Out of Darkness

Their relationship strained over trust issues, Hera and Sabine team up for a supply run but find an unexpected danger waiting.

"Trust and Secrecy" - Star Wars Rebels Clip

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Historical Connections

The Mothership

The Ghost is a modified VCX-100 light freighter, originally manufactured by the Corellian Engineering Corporation and functions as the main vehicle for the heroes of Rebels. The ship belongs to Hera Syndulla who also serves as the craft’s skillful pilot. Ghost contains several armaments and enough firepower to destroy a Gozanti-class cruiser.

A convenient addition to the Ghost is a shuttle, the Phantom, that attaches to the rear of the ship. The Phantom enables the crew to perform covert ops or split up to perform simultaneous tasks. When not in use, the Phantom remains docked with its mothership and can use its guns to aid in space battles if necessary.

During World War II, many of the major powers experimented with the use of mini or midget submarines. The best known use occurred when the Japanese employed midget subs to aid in their surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Full size subs were not used in the attack because they were too obvious and large to infiltrate the harbor. If Japan could pull it off, the midget subs would be small enough to enter the harbor undetected and attack US Naval vessels. The midget subs were mated to mother ships (Japanese Type C submarines) and transported across the Pacific Ocean. Upon their arrival 10 miles from Pearl Harbor, five midget subs detached from their mother ships and headed toward the harbor. Each sub was equipped with two torpedoes and two crew members.

It is now known that two of the midget subs made it into the harbor, but their impact in the attack remains highly debated. One sub was spotted in the early hours of December 7, nearly tipping off the Americans to the incoming attack. This sub was later sunk by the USS Ward. One of the subs, Number 19, became grounded on the east side of Oahu and one of its crew members, Kazuo Sakamaki was captured, becoming America’s first Japanese prisoner of war.

In the seventy years since the Pearl Harbor attack, all five of the Japanese midget subs have been located. The first, Number 19 was discovered hours after the attack. Another sub was recovered after the attack and used as fill during the construction of a new pier at Pearl Harbor. The third was discovered by Navy divers in 1960 with its torpedoes still intact. A fourth midget sub was located in 2002 and confirmed as the vessel sunk by the USS Ward. The final midget submarine was discovered in 2009 amongst wreckage dumped three miles south of Pearl Harbor in 1944. The sub was missing its two torpedoes and is believed to have fired them at Battleship Row (within the harbor), possibly accelerating the capsizing of the USS Oklahoma.

Sabine Wren, Hera Syndulla, The Ghost, The Phantom, Fort Anaxes, Fyrnock

• EDSITEment!- The Road to Pearl Harbor
• WWII Museum- A Day of Infamy Lesson
• NPS- Remembering Pearl Harbor Lesson
• War Stories (Full Episode)- Attack of the Japanese Midget Subs!
• PBS- Killer Subs in Pearl Harbor
• John Chatterton- Pearl Harbor and the Japanese Midget Submarines
• US Navy- Japanese Type A Midget Submarines used in the attack on Pearl Harbor
• LA Times- Pearl Harbor mini-submarine mystery solved?

Reflection for Out of Darkness