Japanese Secret Biological Weapons Program in WWII.

The Japanese had a Germ Warfare program since 1930 mainly in infected Fleas. The Allied forces had long suspected that Japan were using
germ warfare against China, but was unable to prove their suspicions during the Second World War.

Many have heard of the 2 Japanese Subs that were found of the Coast of Hawaii. One was the Japanese I-400 class submarine, The Largest
Submarine ever built in WWII. 60% larger than the largest US submarines, and twice as fast as the fastest US subs, it also had the fuel
capacity to travel around the Earth one and a half times before refueling. Perhaps most impressively, it was also an aircraft carrier, with
3 planes were called "Seiran"

The original mission had been to secretly sail westward from Japan to the US east coast, where an attack would be unexpected, and use its
three aircraft to drop rats and fleas infected with bubonic plague, cholera, typhus and other diseases upon New York, Washington D.C., and
other cities along the eastern seaboard. When problems made that plan infeasible, the sub was retasked to bomb the Panama canal from the
east, but the end of the war arrived before the crew could carry out its mission.


What would of been the problems encountered make the plan "Infeasible"

Could this New High Tech weapon changed the outcome of the Pacific War, if it was put into service earlier or if the War had not ended?


For more Info see this Link Damn Interesting • WW2: Japan’s Secret Biological Weapons Program

 

It wasn't that "secret" a deal if you are thinking of Unit 731. Their actions had been reported to the US by various groups, most frequently by American missionaries. These reports had the US "on guard" when the Fugo balloon bombs first showed up in '44. It was thought it would be possible for these to deliver bubonic plague to cities on the west coast, and in consequence many tons of DDT, and Sulfonamides were stockpiled in the largest cities to combat the threat. Penicillin is ineffective against plague, but sulfonamide pills are effective if administered soon after infection. The Chinese didn't have sulfonamides, and still the non-weaponized plague used by the Japanese was less than fully effective. The tetracycline (sp?) which is the best counter to plague, natural or weaponized, was still in the laboratory phase at the time.

If you google up Unit 731 there are some rather chilling reports on their actions. Unfortunately we (the allies) made a deal with many of its top "scientists" to keep them out of the war crimes trials, far east section, in exchange for their "expertise" concerning both chemical and biological weapons. The reasoning behind this being that the Red Army had captured the labs and many workers in the labs when they over-ran the territory the Japanese had held.

We were afraid that the Soviets might gain a leg up on us in this field if we didn't give the b&stards a deal. Poor decision on our part I feel. One of them (Ishii) went on to become a wealthy Japanese businessman or something, and lived his life in comfort and security. But thirty of the members of Unit 731 were brought to trial by an Allied War Crimes Tribunal in Yokohama, Japan, on March 11, 1948. Charges included vivisection and wrongful removal of body parts; 23 were found guilty of various charges. Five of the guilty were sentenced to death. The "top man" (whom I mentioned previously), Shiro Ishii, was a physician and army officer He had surrendered to the Americans, and was never brought to trial in exchange for his "knowledge" in Chem/Bio weapons research.

Those trials being lesser known doesn't mean they didn't exist. One of the larger problems in the Tokyo Trials was that the East Indian judges sitting on the bench were either Hindi or Buddhist (I forget which) and even they finally opted for a number of executions. Contrary to their own religious beliefs! The members of Unit 731 captured by the Red Army were also tried and the majority of them were also executed. However, the Soviets had captured a great deal of "research documentation" as well as scientist.

But we (America) knew about the Unit 731, and it’s work in the biological weapons area, and why we took the measures we did when the first Fugo hydrogen balloon bombs showed up. The Fugo balloon bombs were a pretty much total failure, one Fugo bomb did kill a Methodist minister’s wife and five (or six?) kids who were on a church sponsered picnic in the woods, and another one of them did hit and cut the power lines to the Hanford Plant (plutonium). The silver lining to that was the "integrated" self shut-down process proved to work without flaw, and the system was up and working again within a week or two.

But none of the Fugo hydrogen balloon bombs did much of any import. The fear on the US side was that they might sent the buggers over loaded with "plague" infected lice (something they had done in China) in clay pot bombs. So after the first one was understood to be a Japanese weapon, the shipments of DDT, Sulfonamide (penicillin doesn't work against bubonic plague), and arsenic based rodent poison was diverted to and stockpiled in all the major west coast cities as a counter measure.

This cut down the stockpiles for the troops in the PTO, but never really interrupted their "in the pipeline" supplies. Those Fugo bombs landed as far north as Alaska and the Yukon Territories, and as far south as Mexico. I believe a few even made it as far east as Wisconsin, but they never did anything in reality other than alert the American government to the existence of the Jet Stream (something largely unknown by the US), and that our "ocean barriers" were far from perfect defenses.

As to the Canal, don’t forget about the "Special Improvement Program No. 7" that was instigated by FDR in 1940 after the fall of France and the occupation of its former colonies by the Axis powers. By 1942/43 the program was complete and the locks were literally invulnerable to bombing by the Axis with fast acting closure designs which would have stopped Gautun Lake from draining away if the gates were hit.

They could be activated by both electro-hydraulic or manual hydraulics. This SIP7 plan was completed by 1942 on one direction and by ’43 the other. And this replaced the original system which was put in as the canal system was built. The new design was much faster, but the old system was retained as a "back-up" just in case. That was a manual system and took longer to close, but could be done if needed.

This included fast raise torpedo nets in each lock, both ways, both sides. And cables strung between hill-sides and poles above the entire system to keep low flying planes from flying above them. The cables only downed one plane, an American who was unaware of them and attempted to "buzz" a ship in transit. The Japanese didn’t know about our stockpiling of counter measures on the west coast against the "plague", nor did they know of the SIP7 program in the Canal. Neither of these attack ideas would have done anything to aid the Japanese in their failed war. By the time the first I-400 submarines were completed, the only things they could have done had been countered without knowing of their existence.

Also while the 400s were large they weren't "twice as fast" as stated, they were actually slower than American designs of the same period; 18.75 knots on the surface and 6.5 knots submerged. How does that seem "twice as fast" as all 73 Gato and 101 of the Balao class boats which served in the PTO were faster on the surface, at 20.25 knots surfaced and 8.75 knots submerged.

See:

http://www.combinedfleet.com/ships/i-400

BTW, that SIP7 system remained a complete functional reality until the Canal was turned over to the Panamanians, and its maintenance became cost-prohibitive.

It might have been feasible for them to launch the "attacks", but their outcome would have been a wash as per influence on the outcome of the war.

 

Google Image Result for http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_J0gDkDskVlA/Sy8J76geVVI/AAAAAAAABH8/By55AfakqjQ/s320/HangarDoorI-400Class.jpg

 

Chilling reports is an understatement concerning Unite 731.

No Need to read see Video on Unit 731 Japanese Torture & Human Medical Experiments 部隊の真実

YouTube - Unit 731 Japanese Torture & Human Medical Experiments 部隊の真実

731部隊の真実 the truth of Harbin Unit 731(English Narration) 1/5
YouTube - 731部隊の真実 the truth of Harbin Unit 731(English Narration) 1/5


A Preliminary Review of Studies of Japanese Biological Warfare
and Unit 731 in the United States.

Review of Japanese Biological Warfare and Unit 731