First Shot: The Untold Story of the Japanese Minisubs That Attacked Pearl Harbor

by John Craddock

"If we had only known even a bit of what John Craddock tells us now, our own history could have been so very different."
--Sherry Sontag, coauthor of Blind Man’s Bluff In First Shot , John Craddock investigates a little-known but clear eleventh-hour warning that, had it been heeded, might have enabled the Navy’s Pearl Harbor command to blunt the Japanese assault and save ships and lives. Craddock reveals that the attack plan of Japan’s Admiral Yamamoto included five midget submarines, each carrying two men and two torpedoes. First Shot vividly recreates the action on the deck of the U.S.S. Ward on the morning of December 7 as the outmoded relic of an earlier war engaged a tiny, state-of-the-art undersea fighting machine.

Genres: History

288 pages, Paperback

First published October 14, 2005

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a book either with the wrong title or a lack of focus. I was expecting an in depth research into the use of the midget subs at Pearl Harbor. Instead this book covered in a truncated history the use of all Japanese minature submarines. At that not even a good truncated history. There are some nuggets of good stuff here but nothing earth shattering. If you are looking for a Pearl Harbor history move on. If you want a kmikaze book I would refer to Kamikazes by Edwin Hoyt which is a mostly comprehensive history of the Kamikaze Corps. To understand the motivation of the Japenese Hoyt's book is good and In Danger's Hour by Maxwell Taylor Kennedy. I would not recommend this book to anyone who wants to read a good naval History.

[Carmen wells · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting account of the once secret Japanese submarines used in the attack on Pearl Harbor, and the failure of the US military's response to warning calls made hours before the attack. Made me think about what could have been had things been handled differently, or if luck hadn't been involved (on both sides) during several situations.

[Lon · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story of Japan's mini-subs in WWII. Interesting, only if you want history about Pearl Harbor and WWII.