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Sadamu Uyeda

 

Date and Place of Birth: 1916 Japan
Date and Place of Death:    December 7, 1941 Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
Baseball Experience: High School
Position: Unknown
Rank: Warrant Officer
Military Unit: Imperial Navy
Area Served: Pacific

Sadamu Uyeda was a quiet mountain boy who preferred baseball to books

Sadamu Uyeda (Ueda) was a quiet mountain boy born in Japan in 1916. He loved baseball and played throughout his high school days.

He joined the navy before the outbreak of World War II and was trained at Kure Naval Base, spending several months in Maizuru and Yokosuka for submarine and torpedo training courses. It was during this time that the young petty officer was selected for a highly secretive mission: a submarine attack on the US Naval fleet at Pearl Harbor.

On December 7, 1941, five ko-hyoteki (midget submarines), each carrying two torpedoes, joined the attack on Pearl Harbor. These submarines carried one commander and one crewman. I-16tou was commanded by Masaji Yokoyama and crewed by Petty Officer Uyeda. Although there was an elaborate escape route planned, none of the crews expected to return and each submarine carried a 300-pound scuttling charge.

While Japanese fighter and torpedo planes startled the US Navy from the air, the five midget submarines made there approach on the harbor from various launch points. On the evening of December 7, Yokoyama radioed a report that the attacks had been carried out successfully, and I-16tou was given credit for sinking the USS Arizona by Imperial Navy propagandists. However, I-16tou was never seen again. Of the five midget submarines launched that day it is the only one that cannot be accounted for and remains missing to this day.

Sadamu Uyeda was promoted from petty officer, 2nd class to warrant officer after he was declared missing in action.

Date Added: March 17, 2013

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