Hawaii Undersea Research Laboratory Archive
IN THE SCHOOL OF OCEAN AND EARTH SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI'I AT MANOA
SUB-1a: 3-Piece Midget (mid-section)
| HURL Artifact No. | SUB-1a | *Denotes approximations and speculations | |||
| Name: | Mystery Midget or 3 Piece Midget | Lost: | 7-Dec-1941 | ||
| Artifact Type: | Submarine (mid-section) | Found: | 5-Sep-2000 | ||
| Nationality: | Japanese | Dive No: | PV-439 | ||
| Class or Make: | Midget | Location: | Defensive Sea Area | ||
| Model: | Type-A (Ko-hyo-teki) | Depth (m): | 366m | ||
| Purpose: | Harbor Attack | HURL crew: | T. Kerby, C. Holloway | ||
| Serial Number: | *HA-15,16,18, or 20 | Additional Dives: | PV-445, PIV-022, PIV-216/PV-729, PIV-217/PV-730 | ||
| Built/Launched: | 1941 | ||||
| Length: | *32' | ||||
| Width: | 5.65' | ||||
| Height: | *11.5' | ||||
| Circumstance of Loss: | *Scuttled with explosives, Later disposed at sea in 3 sections | Crew Personnel/Position: | Ensign M. Yokoyama-Captain, Petty Officer S. Uyeda-Crewman | ||
| Reason of Loss: | *Destroyed sub to deny it to the enemy | Crew Survivals/Fatalities: | Both killed *(likely by suicide) | ||
| Artifact History: | One of five midget submarines used in the attack on Pearl Harbor. This sub was salvaged from shallow water at some point, dismantled, rigged, and disposed outside the harbor in the Defensive Sea Area. The identification of this sub is based largely on the figure-8 torpedo guard which is thought to have been only used in the Pearl Harbor attack. This guard configuration was not seen on any of the subsequent midget submarines throughout the remainder of the war. | ||||
| Artifact Condition: | The Mid-section has evidence of demolition charges on aft end and is missing about 8-10'. The forward end has a large cable rigged through a hole used for it's disposal. The bolts are cut off at the flanges. The periscope is still up, but the top portion is gone. Part of the tower fairing has decayed and fallen away since the site was first located. This is also true for the subs aft end where the jagged hull has crumbled away appearing more squared off. There are battery cells and remnants lying about.. | ||||
| Additional Information: | One theory regarding the 3-piece midget is that it was recovered from Pearl Harbor's West Loch during the salvage and disposal of numerous vessels lost in an explosion there in May 1944, another is, that in 1951, it was spotted on the seabed just outside of the harbor by the research ship "Pioneer". It was then quickly and quietly removed by the Navy and dumped. | ||||
School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology | Hawaii Undersea Research Lab |
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Revised March 18, 2019 by Meagan Putts
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Revised March 18, 2019 by Meagan Putts