Pearl Harbor | Page 4 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

September 11, 2023 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

McGrew Point

“A name that will stand out prominently in Hawaiian history as long as history endures, is that of Dr John S McGrew, famous physician and esteemed citizen of the old Hawaii …”

“… whose long activities in promotion of a political union between the islands and the United States won him the title of ‘The Father of Annexation.’”

“Dr McGrew is believed to have been the first proponent of the proposition that Hawaii should be American, the first man to realize that under the American flag the islands and their people would find their greatest opportunity and the fullest realization of their destiny.”

“‘Annexation’ McGrew, he was called by King Kalakaua, who, although naturally enough opposed to Dr McGrew’s political program, often expressed his admiration for the doctor’s sincerity and honesty of purpose.”

“Dr McGrew was an earnest advocate of annexation long before the Hawaiian monarchy was destroyed by revolution, and not for an instant did he waver from his purpose.”

“When annexation finally became an accomplished fact in 1898, five years after the revolution, Dr McGrew was hailed as ‘The Father of Annexation’ …”

“… just as Judge Sanford B. Dole, president of the Republic of Hawaii and first governor of the American Territory, became known in later years as ‘The Grand Old Man of Hawaii.’ Two heroic figures in the evolution of Hawaii were Dole and McGrew.” (Nellist)

His first wife died in 1851. “At the close of the [Civil] war, Dr McGrew married Pauline Gillet at Washington, DC, and the couple started on a world tour which brought them to Hawaii in 1866, where Dr McGrew abandoned the tour and decided to enter medical practice in Honolulu.”

“Upon their arrival in Hawaii, Dr and Mrs McGrew became established in a homestead located on the present site of the Alexander Young Hotel. Their home became a Honolulu landmark and was a famous social center of the city.”

“Dr McGrew was widely known for his hospitality, entertaining visitors from all parts of the world. Kate Field, the noted woman writer, died at the McGrew home while making a tour of Hawaii.”

“The old mansion was built in the 40’s by Dr RAS Wood and was owned at the time of Dr McGrew’s arrival in Hawaii by General McCook, one of the “Fighting McCook’s” of Civil War fame. Dr McGrew and family later purchased the JF Hackfeld home at Lunalilo and Emerson Streets”.

“For many years he was in charge of the Marine Hospital. He served as the first president of the Honolulu Medical Society. Maintaining the practice of his profession at a high standard, he amassed a considerable fortune, acquiring real estate and stock in growing business concerns.”

“Dr McGrew was a member of the commission which cooperated with Generals Alexander and Schofield in making a survey for an American naval base at Pearl Harbor, as provided for by the Reciprocity Treaty. He assisted in making plans for the coaling station and lived to see a portion of the harbor improvements completed.”

“McGrew family has owned 44-acre McGrew Point at Aiea for the past 70 years [since about the 1870s]. The area has a mile of waterfrontage on the Waianae side of the peninsula and the home of [McGrew’s grandson] on the other side.”

“The family devoted years of effort of establishment of a plantation of fruit trees and other general improvements. Dignitaries from around the world, including top ranking army and navy officers, have been guests at the Cooper home.”

“[Katherine McGrew was born in Honolulu in February, 1873 is the daughter of Dr John S McGrew. She married Charles Bryant Cooper on March 24, 1897.]” Adv, Aug 21, 1946)

In 1944, “An order giving the federal government possession of about 49 acres at McGrew point in the Pearl Harbor area has been signed by Judge J Frank McLaughlin.” (Hnl SB, July 18, 1944)

The Loko Pa‘aiau Fishpond is located at McGrew Point Navy housing, Oahu, Hawaii. It is one of only three fishponds out of an original 22 in the Pearl Harbor area which are still relatively intact. (Navy)

Efforts are underway to restore it. Currently located on land leased for Navy housing, Aliʻi Pauahi Hawaiian Civic Club and the ʻAiea Community Association see Loko Paʻaiau as a place where local community members, visitors, and military families can come together to build relationships to the land and each other.

In partnership with the Navy, local community groups involved in the restoration of Loko Paʻaiau have focused their efforts on bringing people together to raise cultural awareness of the fishponds and connect people to the history and culture of the area. (McDaniel) McGrew Point now has military housing.

July 14, 2023 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Ke Awa Lau O Puʻuloa

During ancient times, various land divisions were used to divide and identify areas of control. Islands were divided into moku; moku were divided into ahupuaʻa. A common feature in each ahupuaʻa was water, typically in the form of a stream or spring.

The Island of O’ahu had six Moku: Kona, Koʻolaupoko, Koʻolauloa, Waialua, Waiʻanae and ʻEwa.

‘Ewa was divided into 12-ahupua‘a, consisting of (from east to west): Hālawa, ‘Aiea, Kalauao, Waimalu, Waiau, Waimano, Mānana, Waiʻawa, Waipi‘o, Waikele, Hōʻaeʻae and Honouliuli.

Some stories, when first recorded in the 19th- Century, refer to ʻEwa as the first area populated on Oʻahu by the immigrant Polynesians. ‘Ewa was at one time the political center for O‘ahu chiefs.

This was probably due to its abundant resources that supported the households of the chiefs, particularly the many fishponds around the lochs of Puʻuloa (“long hill,) better known today as Pearl Harbor. (Cultural Surveys)

Each had fisheries in the harbor, floodplains with irrigated kalo and fishponds, and interior (lower kula valley streams/gulches) and mountain forests. (Kirch)

Puʻuloa or Ke Awa Lau O Puʻuloa (the many harbored-sea of Puʻuloa) is situated here.

All water sources in each of the twelve ahupuaʻa of ʻEwa met in Puʻuloa. This was the only moku in all the islands where all waters from its ahupuaʻa did this.

Puʻuloa and Ke Awa Lau O Puʻuloa are just a couple of its traditional names. It was also known as Awawalei (“garland (lei) of harbors,”) Awalau (“harbor with many inlets”) and Huhui na ʻōpua i Awalau (The clouds met at Awalau.)

Today, we generally call this place Pearl Harbor. The name Pearl Harbor is one of the few English place names in Hawaiʻi that is a close translation of another of its traditional Hawaiian names, Wai Momi (“Pearl Water.”)

Some of the traditional themes associated with this area include connections with Kahiki (Tahiti,) the traditional homeland of Hawaiians.

Legend tells that Kanekuaʻana (a moʻo, or water lizard) came from Kahiki and brought with her the pipi, or pearl oyster. The harbor was teeming with pearl-producing oysters until the late-1800s. (The general belief is that runoff sedimentation eventually smothered the oyster habitat.)

The pipi was called the “iʻa hamau leo” or “fish with a silenced voice.” It was not the pipi that was silent but the people who gathered them (if they spoke, wind would ripple the water and the oysters would vanish.)

There are several versions of the chief Kahaʻi leaving from Kalaeloa (Barber’s Point) for a trip to Kahiki; on his return to the Hawaiian Islands, he brought back the first breadfruit and planted it at Puʻuloa.

Traditional accounts indicate several of the fishponds in the Puʻuloa area were believed to have been constructed by Kāne and Kanaloa. Directing the menehune, they made the pond Kapākule (aka Pākule,) which they stocked with all manner of fish. (Kumupono, Hoakalei)

“On the left side of [Kapākule] pond stood the stone called Hina, which represented a goddess of the sea by that name. Each time the sea ebbed, the rock became gradually visible, vanishing again under water at high tide. Ku, another stone on the right, was never seen above sea level. This stone represented Ku’ula, Red Ku, a god of fish and fishermen. (Pukui)

“[T]he harbor of Ewa, or Pearl River, [is] situated on the Island of Oahu, about 7 miles west of Honolulu. Pearl River is a fine sheet of deep water extending inland about 6 miles from its month …”

“Pearl River is not a true river; it partakes more of the character of an estuary. It is divided into three portions called ‘locks’ – the east lock, the middle lock, and the west lock, the three together affording some 30 miles of water front, with deep water in the channels.” (General JM Schofield and General BS Alexander, 1872)

Puʻuloa Salt Works (property of JI Dowsett) “are at the west side of the entrance to Pearl River, and the windmill is a prominent object in the landscape as we enter. It is also one of the guides in steeling vessels inward. On the eastern side and opposite to the Puʻuloa buildings, is the fishery, where are a number of buildings inhabited by Chinamen.” (Daily Bulletin, January 6, 1889)

Puʻuloa was originally an extensive, shallow embayment. Keaunui, the head of the powerful and celebrated ʻEwa chiefs, is attributed for having cut a navigable channel near the Puʻuloa saltworks, by which the great estuary, known as “Pearl River,” was for the first time rendered accessible to navigation.

Puʻuloa was regarded as the home of the shark goddess Kaʻahupahau and her brother Kahiʻuka in Hawaiian legends. They were said to live in a cave at the entrance to Puʻuloa and guarded the waters against man-eating sharks.

“There is ample evidence that the lonely scenes, upon which we now gaze with wondering curiosity, were once thickly peopled; and at that period the gospel had not reached Pearl River. Among the objects of their heathen worship was the shark, whoso numbers at Pearl River in those days were very abundant.” (Daily Bulletin, January 6, 1889)

Moku‘ume‘ume (meaning “island of strife”) is a small island located in Pearl Harbor on the Island of Oʻahu. It is entirely surrounded by water deep enough to accommodate deep draft ocean-going vessels. We now call it Ford Island.

The first known foreigner to enter the channel of the Pearl Harbor area, Captain George Vancouver, started to explore the area, but stopped when he realized that the entrance was not deep enough for large ships to pass through.

“If the water upon the bar should be deepened, which I doubt not can be effected, it would afford the best and most capacious harbor in the Pacific.” (Commodore Charles Wilkes, 1840)

In the nineteenth century, the peninsula between Middle Loch and East Loch (part of the Mānana ahupuaʻa) had numerous fishponds, some rice fields, pasture land at the tip, and oyster beds offshore.

As a means of solidifying a site in the central Pacific, the US negotiated an amendment to the Treaty of Reciprocity in 1887. King Kalākaua in his speech before the opening session of the 1887 Hawaiian Legislature stated (November 3, 1887:)

“I take great pleasure in informing you that the Treaty of Reciprocity with the United States of America has been definitely extended for seven years upon the same terms as those in the original treaty …”

“… with the addition of a clause granting to national vessels of the United States the exclusive privilege of entering Pearl River Harbor and establishing there a coaling and repair station.”

“This has been done after mature deliberation and the interchange between my Government and that of the United States of an interpretation of the said clause …”

“… whereby it is agreed and understood that it does not cede any territory or part with or impair any right of sovereignty or jurisdiction on the part of the Hawaiian Kingdom and that such privilege is coterminous with the treaty.”

“I regard this as one of the most important events of my reign, and I sincerely believe that it will re-establish the commercial progress and prosperity which began with the Reciprocity Treaty.” (Kalākaua)

In 1890 some of the Mānana lands became the first planned subdivision outside of urban Honolulu (Pearl City, named in a contest and developed by Benjamin F Dillingham as a way to increase passenger traffic on his Oahu Railway and Land Company (OR&L) trains.)

May 21, 2023 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

West Loch Tragedy

Despite its moniker, “Large Slow Target,” the ‘Landing Ship, Tank’ (LST) was an important naval vessel created during World War II to support amphibious operations by carrying significant quantities of vehicles, cargo and landing troops directly onto an unimproved shore.

An LST, 382-feet long and 50-feet wide, carried a crew of 8-10 officers and 115 enlisted men; in addition, there were berths for over 200-troops and a capacity to carry a 2,100-ton load of tanks, trucks, jeeps and weapon carriers and associated munitions and supplies.

1,051 LSTs were constructed and used in the war effort; they were used in the Atlantic and the Pacific. Only 26 were lost in WWII due to enemy action.

However, in Hawaiʻi, a once secret and often-forgotten tragedy struck at Pearl Harbor, in 1944.

At the time, the Allied forces were preparing for two assaults – one was in the Atlantic (D-Day, June 6, 1944 – nearly 200,000-Allied troops on 7,000-ships and more than 3,000-aircraft headed toward Normandy, France.)

The other was in the Pacific (Saipan, June 15, 1944 – more than 300-landing vehicles put 8,000-Marines on the west coast of Saipan; eleven support ships covered the Marine landings.)

In preparation for the Saipan assault, in late-May, crews were loading ships at the US Pacific Fleet base at West Loch, Pearl Harbor.

(Pearl Harbor is divided into a series of lochs that fan out from Ford Island that sits in the center of harbor. West Loch was the staging area for the invasion fleets of the Pacific.)

29-LSTs, plus a variety of other amphibious vessels that would support the initial landings and follow-on operations, were tightly clustered while their hulls and decks were being filled with ammunition, supplies and other material.

That list of items included munitions of all calibers and types, propellants, aviation gasoline, vehicle fuel and a variety of other volatile cargoes.

Nested beam-to-beam at piers off of Hanaloa and Intrepid Points opposite Lualualei (now known as Naval Magazine Pearl Harbor) were six compact rows of LSTs and other craft moored at “Tare” piers jutting into the adjoining waters of West Loch and Walker Bay.

At 1508 (3:08 pm) May 21, 1944, Lualualei’s tranquility was shattered by a deafening explosion which thundered across most of Oʻahu.

Without warning, an enormous mushroom of orange black fire encapsulated LST-353 at Tare 8, obliterating it and most of the seven other ships from view as the giant fireball burst into the cloudless sky. (Oliver)

The explosions continued, damaging more than 20 buildings shoreside at the West Loch facility. For 24-hours fires raged aboard the stricken ships. (NPS)

Had the Japanese struck again – another sneak attack on Pearl Harbor? … No one knew.

Then the ground shook to a second blast. Earthquake? Volcano? Aerial bombs? Alarms rang as another shattering blast of even greater magnitude jolted the air. (Oliver)

Predictably, flaming gasoline and exploding ammunition soon began to take a frightful toll of the Soldiers, Sailors and Marines loading and manning the ships.

Fires and explosions drove back ships and craft engaged in firefighting efforts, each time those vessels re-entered the inferno to contain the fires and keep the disaster from spreading to the rest of the Fleet anchorage. (USNavalInstitute)

Several investigations sought to find the reason for such a disaster, but no conclusive evidence as how it occurred was decided upon. Two major causes emerged as most likely: Either a fused mortar round was accidently dropped while unloading the LCT aboard LST-353, or the initial explosion was caused by gasoline vapors. (Oliver)

The Navy put a “Top Secret” status on the tragedy. Survivors and eyewitnesses to the calamity were warned under threat of prosecution not to make any mention of the disaster in letters or calls to family members. To the outside world the tragedy at West Loch simply never happened. (Oliver) (It was declassified in 1960.)

The total casualties were 392 dead; 163 sailors, the rest young Marines from the newly formed 2nd and 4th Marine Divisions, and 396 injured – eight ships were lost.

It was recommended that LSTs no longer be nested, so that disaster like that at West Loch could be avoided. Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz disagreed. He felt that facilities were too limited at Pearl and that the nesting was necessary. “It is a calculated risk that must be accepted.” (NPS)

Despite the losses, the Saipan invasion force put to sea as scheduled on June 5, 1944, just as the largest invasion armada ever to sail was crossing the English Channel en route to the Normandy beaches.

On June 15, 1944, during the Pacific Campaign of World War II (1939-45,) Admiral Turner was in charge of the assault on Saipan. At 05:42, his orders came – “Land the landing force.” In position, about 1,250 yards from the line of departure, 34-LSTs moved into line. Two huge doors on the bow of each ship opened and dropped their ramps into the water. (BattleOfSaipan)

US Marines (having earlier trained at Camp Tarawa, Waimea, Hawaiʻi Island and Camp Maui, Ha‘ikū, Maui) stormed the beaches of the strategically significant Japanese island of Saipan, with a goal of gaining a crucial air base from which the US could launch its new long-range B-29 bombers directly at Japan’s home islands.

Facing fierce Japanese resistance, Americans poured from their landing crafts to establish a beachhead, battling Japanese soldiers inland and forcing the Japanese army to retreat north. Fighting became especially brutal and prolonged around Mount Tapotchau, Saipan’s highest peak, and Marines gave battle sites in the area names such as “Death Valley” and “Purple Heart Ridge.” (history-com)

This was the first action of Operation Forager, the conquest of the Marianas, consisting of two Marine Divisions, a US Army Division, and the required force and support units from an amphibious armada of nearly 600-ships and craft.

When the US finally trapped the Japanese in the northern part of the island, Japanese soldiers launched a massive but futile banzai charge. On July 9, the US flag was raised in victory over Saipan. (history-com)

December 7, 2022 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

“Something was happening”

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 lasted 110 minutes, from 7:55 am until 9:45 am. Japanese naval forces included 4 heavy aircraft carriers, 2 heavy cruisers, 35 submarines, 2 light cruisers, 9 oilers, 2 battleships and 11 destroyers.

The attacking forces came in two waves, the first consisting of 183 aircraft which included 40 torpedo planes, 49 level bombers, 51 dive bombers and 43 fighters. The second wave included 170 planes, 54 of them level bombers, 80 dive-bombers and 36 fighters. Over 350 Japanese planes were involved in overall attack.

As a result of the December 7, 1941 attack, there were 2,403-people killed and 1,178-wounded. Among the deceased were 2,008-Navy personnel, 109-Marine, 218-Army and 68-civilians. (navy-mil)

For part of the attack, and aftermath, first, let’s look back.

In 1899, Gorokichi Nakasugi, a Japanese shipbuilder, brought a traditional 34-foot Japanese sailing sampan to Hawai‘i; this led to a unique class of vessels and distinctive maritime culture associated with the rise of the commercial fishing industry in Hawai‘i.

(The term ‘Sampan,’ although usually associate with the Japanese in Hawaiʻi, comes from the Chinese language, meaning three (san) boards (ban,) describing a small simple skiff.) (VanTilburg)

Japanese-trained shipwrights adapted the original sampan design to the rough waters of the Hawaiian Islands. The fishermen used traditional live bait, pole-and-line method of fishing and unloaded their catches of aku (bonito, skipjack) and ahi (yellow-fin tuna) at Kewalo Basin.

Local Japanese fishermen opened the commercial tuna industry in Hawaiʻi in conjunction with the innovation of modern packing plants. It was the ability to can tuna for the distant market which really made possible the expansion and modernization of the fishing fleet. The industry benefited American canneries.

Vessels began to change with time, as well. Gasoline engines were fitted into boats beginning in 1905, and more suitable marine diesels by 1927. Shortly thereafter the prominent deckhouse made its appearance. The Sampans became perfectly adapted to the rough waters between the islands. (VanTilburg)

The sampan aku fleet was based at Kewalo Basin by 1930, and the McFarlane Tuna Company (later known as Hawaiian Tuna Packers) built a shipyard there in 1929 and a new tuna cannery at the basin in 1933.

By 1940, there were over 450-sampans in the Territory of Hawaiʻi, making the commercial fishery the Islands’ third largest industry behind sugar and pineapple.

That brings us to December 1941, more specifically, December 4 – four sampans (Kiho Maru, Myojin Maru, Shin-ei Maru and the Sumiyoshi Maru) set out for fishing off Oʻahu’s leeward coast.

Later, on the morning of December 7, the Ward (US Destroyer No. 139,) conducting routine antisubmarine patrols in the Hawaiian area, had the distinction of firing the first American gun in anger during the Pacific war. She searched for a suspected submarine and subsequently fired shots at its conning tower.

(In 2002, the University of Hawaiʻi, Hawaiʻi Undersea Research Lab (HURL) team found the submarine about three to four miles off Pearl Harbor and verified it was hit and sunk by the Ward. (Burlingame))

Heading home, the Ward soon spotted a Japanese fishing sampan, one of many that was a familiar sight in the waters in the Hawaiian archipelago (not part of the four noted before.)

A fisherman suddenly started waving a white flag perhaps he had seen the determined depth-charge attacks and thought that the Americans would bomb anything that moved. Ward slowed and closed to investigate and took the small craft in tow to turn her over to the Coast Guard for disposition.

Nearing the harbor entrance around 0800, those on deck heard the sound of gunfire and explosions, as smoke began to boil into the skies over Pearl Harbor. (Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships)

“Something was happening.”

The Ward had returned and witnessed the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor.

On the morning of December 8, newspapers announced that all unidentiﬁed boats approaching Oʻahu would be ﬁred upon. It was feared that the local ﬁshing ﬂeet, manned predominantly by Japanese might have had rendezvous with Japanese warships. (Roehner)

Then, the fateful day for the four sampans as they were heading home. “All of a sudden, there were four or five Army P40s flying over us. Each picked out a target and attacked.”

The war-planes strafed the four fishing boats (Kiho Maru, Myojin Maru, Shin-ei Maru and the Sumiyoshi Maru) about 2-miles off Barber’s Point, about 10-miles west of Pearl Harbor, killing six civilians (nine crewmen survived the mid-morning attack, but most were wounded – most of the crew on the boats were American citizens.)

After the planes attacked, a destroyer arrived on the scene and dispatched launches to tow the sampans, with the dead and wounded, back to Kewalo Basin. They were then taken to a civilian hospital where the wounded were kept under armed guard. (European Stars and Stripes, December 9, 1977)

The dead were brought from the waterfront to Hosoi Funeral Parlor. They were: Ogawa Mataichi, Kaichi Okada, Sutematsu Kida, Kiichi Kida, Kiho Uyehara, Riyozo Okogi. (Scrapbook of Women of WWII Hawaiʻi)

Again on December 12th, sampans were strafed off of both Kailua and Kohala coasts. (VanTilburg)

World War II had the single largest impact on the sampan fishing industry. During the war, the fleet was immediately limited to operating only during certain narrow hours in a few selected near shore areas. This, of course, was devastating to the fishery. By the end of 1942, the annual yield was down by a staggering 99%. (VanTilburg)

In 1967, 26 years after the incident, the widow of the Kiho Maru skipper received $8,000. Another received about $2,500 and proceeds from the sale of fish that was in his boat on the day of the attack. (European Stars and Stripes, December 9, 1977)

December 2, 2022 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

“East Wind, Rain”

Takeo Yoshikawa, a Japanese spy, arrived in Honolulu on March 27, 1941, aboard the Japanese liner Nitta Maru. His papers identified him as Tadashi Morimura, the name he was always referred to while in the Islands (and subsequent investigative records.) (He’ll be referred to here by his real name, Yoshikawa.)

Born on March 7, 1914, Yoshikawa had been approached in 1936 to work as a civilian for Japan’s naval intelligence service: “Since I had been studying English, I was assigned to the sections dealing with the British and American navies. I became the Japanese navy’s expert on the American navy.”

“I read everything; diplomatic reports from our attachés, secret reports from our agents around the world. I read military commentators like Hanson Baldwin (New York Times military affairs editor.)” Yoshikawa also studied Jane’s Fighting Ships and memorized the silhouettes of all the American ships, something that would later prove critical. (Savela)

Posing as junior diplomat, Yoshikawa was to keep current on the status of the US fleet and its anchorages, reporting his observations to Tokyo by coded telegraph messages. Thanks to Hawaiʻi’s large Japanese-American population, Yoshikawa easily blended in.

When Kita briefed Yoshikawa, he reminded him, “Don’t make yourself conspicuous; maintain a normal, business-as-usual attitude, keep calm under all circumstances; avoid taking unnecessary risks; stay away from guarded and restricted areas and be aware of the FBI.” (Prange; Savela)

In keeping with his cover, Yoshikawa avoided illegally entering military bases or stealing classified documents. He shunned cameras and notepads, relying instead on memory. He supplemented his observations with items of interest gleaned from daily newspapers.

Yoshikawa familiarized himself with the principal Hawaiian Islands and their military installations, which were concentrated on Oʻahu. He frequently relied on a hired cab driven by John Mikami, a Japanese-Hawaiian who often performed chores for the consulate. (Deac)

Other times, Yoshikawa was chauffeured by Richard Kotoshirodo, a consular clerk. It did not take long for Yoshikawa to scout out the various US Army and Navy bases on central, southern and eastern Oʻahu. Predictably, the focus of his attention was Pearl Harbor, the nearly landlocked US Pacific Fleet anchorage on the south coast of the island.

The assignment fit into a plan outlined in January 1941 by Combined Fleet Commander Isoroku Yamamoto. The plan called for an aerial assault on Hawaiʻi as the opening move of a war between the United States and Japan. Yoshikawa was to become his country’s only military spy in the islands and Yamamoto’s most valuable source of current information on Oʻahu. (Deac)

And with its relatively open landscape, sloping elevations, and limited restrictions on movement, he readily compiled useful intelligence. His encyclopedic knowledge of US ships and his methodical charting of their movements made his reports all the more valuable. His contribution to the Japanese effort was ultimately “an important one.” (Savela)

Yoshikawa did not work alone. Later joining him in espionage was a ‘sleeper agent’ Bernard Otto Julius Kuehn and his family, Nazi spies sent to the Islands by Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels. (Washington Times)

The Kuehns arrived in Hawaiʻi in 1935, they blended in, and waited; no one seriously suspected that Caucasians would carry on espionage for the Empire of Japan, so Kuehn, his wife Friedel, their daughter and son, Hans Joachim, were virtually inconspicuous as a white family on the windward side.

However, every member of the family contributed towards collecting and documenting military activities at Pearl Harbor from 1935 right up to the day the bombs fell from Japanese aircraft.

On December 2, days before the attack, Kuehn provided specific – and highly accurate – details on the fleet in writing. That same day, he gave the consulate the set of signals that could be picked up by nearby Japanese submarines. (FBI)

At midafternoon on December 6, Yoshikawa made his final reconnaissance of Pearl Harbor from the Pearl City pier. Back at the consulate, he coordinated his report with Kita, and then saw that the encoded message was transmitted to Tokyo.

At 1:20 am on December 7, 1941, on the darkened bridge of the Japanese aircraft carrier Akagi, Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo was handed the following message:

“Vessels moored in harbor: 9 battleships; 3 class B cruisers; 3 seaplane tenders, 17 destroyers. Entering harbor are 4 class B cruisers; 3 destroyers. All aircraft carriers and heavy cruisers have departed harbor…. No indication of any changes in US Fleet or anything unusual.” (Savela)

In the early morning of December 7, 1941, Japanese pilots flew toward the island of Oʻahu from six aircraft carriers (the Akagi, Kaga, Soryu, Hiryu, Shokaku and Zuikaku;) two waves of planes attacked various military installations on Oʻahu.

The prearranged coded signal “East wind, rain,” part of the weather forecast broadcast over Radio Tokyo, alerted Japanese Consul General Nagao Kita in Honolulu, and others, that the attack on Pearl Harbor had begun.

The first wave of 183-planes (43-fighters, 49-high-level bombers, 51-dive bombers and 40-torpedo planes) struck its targets at 7:55 am. The second wave of 167-Japanese planes (35-fighters, 54-horizontal bombers and 78-dive bombers) struck Oʻahu beginning at 8:40 am.

The Japanese consulate staff locked the consulate doors and began burning all their codebooks and classified material. “Smoke was pouring out of the chimney.” At about 9:30 am, December 7, the consulate staff was arrested and later shipped to Phoenix, Arizona.

By 9:45 am, the Japanese attack on Oʻahu was over.

Japanese Consulate Staff-Honolulu-(NationalArchives)

SPY, WIFE, HERO – TAKEO YOSHIKAWA, HIS WIFE, ETSUKO, AND HIS LIFETIME HERO, ADMIRAL TSOROKU YAMAMOTO, SUPREME COMMANDER AND PLANNER OF THE JAPANESE ATTACK FORCE THAT ATTACKED PEARL HARBOR. EXCLUSIVE PHOTO BY RON LAYTNER FOR EDIT INTERNATIONAL.

SITTING ON HIS HORSE ‘JONNY’ THE LEGENDARY PEARL HARBOR SPY, TAKEO YOSHIKAWA, SAID “I WAS BORN IN THE DAYS OF THE GREAT JAPANESE EMPIRE WHEN THE YAMATO RACE WALKED TALL ACROSS ASIA AND BOYS WERE DESTINED FOR GREATNESS.” EXCLUSIVE PHOTO COPYRIGHT BY RON LAYTNER, EDI INTERNATIONAL.

“IN MY YOUTH I WAS A SAMURAI. I BELIEVED IN WAR AND DEATH IN BATTLE. I SHAPED HISTORY. NOW I AM OLD AND BELIEVE IN PEACE AND LOVE.” TAKO YOSHIKAWA, THE PEARL HARBOR SPY, INTERVIEWED BEFORE HIS DEATH IN 1984. WORLD EXCLUSIVE PHOTOGRAPH COPYRIGHT BY RON LAYTNER AND EDIT INTERNATIONAL.

WATCHING THE NEW JAPAN THROUGH HIS WINDOW, THE OLD SPY SAID: “I AM NOT SORRY ABOUT PEARL HARBOR – ONLY THAT JAPAN HAS NOT HONORED ME. ALL THOSE WHO DIED IN THE ATTACK – ALL THE AMERICANS AND THE FEW JAPANESE TOO – THEY DIED FOR THE GLORY OF HISTORY,” SAID UNREPENTENT JAPANESE SUPER SPY TAKEO YOSHIKAWA, WHO WAS DIRECTLY RESPONSIBLE FOR PROVIDING JAPANESE FORCES WITH INTELLIGENCE FROM PEARL HARBOR. EXCLUSIVE PHOTO COPYRIGHT BY RON LAYTNER FOR EDIT INTERNATIONAL.

THE MOST EFFECTIVE SPY IN HISTORYM TAJEI ISGUJAWAM DRUBJS TI FIRGET UB NATSYTANA IB SGUBIJY USKABDM “JAPAN NOW THINKS ONLY OF MONEY AND HOW TO WIN NEW MRKETS,” HE SAID SADLY. EXCLUSIVE PHOTO COPYRIGHT BY RON LAYTNER FOR EDIT INTERNATIONAL.