March 4, 1942 - TODAY IN AVIATION HISTORY

The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) was determined to return to Pearl Harbor in the months following the attack, to have a look around as the United States ramped up its war preparations. This was an opportunity to put the new Kawanishi H8K1 "Emily" flying boat, an amphibious bomber developed for long-range bombing attacks, to the test for the IJN.

The plan was for five flying boats to be equipped with four 550-pound bombs each and flown to French Frigate Shoals northwest of Oahu, where three Japanese submarines would be waiting to refuel them. The 356-foot diesel-powered submarine I-23 was to keep watch over the operation ten miles south of Oahu, monitoring weather and acting as a "lifeguard."

This would be a long-distance bombing mission, possibly the longest ever attempted. The expedition was dubbed "Operation K" and was set to take place on March 4, 1942. The raid ended up being a "comedy of errors" on both sides. I-23 was no longer there. Nobody knows where the submarine went to this day.

Just two of the new flying boats were prepared for the mission, with Lieutenant Hisao Hashizume flying the lead plane (Y-71) and Ensign Shosuke Sasao flying the second plane, Y-72.

The staging and refueling portions of the operation were completed, but the two-aircraft bombing formation was unaware of weather conditions over the target due to the lack of meteorological intelligence from the lost I-23.

The oncoming aircraft were picked up and tracked by American radar facilities on Kauai, but the same cloud cover prevented defenders from seeing them. Curtiss P-40 Warhawk fighters were dispatched to track down the attackers, while Consolidated PBY Catalina flying boats were dispatched to search for the two bombers' presumed launchers, non-existent Japanese aircraft carriers.

The two Japanese pilots became separated as a result of their confusion. Hashizume lobbed his bombs at Mt. Tantalus's side. Sasao's bombs are thought to have been dropped over the sea.

Operation K was supposed to take place on May 30, but US military intelligence had figured out where the IJN would gather. The French Frigate Shoals were mined and swarmed with American warships when Japanese subs arrived. The Imperial Japanese Navy was unable to keep track of American aircraft carriers or observe US Navy action. The Japanese war effort would be brought to a horrific crossroads at a place named Midway as a result of this blindness.