FIRST STRATEGIC BOMBING OF THE UNITED STATES

The 54th Pursuit Squadron was activated on January 15, 1941, at Hamilton Field, California. After the United States entered World War II following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941, the squadron was redesignated the 54th Fighter Squadron and transferred to Elmendorf Field, Anchorage, Alaska Territory, in May 1942. By the middle of September 1942, the squadron had moved to Adak in the Aleutian Islands (roughly 1,200 miles from Anchorage and 2,400 miles from Tokyo), and in April 1943 it moved to Amchitka (roughly 1,350 miles from Anchorage and 2,200 miles from Tokyo).

The squadron played a part in protecting not only the Alaska Territory but the continental United States from attack. Japanese military ground crews conducted the only World War II strategic bombing of the United States, and the squadron intercepted those high-altitude, hydrogen-fi lled bomb-carrying balloons.

For its combat patrol and aerial intercept operations in the later part of the war, the squadron was based at Alexai Point, Attu Island, Alaska Territory, beginning November 20, 1943. Attu’s airfield was roughly 1,490 miles from Anchorage and 2,010 miles from Tokyo. It was an ideal location from which to launch Lockheed P-38L Lightnings to combat Japan’s strategic bombing campaign against the United States.

The 54th was assigned to conduct combat air patrols with the Lightning on February 13, 1942. The P-38L they fl ew late in the war was powered by two 1,750 hp V-1710-111/113 engines (-111 counter-clockwise rotation, -113 clockwise rotation), giving it a maximum speed of 414 mph, a combat range of 1,300 miles, and a maximum altitude capability of 44,000 feet. It was an ideal fi ghter in the closing months of World War II to intercept and shoot down Japanese bombcarrying balloons traveling from Japan to the United States in the high-altitude jet stream.

In early 1944, the Japanese Army and Navy consolidated their long-range, unmanned, armed

P-38’s from the 54th Fighter Squadron, Elmendorf Field, Anchorage, Alaska Territory, 1942-1945

BY LT COL GEORGE A. LARSON, USAF (RET)

balloon program. The Japanese Army’s balloon, designated Type A, was fabricated of paper, with 600 separate sections glued together. The Japanese Navy’s balloon, designated Type B, was constructed of rubber (a critical war material only available from Southeast Asia and transported by ship to Japan). The joint balloon weapon program was named Operation Fu-Go. These Japanese military launches were a significant event in the development of an advanced strategic warfare concept at that time in World War II, waging intercontinental aerial warfare from one’s own country to that of an enemy (Japan to the United States).

The fi rst Japanese bomb balloon was launched on the birthday of former Japanese Emperor Meiji, on November 3, 1944. The launch took place at 5 a.m., to take advantage of strong eastward high-altitude jet stream winds. The jet stream is a narrow band of high-velocity wind encountered at high altitude. The northern polar jet stream is generally found between 30,000 and 39,000 feet at the middle to higher latitudes. During winter months jet stream wind velocity can reach 250 mph, but the average speed is lower across the Pacifi c, along the Aleutian Islands and Alaska, and down along the U.S. Pacifi c coast. The balloon launch sites were located in the lower half of Honshu Island (the main island of Japan), as well as near the Tokyo plain. The sites were at Otsu (east of Kyoto), with nine launch pads; Ichinomiya (north of Nagoya), with six launch pads; and Nakoso (on the coast north-northeast of Tokyo), with six launch pads. ☛

The unmanned balloon bomb design was simple and remarkably functional for its mission of conducting intercontinental strategic bombing of the United States. The balloon was 32.8 feet in diameter, able to hold 19,000 cubic feet of hydrogen. It was constructed out of four-ply paper upper surfaces and three-ply paper lower surfaces.

The balloon was carefully positioned on a ground launch pad, hooked to a suspension curtain attached to the mid-seam and secured to three-foot long ground anchor screws. The balloon was inflated with hydrogen gas from compressed gas cylinders until the internal volume reached 50 percent of maximum volume capacity. This allowed for the expansion of the balloon’s gas volume without destruction of the balloon’s paper envelope as it climbed into less dense air at high altitude.

A wood suspension cradle held the balloon’s aluminum equipment ring (at this time, aluminum was a critical war material, desperately needed for aircraft production) which held the altitude control equipment, sandbags and bombs. As the inflated balloon slowly stretched on its moorings, ground crew personnel slowly allowed the balloon to rise off the ground. When the 49-foot shroud lines were fully extended, the balloon lifted the ordnance package into the air, at which time the balloon tethers were released, launching the balloon. It was programmed to continue climbing until entering the jet stream.

The Japanese military could not have selected a better time for beginning its balloon bombing campaign against the United States. First, the November jet

The system of inflating the balloons in low to moderate wind, sketched out. (Image:

Smithsonian Press)

stream winds were strong, carrying the bomb balloons rapidly east from Japan toward North America’s northwest. Second, the American public had just been informed of the disastrous and undefendable German V-2 supersonic rocket attacks against London. There was speculation that the Germans were preparing a longer-range rocket which could strike the U.S. east coast. Fortunately, the Germans did not have enough time to build such a rocket as the war in Europe turned against them. Third, American casualties were escalating from Japanese kamikaze attacks as the Japanese sacrifi ced their airmen to sink American ships, revealing the desperate extent to which the Japanese were willing to go as the war turned against them, Fourth, a successful balloon bombing attack against the United States could be a morale boost for Japanese civilians suffering from U.S. Boeing B-29 Superfortresses fi re-bombing Japanese cities and the results of the choking of supply routes by U.S. submarines.

After a balloon was launched, a timer powered by a one and one-half volt wet cell battery activated, which determined when the onboard bombs would be released. The balloon’s time of fl ight was determined by estimating the jet stream’s eastward speed. The battery also powered a system of aneroid barometers to maintain a programmed altitude of approximately 30,000 feet, hopefully remaining in the center of the jet stream for maximum speed toward the United States. The aneroids carried onboard each balloon consisted of a diskshaped metallic vacuum to measure changes in air pressure to maintain programmed altitude. If the balloon dropped below its programmed altitude, the aneroids sensed the change, triggering a release of one or more sandbags to bring the balloon back up to altitude inside the jet stream. If the balloon climbed higher, the aneroids opened the gas relief valve at the bottom of the hydrogen gas bag, lowering the balloon back down to proper altitude within the jet stream. The release of expanding hydrogen gas was necessary to prevent the balloon’s envelope from bursting due to increased gas volume at extremely high altitudes, but often brought the balloon down into the Pacifi c Ocean or over land areas outside the target area.

Larson

Weapons ring of the balloon bomb.

A diagram of the clockwork mechanism used to release ballast and vent gas from the envelope to keep the balloon aloft for the 72 hours it would need to cross the Pacifi c Ocean, and drop the bombs once it arrived. (Image: Smithsonian Press)

However, the use of the wet cell batteries was a design fl aw in the balloon’s bomb release mechanism. At altitudes above 10,000 feet, the wet cell batteries could freeze and the unpowered equipment ☛

JAPANESE BALLOON BOMB

Top portion is the paper fabric from top of balloon, where all the panels joined. Bottom portion is the altitude control unit with close up view. Pieces on loan from National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution. Thermopolis, Wyoming. Army personnel recovered metal fragments determined to be from a 15-kilogram anti-personnel bomb. There was a tight news blackout on more bomb recoveries so as to not give the Japanese intelligence that their bomb balloons were reaching the United States. Also, the Army did not want to create hysteria among the American civilian population in the Pacifi c Northwest.

https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Collections/Donate-an-Item/

NMUSAF photos

would not function. If the Japanese had used dry cell batteries, more balloons might have reached North America and more of those that did might have released their bombs over the United States creating the hoped-for destruction. The balloons were armed with one 15-kilogram (roughly 33 lb.) highexplosive bomb or one 12-kilogram (roughly 26.5 lb.) incendiary bomb, and four five-kilogram (roughly 11 lb.) incendiary bombs. The Japanese hoped the forests in the U.S. northwest and western Canada would be ignited by the incendiary bombs, with fi res joining together in fi re storms to destroy cities and war industries. The Japanese were trying to bring the same incendiary warfare to U.S. civilians that they faced from B-29 fi rebomb raids.

BALLOON BOMB DETECTION

The fi rst discovery of the existence of a Japanese bomb balloon was on November 4, 1944, when the crew of a U.S. Navy destroyer patrolling 66 miles southwest of San Diego, California, recovered a defl ated balloon with its rigging and mechanical apparatus intact on the metal mounting ring. U.S. Navy intelligence offi cers determined the equipment recovered was designed for indiscriminate incendiary bombing of the United States from the Japanese home islands. An urgent air warning was sent to Army Air Forces bases along the most probable route of the current jet stream from the Alaska Territory down to Washington, and along Pacifi c coast areas. Interestingly, there was no warning released to the American public at this time. This was just the beginning of the balloon bombing campaign by the Japanese against the United States. The fi rst confi rmed detonation of a Japanese bomb balloon weapon’s release occurred on December 6, 1944, 15 miles northwest of On January 4, 1945, two men working in a fi eld near Medford, Oregon, heard a loud explosion and saw fl ames shooting upward 20-to-30 feet into the air, followed by a cloud of yellow smoke coming from the nearby fi eld. When they arrived, the two men found a hole in the ground about six-inches in diameter and 12-inches deep. The hole’s sides appeared to be baked. Further investigation revealed a burned cylindrical casing and pieces of molten metal, indicating the object was probably an incendiary bomb. A hook identical to those found on recovered balloon shroud lines was also found.

The first confirmed shoot down, recorded by gun camera footage, did not occur until February 23, 1945, when a P-38 intercepted a Japanese bomb balloon over Calistoga, California. This was almost four months after the Japanese began launching balloons against the United States. There was one fatal attack involving a bomb balloon. On May 5, 1945, six civilians were killed near Bly, Oregon, when they found a downed bomb balloon in a forest. Five Sunday school students and the wife of the church pastor were killed when they disturbed the device. The U.S. press blackout was lifted following this incident to ensure the public was warned not to approach balloons if they discovered one. The Japanese bomb balloons were reaching the United States, but since the wet cells froze at high-altitude in the jet stream, the bombs were not released. It was estimated that probably 1,000

Japanese bomb balloons reached the United States with 284-to-300 balloons recovered.

For the 54th Pursuit Squadron at Attu, their record of confirmed Japanese bomb shoot downs was only reported once in one of its monthly squadron reports. On April 13, 1945, it was recorded that… “First sightings of Japanese balloons. Six shot down.” [Editor’s Note: An unofficial history of the unit during World War II only mentions five shot down, all on the same day.] These shoot downs were at the end of the Japanese balloon launches from Japan to the United States. These six balloons were intercepted before reaching the Pacific Northwest. This was the end of the first strategic bombing attack against the continental United States.

A conservative U.S. Army intelligence estimate was that only approximately 10 percent of the launched balloons actually reached the Pacific Northwest of Canada and the United States because the wet cells froze and could not power the equipment on board the balloon. Consequently, the balloon’s altitude could not be controlled. A high percentage of balloons recovered in the United States retained their bombs because the failure of the wet cell batteries prevented their release, providing U.S. military intelligence valuable information on how the control and bombing systems worked. U.S. intelligence and ordnance officers calculated the onboard flash bombs carried on each balloon as a self-destruct mechanism were programmed to ignite the envelope 82 minutes after the last bomb was released. The failure of these resulted in many downed balloons being recovered relatively intact. Examination of recovered balloon bombs usually indicated some of the ballast and cargo detached when striking the ground or water. U.S. Army examination and investigation of the recovered bombs revealed that the sequence of ballast release stopped before the payload released, so the bombs were not armed.

54TH FIGHTER SQUADRON

The 54th Fighter Squadron was inactivated in 1946 but reactivated as the 54th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron at Ellsworth Air Force Base, Rapid City, South Dakota, in 1952. It was once again part of the nation’s defense against a possible intercontinental attack, this time from the Soviet Union. It flew the following fighter aircraft while assigned to Ellsworth Air Force Base: North American F-51D Mustang, 1952-1953; Republic F-84G Thunderjet, 1953-1954; North American F-86D Sabre, 19541957; Northrop F-89J Scorpion, 1957-1960. While flying from Ellsworth Air Force Base, pilots stood 24-hour alert as part of the 29th Air Division. If one

The Japanese launched the following number of bomb balloons against the United States.

Date

November 1944 December 1944 January 1945 February 1945 March 1945 April 1945 Totals

Balloons to Balloons be launched launched

500 700

3,500 4,500 4,500 2,500 0 1,200 2,000 2,500 2,500 400

15,500 9,300 (60%) of the ground control intercept radar sites identified an unknown radar contact, the 54th would be directed to scramble one or more of its alert aircraft to close on and make a visual identification with the unknown radar contact.

At that time, Air Force Brigadier General James O. Guthrie, Commanding Officer, 29th Air Division, said, “It’s obvious today that the shortest and most likely avenue of attack from Soviet Russia, should it come, would be over the polar glaciers. That puts the potential enemy just outside our back yard, and the 29th Air Division is the watch dog watching and waiting on the other side of the fence.”

The 54th was inactivated on December 25, 1960. It was reactivated in 1987 with the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle at Elmendorf Air Force Base, its old home in Alaska, where it served until being inactivated in 2000. The squadron’s F-15s intercepted Soviet (and later Russian) Air Force Tupolev Tu-95 (NATO reporting name Bear) four-engine turboprop-powered bombers flying toward the United States along the Aleutian Islands. These bombers were intercepted as part of the nation’s maintenance of the security of its borders — the same role the 54th played during World War II.

Lt Col George A. Larson, USAF (Ret), was an intelligence officer with the Strategic Air Command, Pacific Air Forces and Defense Intelligence Agency. He also served with the Joint Chiefs of Staff as an intelligence watch officer at the Alternate National Military Command Center. He retired in 1992 and currently is a freelance military and aviation writer. He has written over 300 magazine articles and published more than 16 books with others in progress. He graduated from Iowa State University in 1969 with a BS in history and the University of Stanislaus with a Masters in history in 1977.