{"product_id":"operation-storm-isbn-9780770435738","title":"Operation Storm","description":"\u003cb\u003eThe riveting true story of Japan's top secret plan to change the course of World War II using a squadron of mammoth submarines a generation ahead of their time\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eIn 1941, the architects of Japan's sneak attack on Pearl Harbor planned a bold follow-up: a potentially devastating air raid—this time against New York City and Washington, DC. The classified Japanese program required developing a squadron of top secret submarines—the \u003ci\u003eSen-toku\u003c\/i\u003e or \u003ci\u003eI-400\u003c\/i\u003e class—designed as underwater aircraft carriers, each equipped with three Aichi M6A1 attack bombers painted to look like U.S. aircraft. The bombers, called Seiran (which translates as “storm from a clear sky”), were tucked in a huge, water-tight hanger on the sub’s deck. The subs' mission was to travel more than halfway around the world, surface on the U.S. coast, and launch their deadly air attack. This entire operation was unknown to U.S. intelligence. And the amazing thing is how close the Japanese came to pulling it off.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJohn Geoghegan’s meticulous research, including first-person accounts from the \u003ci\u003eI-401\u003c\/i\u003e crew and the U.S. capturing party, creates a fascinating portrait of the \u003ci\u003eSen-toku\u003c\/i\u003e's desperate push into Allied waters and the U.S. Navy's dramatic pursuit, masterfully illuminating a previously forgotten story of the Pacific war.“John Geoghegan's 'Operation Storm' is a fascinating, meticulously researched and deft account of this bizarre chapter.” \u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eThe Wall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e“An exciting narrative of a naval showdown revealing hubris and humility on both sides...Geoghegan has scoured the archives to present a little-touted facet of Japanese naval history that offers a fascinating glimpse into the workings of the Japanese mindset at the endgame of the war.” \u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eKirkus\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e“Operation Storm\u003c\/i\u003e is an exciting page turner comparable to the best of Tom Clancy's techno-thrillers--except this tale happens to be true...Geoghegan has delved deeply into...(the) records to tell a fascinating story.” \u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eAviation History\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e“Aviation historian Geoghegan’s virtuoso research turns up surviving witnesses and obscure documents to corroborate this engrossing story of politics, logistics, and the technological leaps and bounds made during wartime, and the resulting tale is a thrilling take on a little-known aspect of the conflict in the Pacific theater.” \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e“A magnificent page-turner that reveals the inside story of a remarkable top secret program, \u003ci\u003eOperation Storm \u003c\/i\u003eis a powerful, towering achievement.” \u003cb\u003e—David King, bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eDeath in the City of Light\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e“A great historical read, scrupulously researched and brilliantly written. Geoghegan has produced a marvelous insight into the men on both sides who fought a brutal underwater war beneath the waters of the Pacific in WWII.” \u003cb\u003e—Clive Cussler, bestselling author of the \u003ci\u003eDirk Pitt\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eNUMA\u003c\/i\u003e Series\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“The Imperial Navy’s submarine force in WWII is still barely understood in the West. Geoghegan has given us one of the first detailed glimpses into the workings of Japan’s undersea fleet. His detailed coverage of the Imperial Navy’s I-400 program is uniquely interesting.” \u003cb\u003e—Jonathan Parshall, author of \u003ci\u003eShattered Sword\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003e“Anyone who believes there are no more hidden secrets to World War II will feel differently on seeing this book. I’ve been reading about the war all my life, but knew nothing of the extraordinary weapon whose story John Geoghegan tells here. And tells, I might add, in a riveting, vivid, suspenseful way that makes it hard to stop reading once you’ve begun…it's a remarkable tale.” \u003cb\u003e—Adam Hochschild, bestselling historian and author of, \u003ci\u003eTo End All Wars\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eKing Leopold’s Ghost\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Just when we were beginning to think that every conceivable World War Two topic worthy of study has already had a shelf’s worth of books devoted to it…John Geoghegan’s \u003ci\u003eOperation Storm\u003c\/i\u003e combines painstaking research and crisp writing to bring to life, for the first time in English, the fascinating story of Japan’s late war I-400 experimental submarine program.” \u003cb\u003e—M.G. Sheftall, author of \u003ci\u003eBlossoms in the Wind: Human Legacies of the Kamikaze\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003e“\u003ci\u003eOperation Storm \u003c\/i\u003edoes for Japanese submarines what \u003ci\u003eDas Boot \u003c\/i\u003edid for U-boats showing the human side of a remarkable story no less extraordinary for being true. Geoghegan's splendid research combined with his writing skill makes \u003ci\u003eStorm\u003c\/i\u003e a genuine page turner.” \u003cb\u003e—Col. (ret.) Walter J. Boyne, former head of the Smithsonian Air \u0026amp; Space Museum\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Impressively documented and lucidly written, here is a lively, well-balanced account of\u003cbr\u003ethe Imperial Japanese Navy's huge \u003ci\u003eI-400\u003c\/i\u003e class submarines and their eleventh hour ‘game-changer’ mission.” \u003cb\u003e—Carl Boyd, co-author of \u003ci\u003eThe Japanese Submarine Force and World War II\u003c\/i\u003e; Professor Emeritus, Old Dominion University; and U.S. Navy submariner 1954-58\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eJOHN J. GEOGHEGAN\u003c\/b\u003e has written extensively about aviation history, underwater exploration and marine engineering for the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e Science Section, \u003ci\u003eSmithsonian Air \u0026amp; Space,\u003c\/i\u003e WIRED, \u003ci\u003ePopular Science\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eAviation History\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eMilitary Heritage\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eFlight Journal\u003c\/i\u003e, and the \u003ci\u003eSan Francisco Chronicle\u003c\/i\u003e Sunday Magazine.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eChapter 1\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFace-off\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe USS Segundo (SS 398) was five days out of Midway heading toward Japan when her crew received news that the Japanese government had accepted peace terms. As the submarine’s executive officer, Lt. John E. Balson, noted in the boat’s Fifth War Patrol Report:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eheard the good word of the surrender—and in eleven lanChapter 1\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFace-off\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe USS Segundo (SS 398) was five days out of Midway heading toward Japan when her crew received news that the Japanese government had accepted peace terms. As the submarine’s executive officer, Lt. John E. Balson, noted in the boat’s Fifth War Patrol Report:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eheard the good word of the surrender—and in eleven languages, too!1\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBalson was second in command of the Balao-class sub, one of the newest U.S. fleet boats. Nicknamed “Silent Joe” for his reticent manner, Balson was responsible for ensuring that the captain’s orders were carried out in a correct and timely manner. He’d been with the Segundo since before her commissioning and had served on all five of her war patrols. Twenty-eight years old and already balding, Balson was a man of sly wit if few words. His all-cap entry was an uncharacteristic display of emotion for the normally phlegmatic officer. Then again, the war with Japan was finally over.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Segundo had been patrolling the Kuril Islands when the cease-fire was announced. She hadn’t seen much activity except for a few Russian vessels.2 Nevertheless, the Sea of Okhotsk could be dangerous. Sometimes when fog blanketed the ocean’s surface, the Segundo’s sail protruded as much as 10 or 15 feet above the cloud bank, making the sub perilously visible. Other times the water was so calm, you could hear a bird take off, which meant the Segundo’s engines could be heard as well. And it was cold even in August—so cold, in fact, that you had to recycle the boat’s vents, or the valves froze, preventing the sub from diving.3\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThese weren’t the only ways the Kurils could kill you. The Russians had been threatening to invade Hokkaido, and Japan was close enough that a stray mine or determined patriot could still sink the sub. But now that the war was over, there was no point remaining in the area.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOn August 24, 1945, the Segundo was ordered to Tokyo Bay to represent the U.S. submarine force at the upcoming surrender ceremony. The invitation was an honor for the Segundo’s crew, but they weren’t ready to relax just yet. They were still in enemy territory, and though the cease-fire agreement specified that the Japanese military were to lay down arms, some units hadn’t got the message.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt was two weeks since the Japanese emperor had asked his subjects to “endure the unendurable,” and the Segundo was heading to Tokyo with orders to mop up remnants of the once-formidable Japanese fleet.4 Not much was left of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), and what was, wasn’t expected this far north. There was isolated resistance though so the Segundo continued on a wartime footing.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSo far the patrol had proven uneventful.5 There’d been one encounter with a Japanese fishing boat, but as Balson noted: “there wasn’t much fight coming from him and none from us . . . [so we] called it a draw and retired from the scene.”6\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Segundo had been an aggressive boat despite the diminishing number of enemy targets. Her first skipper, Cdr. James Douglas Fulp, Jr., had been assigned to the sub while she was still under construction at the Portsmouth Navy Yard in New Hampshire. Fulp had put an indelible stamp on the boat’s crew while commanding her first four war patrols. During that time, he’d sunk two Japanese warships, eight merchants, and seven sampans and earned the Segundo a total of four battle stars. These results weren’t surprising given the fact that Fulp was an experienced sub captain. Tall, athletic, and matinee-idol handsome, he radiated the kind of confidence his men had come to respect. He was 34 (old for a sub captain) and quiet by nature. But that only contributed to his command presence.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFulp prosecuted the war with just the right balance of aggressiveness and caution. His crew knew he was somebody they could count on to sink a combatant ship and get them home safely. They also appreciated his fairness. Some commanding officers (CO) were despots, but Fulp was even-handed when dealing with his men. He never dressed them down in front of one another, and he listened more than he spoke. Though he could be remote, that wasn’t unusual for a CO. It was better for Fulp to be distant than overly familiar, since the crew’s lives depended on his objectivity. In other words, the Segundo’s first skipper had everything a crew liked in a sub captain: he was mature, steady, and reliable. They happily served under him.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAll this had changed, however, before the Segundo departed on her fifth and final war patrol. The sub was still in Midway undergoing refit when Fulp received orders transferring him to Pearl Harbor. He had eight war patrols under his belt and was due for rotation. But Fulp had built the Segundo into a formidable fighting machine. And if it’s true that a combat submarine operates like a family, then Fulp’s departure was like depriving the crew of their father. The men were sorry to see him go.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eUnfortunately, the boat’s new skipper, Lt. Cdr. Stephen Lobdell Johnson, was a different breed of captain. He was younger than Fulp and brash with a cockiness that put his crew on edge. The first time S1c (seaman first class) Richard “Fox” Binkley saw Captain Johnson at Midway, his new skipper was shooting dice with the men. To Binkley, Johnson didn’t make a good impression. He acted more like a crew member than an officer, not the kind of captain he was used to serving under.7\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLt. (jg) Victor Horgan also had concerns about his new CO. Horgan had overheard the tall, lanky Johnson tell his officers, “When we get off this patrol, they’ll be throwing medals down our hatch.” Was this the kind of guy you could respect? Horgan wasn’t sure.8 He too had seen Johnson play dice with the men. It wasn’t how the CO of a combat submarine, not to mention an Annapolis graduate, was supposed to act.9\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn fact, the more the crew saw of Johnson, the more they worried he was a “Hollywood skipper.” He may have had other capabilities, but he was noticeably lacking in Fulp’s gravitas. It almost seemed as if the Segundo was the 29-year-old Johnson’s first command. It wasn’t, it was his third. If his officers had known this, it would have worried them all the more.10\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHorgan wasn’t the only one who sensed a problem. One night before the Segundo left on her fifth war patrol, he went drinking with his fellow officers at a Midway bar. While his friends drank beer and gossiped about their new CO, Horgan played a slot machine. Frustration had been building ever since Johnson’s arrival, and the beer loosened their tongues. As the night wore on, a consensus grew that it might be time to ask off the boat.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhile Horgan played the slots, Lt. (jg) Lewis Rodney Johnson (no relation to Captain Johnson) called over:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“You going to stay with the boat, Vic?”11\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHorgan was tired of losing to the aptly named one-armed bandit and moved to a new machine. Pulling the lever, he stood motionless as a jackpot fell into place. Not believing his luck, he switched to another machine, and the same thing happened. Trying a third machine, he again hit the jackpot. Horgan was feeling lucky.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Yeah, I’ll stay,” he said.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“We will too, then.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnd that was the end of that.12\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLieutenant Balson remained as the Segundo’s executive officer (XO) after Fulp left. He recognized that their new captain was different. Johnson was a smooth talker, highly polished and well dressed. Even his nickname was “Slick,” which wasn’t always a compliment.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBalson knew a change in command was nothing to worry about. He’d seen his share of sub captains, and no two were alike. Given time, most crews adjusted to a new skipper’s foibles.13 If not, the U.S. sub force was 100 percent volunteer—you could always ask off the boat.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe biggest issue Captain Johnson faced was the Segundo’s tight-knit crew. Most of the men had been aboard since the boat’s commissioning 15 months earlier, and they’d been shaped by Fulp’s command style. Importantly, Fulp had gotten them out of some pretty tight spots. Would their new skipper be as talented? A change in command was not to be taken lightly, but Balson expected the crew would come around. Time had a habit of sorting out problems.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOf course, Captain Johnson’s presumed impetuosity was less of an issue now that the war was over. The one thing the men didn’t want though was for something stupid to happen. Sailors are a superstitious lot, and now that a cease-fire was in place, they didn’t want any last-minute screwups sending them to the bottom. Home was the preferred direction.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThere were still plenty of mines in Japanese waters, and tales of suicide attacks continued to circulate. The recent communiqué from Adm. Chester W. Nimitz, Commander in Chief of the Pacific Fleet, stressed the uncertainty of their situation:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003emaintain defensive and internal secruity measures at highest level and beware of treachery or last moment attacks by enemy forces or individuals.14\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt was another way of saying, anything could still happen.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt was 15 minutes before midnight on August 28, 1945, when Lieutenant Johnson relieved Lt. “Mac” McLaughlin as officer of the deck. Watch officers customarily appeared early when relieving each other. Extra time was needed to conduct the handover since important information had to be exchanged. The two men huddled on the bridge as McLaughlin passed along the sub’s course, her speed, and the captain’s latest orders. When they finished, Lieutenant Johnson went to the sub’s fantail to begin his watch.15\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Segundo was on the surface about 100 miles off Honshu, heading south toward Tokyo.16 It was the fourteenth day of the cease-fire, and not one enemy warship had been sighted since her patrol had begun. It was a cold night and visibility was poor,17 but the ocean was calm,18 and Lieutenant Johnson decided to take advantage of what little moonlight there was to scan the horizon.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen he first spotted an object south of the sub, Johnson thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. But the more he looked the more certain he became that something was out there. Meanwhile Alex “Snoopy” Leitch was sipping coffee in the conning tower when a blip appeared on his radar screen. Leitch was surprised at how large the object was. Something that size should have been picked up at 15,000 yards, yet it hadn’t appeared until it was within a third of that distance.19\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLeaping the few steps to get under the bridge hatch, Leitch shouted, “Radar contact; 5,500 yards!”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAt first nobody was sure what they were dealing with.20 No U.S. ships were reported in the area, and it was unlikely to be an enemy vessel this far north.21 There was no mistaking the blip, though, which was sizable and doing 15 knots.22 If it was American, fine. But if it was Japanese, they had a problem.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCaptain Johnson flew up into the conning tower demanding the target’s range and bearing. Determined to take a closer look, he called for “Tracking Stations.”23 When the Segundo closed to within 3,000 yards,24 the dark silhouette materialized into the shape of a gigantic submarine.25 The sub was so big, it looked like a surface ship. It easily dwarfed the Segundo. Since the Allies had nothing remotely close in size, the sub had to be Japanese.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBefore Johnson could declare battle stations sparks began flying out of the mysterious sub’s diesel exhaust.26 Clearly, they’d been spotted. As Johnson scrambled his men, the Japanese sub rabbited into the night at flank speed.27\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLieutenant Horgan was in the control room plotting the enemy’s course as the chase ensued. Horgan knew fighting was still going on in the Pacific, but he couldn’t understand why a Jap sub would run away. After all, the war had been over for 14 days. Nevertheless, the situation seemed dangerous as hell.28 Here they were chasing an enemy sub without knowing what they were dealing with. Any way you looked at it, they had a tiger by the tail.29\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs the chase extended into the early morning hours, Johnson pushed the Segundo to 20 knots.30 Every time he tried drawing near the Japanese sub pulled away. Johnson didn’t trust the enemy not to fire on them, so he settled off their stern quarter at a distance of 4,000 yards.31 He also made sure his torpedo tubes were loaded and ready. If the Jap sub tried anything funny, he’d sink her first.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Segundo’s new captain found himself in an uncomfortable position. Had it not been for the cease-fire, he’d have let go with a spread and sent her to the bottom. But Johnson’s orders prevented him from sinking the sub unless fired upon even though fleeing could be considered a hostile action.32 Not surprisingly, he didn’t want to give the enemy that chance.33\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTo complicate matters, he was having trouble reaching his superiors at ComSubPac (Commander, Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet).34 At the very least, he wanted to inform them of the situation and request permission to torpedo the sub. The Segundo’s captain wasn’t going to play cat and mouse forever, but he was unsuccessful in reaching his command.35 For the time being, he was on his own.36\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFirst one hour passed, then another. As the pursuit dragged on, the crew began speculating. No one had expected an unescorted Japanese sub this close to Tokyo, least of all one heading in the opposite direction of the main sub base at Yokosuka. The fact she’d turned tail and run only added to their curiosity.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut as dawn approached, something unusual happened. The enemy sub began slowing. Johnson wasn’t sure what she was up to. Maybe she was ready to surrender, or maybe she was getting into firing position. Fortunately, he’d reached ComSubPac, which advised him to capture the enemy if possible. If they resisted, he was free to sink them.37\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eShortly after four o’clock the morning of August 29, Johnson called QM3c Carlo Carlucci to the bridge. It was Carlucci’s first war patrol. A tough kid from the Bronx whose accent was like a punch in the face, he’d been sleeping when the Segundo first spotted the Japanese sub. He was wide awake now though, as he “horsed” the cast iron signal lamp to the Segundo’s bridge.38 Rapidly flicking its shutters, Carlucci pounded out the international code for “stop.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe enemy sub failed to acknowledge the message even though it was impossible to misunderstand its meaning. The sub may have slowed, but she showed no signs of stopping. Finally, after a few minutes, Carlucci received an affirmative reply.39 Two minutes later the enemy sub lay dead in the water.40","brand":"Crown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46301766484197,"sku":"NP9780770435738","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780770435738.jpg?v=1767734239","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/operation-storm-isbn-9780770435738","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}