Are there Japanese Torpedoes buried near the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco?

[AGXStarseed]

I came across the following video and decided to share it as I thought it would be interesting.

The following video - released on YouTube on September 17th 2021 by Mark Felton (a British historian) details a story dating back to 1946, when a Japanese torpedo was was discovered close to San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge. In this video, he goes into the story of how the torpedo got there - detailing an event from 1941 - and asking whether or not the torpedo found near the bridge was the only one or part of a volley of torpedoes that may still be buried near one of San Francisco's most iconic landmarks.

Hope you enjoy the video, regardless of your opinion on the matter.
In regards to historian Mark Felton, he is also described in the video description as "the author of 22 non-fiction books, including bestsellers 'Zero Night' and 'Castle of the Eagles', both currently being developed into movies in Hollywood. In addition to writing, Mark also appears regularly in television documentaries around the world, including on The History Channel, Netflix, National Geographic, Quest, American Heroes Channel and RMC Decouverte. His books have formed the background to several TV and radio documentaries."

 

[Forest Cat]

It's a little crazy how much is left behind. We are still finding German bombs from WW2 here. A farmer found one two weeks ago, a very big one. And it's estimated that there are thousands of mines left behind in the Baltic sea outside Sweden.

 

[maycontainthunder]

It's a little crazy how much is left behind. We are still finding German bombs from WW2 here. A farmer found one two weeks ago, a very big one. And it's estimated that there are thousands of mines left behind in the Baltic sea outside Sweden.

Sea mines are the scary ones; their fuses can still be activated even after all this time. The way they work is the horn is depressed shattering a glass phial that contains acid. The chemical reaction detonates the mine.

With regards to torpedoes it is unlikely the impact detonator will still be functional. Normally with submerged munitions divers go down and places explosives then set them off from a long way off.

 

[Tom]

I came across the following video and decided to share it as I thought it would be interesting.

The following video - released on YouTube on September 17th 2021 by Mark Felton (a British historian) details a story dating back to 1946, when a Japanese torpedo was was discovered close to San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge. In this video, he goes into the story of how the torpedo got there - detailing an event from 1941 - and asking whether or not the torpedo found near the bridge was the only one or part of a volley of torpedoes that may still be buried near one of San Francisco's most iconic landmarks.

Hope you enjoy the video, regardless of your opinion on the matter.
In regards to historian Mark Felton, he is also described in the video description as "the author of 22 non-fiction books, including bestsellers 'Zero Night' and 'Castle of the Eagles', both currently being developed into movies in Hollywood. In addition to writing, Mark also appears regularly in television documentaries around the world, including on The History Channel, Netflix, National Geographic, Quest, American Heroes Channel and RMC Decouverte. His books have formed the background to several TV and radio documentaries."

Mark Felton's stuff is great. I've watched tons. TIK is another amazing historian. His Stalingrad series is incredible if you like getting into the details.

 

[oregano]

World War 2 was such a gigantic war, the only true world spanning war in world history, that old munitions from it are everywhere. A Japanese balloon bomb was found in the woods in British Columbia a couple years ago. In Germany, a country that is likely the most bombed country in human history, old bombs are found all the time, and still very destructive. A few years ago an old American 500lb bomb was found in downtown Munich during road construction. It was partially buried underneath a building so they couldn't remove it. When they detonated it, the building and several others collapsed. I dunno about bombs in water, but bombs on land can still have active detonators after 80 years.

 

[Orange Glasses]

Mark Felton’s videos are superb as well as his War Stories with Mark Felton.

I subscribe to very few channels, but Mark’s are amongst them.

 

[AGXStarseed]

Mark Felton’s videos are superb as well as his War Stories with Mark Felton.

I subscribe to very few channels, but Mark’s are amongst them.

Yeah, I've only come across his stuff recently but I love listening to it. When you go past the major events in wars (or history in general) and start looking deeper at the details, you find new and interesting stories that may otherwise have never been told - some of which would make great TV shows/movies all of their own.

For WW2, one of my favourites is his story about Ray Holmes; a pilot who, during the Battle of Britain, saved Buckingham Palace from getting destroyed by a Dornier 17 bomber - using his Hawker Hurricane (devoid of ammo) as a battering ram to smash off the bomber's tail:

Outside of WW2, there's an event in 1968 when the RAF were forbidden from performing an aerial display to celebrate their 50th anniversary. Combined with defence budget cuts at the time, one pilot (Alan Pollock) decided he would do something about it; taking his Hawker Hunter and "going rogue" as he launched a one-man air-show/political protest over London:

Here's some artwork of the latter's most famous moment - flying through Tower Bridge:

 

[Judge]

Given all the routine/annual dredging of San Francisco Bay, I suspect if there were more torpedoes than the one found in 1946 that they have long since been removed. With no intention of sharing such things with the media. Not to mention improvements in undersea technology in detecting metal objects.

Think of how many years it took before news was released of just how many ships were lost just off North Carolina's coast by German submarines. A closely guarded secret, even after the war ended. Though apparently in comparison, the Japanese had little success on America's west coast.

Though go east of the continental US and there were ghastly amounts of Japanese ordinance to be found littered all over so many islands. I know, as I once lived on the island of Guam. At a time when countless kids were killed finding things like live grenades found in the boondocks.

My older brother and I sitting on a Japanese artillery piece in the jungle. Finders keepers?

Japanese 2-man mini submarine beached and rusting away...

Big Brother in front of a Japanese "Pillbox"

As a WW2 "Junkie", I've always found it difficult to ignore Mark Felton's YouTube videos.

 

[Gerontius]

This would be very interesting!

There are so many buried artifacts and I have always liked Mr. Felton's videos. They are a real treat. I'm not much of a war buff but I do enjoy the historical impact of one little incident here, one change in design there, and the way that affected the course of history.

 

[AGXStarseed]

This would be very interesting!

There are so many buried artifacts and I have always liked Mr. Felton's videos. They are a real treat. I'm not much of a war buff but I do enjoy the historical impact of one little incident here, one change in design there, and the way that affected the course of history.

Agreed. In regards to the "one little change affecting the course of history" thing, I'm reminded of his video about Operation Masterdom in September 1945/March 1946 - with an alliance of the British, the French, the Indians and Japanese P.O.W's fighting against Ho Chi Minh's forces and nearly beating them in a six month campaign.
It's amazing to think that if they had some more time and more reinforcements, they may have indeed finished the job - which in turn could have meant that the three Indochina wars that followed (the second of which been America's war with Vietnam) might not have happened.

As you say, it's interesting to see how little things can alter how history turns out.