largely troops and essential materiel) with the more modern merchant ships, while Sydney was given slow convoys which conveyed bulkier materiel on older and more vulnerable merchant ships. Both ports were heavily fortified with shore radar emplacements, search light batteries, and extensive coastal artillery stations all manned by RCN and Canadian Army regular and reserve personnel. Military intelligence agents enforced strict blackouts throughout the areas and anti-torpedo nets were in place at the harbour entrances. Despite the fact that no landings of German personnel took place near these ports, there were frequent attacks by U-boats on convoys departing for Europe. Less extensively used, but no less important, was the port of Saint John which also saw war materiel funnelled through the port, largely after the United States entered the war in December 1941 and the Canadian Pacific Railway mainline from central Canada (which crossed the state of Maine) could be used to transport in aid of the war effort.

Although not crippling to the Canadian war effort, given the country's rail network to the east coast ports, but possibly more destructive to the morale of the Canadian public, was the Battle of the St. Lawrence, when U-boats began to attack domestic coastal shipping along Canada's east coast in the St. Lawrence River and Gulf of St. Lawrence from spring 1942 through to the end of the shipping season in late fall 1944.

Alright

 

Gave it to the others except the USA who never had one. Anti tank rifle.

 

Japs had one

The Kawamura 20mm

 

FORGIVE USE OF ENGLISH

The desing of this heavy antitank rifle belong to the ing. Masawa Kawamura who start the development in 1935.

For 1937 the desing was completed and the weapon was officially adopted for the army in 1937 ( some were bought for the Navy also). The working mechanism of this rifle is semiautomatic with an roting bolt wich is gas operated. The loading is made from the top (bren like) and in accept an 7 shot magazine.

The weight is about 55 kg , in order to carry it quickly 2 handlebars resembleming a bike could be atached in the front and the rear pad. For aditional protection in the shooting and 4 mm steel shield can be added, in this case the weight climbs to 66 kg.

The weapon is very powerful, it shoots a 20mm ( 20 mm round x125mm case) specially designed cartrigde, the muzzle velocity is about 815 m/s and is stated that it could penetrated the light M-3 stuart from 150 meters away.

 

The crew of one rifle was 4 men, gunner, loader, 2 ammunition carrier. A sqad consisted of two rifle teams, 1 squad leader (NCO) and 1 runner.

During transport the rifle was disassembled in two parts and carried by three horses with 150 shots. With cavalry units the rifle was loaded on 2 horses with 105 shots to increase mobility.

 

This gun was planned from 1933 on as replacement for the type Taisho 11 37 mm infantry gun. It should be used as infantry gun and anti-tank gun. Other specifications were low weight for easy handling, an armour shield and transport with a light towing vehicle or 4 horses.

The first prototypes were built in 1934 with rubber tires for high transport speed. During tests the tires were found very vulnerable for small arms fire so they were replaced by wodden or metal wheels with rubber band.

The gun worked semi-automatic making a maximum rof of 20 rpm possible, 15 rpm cyclic. The total weight was 327 kg. This was found acceptable. The 4 mm thick shield was often removed to spare the weight making the gun more mobile. Two hande bars could be attached on the lafette for man transport.

 

ok I'LL STOP IT THERE TO SAY IT WAS MAINLY USED AGAINST THE sOVIETS IN 1938

 

Morerepetes

 

Barbados was also attacked by a submarine. When I moved out there 1960 your family standing was based on what you were doing that momentuous day  in June 1942 when a Canadian Ship the Cornwallis was sunk.

 

Flash,

 

        Right up the road to the north of me still stands one of the original lookout towers that dotted the east coast and kept an eye peeled for U-boats It was in pretty bad shape until recently when the county came up with the money to restore it. I talked to a woman who as a high school student used to go every day to that tower and do a 4 hour watch. She said she could remember how excited everyone was when they spotted a U-boat on the surface at dusk on day but it was gone before the Navy could get to the spot.

Where would that be?

Ref # 30. How many German spies were executed in Canada and the USA in WW II ? Over here I think we hanged about a dozen, plus a few home grown traitors and some German PoWs  for murder. 

Quite a few of the spies executed over here in both World Wars were of Dutch origin, something to do with the Boer War probably. 

Very similar over here, seven German NAZI PoWs hanged for the murder of non-Nazi fellow PoWs in prison camps at the end of the war.

Ormond-by -the-Sea, Florida