'Kate' Pilot's Account of Pearl Harbor

[Heinrich George]

This is a translation of two chapters of a book called The Miraculous Torpedo Squadron, published in Japan in 1973. The author was on the Soryu. Hopefully the entire text will appear someday in English. The translator might be a descendant of Dick Voge, well known submarine commander and Lockwood's operations officer.

http://www.vintagewings.ca/VintageNews/ ... adron.aspx

[OpanaPointer]

Is the title implying that the IJN thought the Kate's did a real good job at Pearl?

[Heinrich George]

I'm not sure what it implies. I don't know Japanese so I don't know if the word translated here as 'miraculous' might be rendered as something else. 'Miraculous' in English often refers more to survival than to success. Maybe 'greatest' or 'magnificent' would be a better word in this context, since we seldom refer to organizations as 'miraculous.'

More information on the author is available on this page.

http://arawasi-wildeagles.blogspot.com/ ... chive.html

[OpanaPointer]

I'm sure they were thrilled with the results of the attack, but Alan Zimm's book analyzing the events paints a less than miraculous picture of the performance of the IJN. It's a fun read if you're interested in the attack.