With the anniversary of the PH attack fast approaching, those readers wanting to read about the attack from a different perspective might want to read the autobiography of Juzo Mori (The Miraculous Torpedo Squadron, Kindle e-book). Mori flew one the Kate Torpedo bombers and gives a very vivid depiction of what it was like to train for and carry out the attack. He flew in China prior to Pearl Harbor, then in the Wake Island attacks, Midway, the Solomon's and more. History in the words of one who was there.
Could've been one of the pilots helping to bomb Darwin...Some aircraft were shot down. The first Sgt Hajime Toyoshima crashed in the Tiwi Islands...Ulungura, an aboriginal, crept up behind him and captured him (lucky he didn't get a spear in his ribs)...
I found it unsurprising that ALL the torpedo plane pilots reported they'd dropped on battleships, at first anyway.
I guess that they all made that claim as to not lose face. By claiming you sank or hit a battleship, can you gain face? Always wondered about that. Gaining face that is.
In 'The Miraculous Torpedo Squadron' Mori (a torpedo plane pilot) writes about this in some detail. The torpedo pilots were tasked with sinking the carriers. Only just before launching did they learn that the carriers were out of port. Thus, the battleships became their primary targets.
Kelly did not make that claim though. He died when his B-17 exploded after the attack. The claim was made by the US government for propaganda purposes, the crew had initial identified their target as a Fuso class battleship, but their target actually was the IJN light cruiser NATORI.
The, ahem, "observers" at the Japanese consulate sent daily reports back to Gaimusho on ships in harbor and changes of location for ships there. The Foreign Office boys relayed them to Kaigun and they relayed them to Nagumo Kido Butai. The "Bomb Plot" broke the harbor into areas to save time and money, "B" instead of "West Loch" (example, not precise.) Claims were later made that "it should have been obvious" this meant the Japanese were going to attack Pearl. The KISS principle never applies to conspiracy theories.
Did they need to learn a new method of flying towards the target to drop the new shallow water torpedo?
Not exactly. The Kido Butai was notified the day before that Lexington had sailed and no carriers were present, but the attack plan was not changed. The plan allocated 24 torpedo bombers to attack Battleship Row from east to west and 16 torpedo bombers to attack the carrier and cruiser anchorage from west to east. That did not change until the actual attack, which turned into a free for all on the part of the 16 aircraft from Hiryu and Soryu. Despite direct orders not to waste torpedoes on Utah, six Soryu pilots attacked her. Of the other two, Nagai attacked Helena and Mori first lined up on Helena, then aborted and instead attacked California. Of the eight Hiryu crews, four attacked Helena, and four attacked Battleship Row, two on Oklahoma and two on West Virginia. In other words it was a CHARLIE FOXTROT.