Five Japanese midget submarines were sent toward Pearl Harbor during the attack. These small, two-person submarines were intended to enter the harbor and launch torpedoes against American warships.
The submarines operated separately from the aircraft carrier force. Their crews faced difficult navigation and defensive measures, and none achieved the planned decisive result. One midget submarine was captured after its crewman, Kazuo Sakamaki, became the first Japanese prisoner of war captured by U.S. forces in World War II.
The midget submarines are sometimes confused with the larger Japanese submarines that supported the wider operation. The five craft were specialized vessels assigned to the harbor attack, not aircraft or conventional fleet submarines.