The Unsuccessful Deployment of Japan’s Mini Submarines at Pearl Harbor

On April 1, 1941, a group of handpicked members of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) were informed of a secret mission involving a new type of training and a secret weapon. Eight months later, 10 of these men and their five mini submarines took part in the attack on Pearl Harbor. However, the mission ended in devastating failure, with all five mini submarines being lost and none of them successfully hitting their intended targets. This event had a significant impact on the course of World War II and the strategies of the IJN.