A Japanese Bomb Run Over Oregon
The story of Nobuo Fujita, the town of Brookings, Oregon and the first bombing of the contiguous United States by an enemy aircraft.
Five months after the Doolittle Raid on Japan as retaliation for the attack on Pearl Harbor, a Japanese submarine floated atop the Pacific a few miles from the coast of Oregon, near the Oregon-California state line.
On the submarine’s deck, Japanese soldiers assembled a modified seaplane and prepared it for takeoff. The idea to utilize a seaplane and launch it from a submarine and been put forward by Nobuo Fujita, an officer in Imperial Japan’s Navy.
Nobuo Fujita’s Time in the Pacific
As a skilled naval aviator, Fujita’s experience in the Pacific was extensive. He had been aboard the I-25, a Japanese submarine during the attack on Pearl Harbor. Intended on being a part of the mission’s reconnaissance run prior to launching the attack, Fujita was grounded when his Yokosuka E14Y “Glen” seaplane failed to function.
In early 1942, the I-25 had been ordered to reconnoiter the Australian harbors of Sydney, Melbourne, and Hobart. While there, Fujita assembled his “Glen” and flew a recon mission across Sydney. Upon his return, he disassembled his plane and stored it in a water-tight hold aboard the submarine.
As the summer of 1942 approached, Fujita was asked to fly a recon mission over Kodiak, Alaska. The Japanese were preparing to invade the Aleutian Islands and needed intelligence to help shore up their plans.
As Fujita assembled and disassembled his Glen seaplane from the deck of the I-25 submarine, he hatched an idea that would turn his routine recon missions into something more assertive.
Plans to Bomb the United States Mainland
Putting forward an idea to outfit his seaplane with his bombs, Fujita believed he could not only carry out bombing runs on ships at sea, but could conduct attacks on the Panama Canal and even the U.S. mainland.
Japanese leaders reviewed Fujita’s proposal. It was audacious, it was creative, and it seemed a fitting style of attack in retaliation for the Doolittle Raid earlier in 1942. Fujita received approval to outfit his seaplane with two incendiary bombs and was instructed to drop them in dense forests near cities on the Pacific coast.
Fujita’s plan had been centered around bombing San Francisco or Los Angeles. Ultimately, leaders felt that the targeting an area that wasn’t heavily guarded provided a higher chance of success and survival for Fujita.
The prevailing belief was that this style of attack would be so unpredictable that Fujita would run into zero opposition. Further, given the dense forested topography of the Pacific Northwest, the Japanese could start massive forest fires that would cause significant damage and instill fear in Americans knowing their perceived isolationism was no longer a barrier of protection.
The Lookout Air Raids
On a Wednesday morning in early September in 1942, the I-25 submarine surfaced west of Cape Blanco along the United States’ Pacific coastline. Fujita and Petty Officer Okuda Shoji worked with other members of the crew to assemble the Glen seaplane and arm the two incendiary bombs.
Fujita took off from the deck of the I-25 and reached his cruising speed of 90 mph. As he approached Wheeler Ridge on Mount Emily in Oregon, a fire spotter in a lookout tower in the Siskiyou National Forest reported seeing the Glen.
The spotter, named Howard “Razz” Gardner, did not see the actual bombing, but he noticed a plume of smoke rising from the forest. Reporting the fire to dispatch, Gardner received instruction to hike to the fire and start suppression activities.
Unfortunately for Fujita and the Japanese, the fire the incendiary created was but a small brush fire. The area had recently been the recipient of a classic Pacific Northwest soaker, and the bomb had little to ignite. Less than ten miles from the nearby town of Brookings, it was quickly contained.
The second bomb was even less effective. Even today, no one is quite sure where the second bomb was dropped. Fujita returned to the deck of the I-25 frustrated. They would launch one more attack, taking two more bombs and dropping them on the 29th of September. Neither would cause any notable damage.
With nothing to show for the attempted land bombings, the I-25 turned its attention back to targets on the water. It would crawl the coast and sink the SS Camden and the SS Larry Doheny near Coos Bay and Gold Beach.
Returning to Brookings
Years later, in 1962, Fujita would receive an invitation from the town of Brookings, Oregon. The town, despite contested views, had agreed to invite Fujita to return to Brookings - a gesture applauded by President John F. Kennedy.
Fujita and his family - a wife and son - traveled to Brookings. He brought with him his family’s samurai sword. It had been handed down through the Fujita family for four centuries. He told the city of Brookings he had carried it with him on every flight, including his bombing missions near Brookings.
As a token of contrition, Fujita offered the sword to the city of Brookings. In return, Brookings offered him a key to the city. The visit and gestures from both sides proved to be a remarkable moment for two countries who had battled fiercely against one another just two decades earlier.
The man who had once tried to ignite a fire with hopes of destroying the town of Brookings had spent the remainder of his life building a relationship with the very city he targeted.
He donated thousands of dollars to the public library and he facilitated a cultural exchange program bringing local high school students to Japan. He was admired so much that he would be named an honorary citizen of Brookings.
Today, there sits a marker on the side of Mount Emily. It marks the landing site of Fujita’s first bomb. When Fujita passed away, some of his ashes were spread at the bomb site. And you can also find a single coastal redwood planted there. It was placed there as a symbolic gesture at the end of Fujita’s life.
History for the Hurried
April 1, 1865: General George Pickett’s Confederate troops are cut off at Five Forks, Virginia. This left General Robert E. Lee’s armies at Petersburg and Richmond with no reinforcements and hastened the end of the war.
April 2, 1513: Ponce De Leon, the Spanish explorer, lands at St. Augustine, Florida and claims it for the Spanish Crown. St. Augustine is now the oldest city in the continental U.S.
April 2, 1792: The First U.S. Mint is established by Congress at Philadelphia.