Preperation

Up until this point the Ko-hyoteki had been intended to enage enemy battleships in open water as part of a major
naval battle. The use of anchored targets in exercises was purely for convenience and basic training, being much
easier than attacking moving targets. Now someone proposed that the Ko-hyoteki could also be employed to attack
enemy battleships and other shipping in harbor. At the same time, the crewmen suggest the use of ‘mother
submarines’ in place of surface ships to improve stealth. This had not been such an issue in the full-fleet action
scenarios under which the midget submarines had been conceived, but presented a very real problem if the craft were
to be employed in sneak attacks on enemy harbors.

Within a few weeks, the employment of midget submarines was being seriously considered within the IJN, with
possible sneak attacks on Hong-Kong, Manila, Pearl Harbor, San Francisco, Singapore and Sydney all considered.

It was no coincidence that the IJN was actively planning the surprise attack on the US Navy in the Pacific as part of
an opening move of their entry into World War Two. Admiral Yamamoto did not favor war but, being responsible for
the plans, favored attacking Pearl Harbor with aircraft. Like other navies, the IJN still believed battleships were at the
top of the naval food chain. The attack was planned for the winter of 1941-42 and would be spearheaded by six
aircraft carriers launching up to 414 aircraft. As originally planned, there was no role for the midget submarines but
this was soon to change. By now, there was plenty of enthusiasm for the midget submarines within the IJN, with many
of the early doubters now converted. Pearl Harbor was a very shallow harbor, too shallow, in fact, for an ordinary
submarine to enter submerged but a midget submarine might be able to sneak in undetected. Reticence in using them
therefore centered not around their expected utility, but in the problem of how to rescue the crewmen after the attack,
as this was not envisioned as a suicide mission. The midget submarine lobby persisted and a test was planned for
September 1941 in which the Ko-hyoteki would simulate an attack on a defended harbor near the Japanese main
island of Shikoku. Unknown to the operators, the defended harbor closely resembled Pearl Harbor. The exercise was