The Japanese submarine I-25 was active in Australian waters during World War II. On February 26, 1942, the submarine operated in Bass Strait and launched a Yokosuka E14Y (Allied reporting name ‘Glen’) reconnaissance plane piloted by Warrant Officer Nobuo Fujita. Fujita flew over Fort Queenscliff, continued around Port Phillip Bay, over Melbourne, and then returned to Bass Strait, where he was picked up by the submarine. This mission was part of Japan’s efforts to gather intelligence on Australian defences during the war. The reconnaissance flight provided valuable information about the location of the guns at the fort, leading to strategic decisions by the Japanese forces.
Warrant Officer Nobuo Fujita was a Japanese naval aviator of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Fujita joined the Imperial Japanese Navy in 1932 and became a pilot in 1933. He is most notably known for flying a floatplane from the long-range submarine aircraft carrier I-25 and conducting the Lookout Air Raids in southern Oregon (USA) on September 9, 1942. This made him the only Axis pilot during World War II to aerial bomb the United States land mass.
As the Japanese were now aware of the location of the guns at Fort Queenscliff, it was decided to move the 6” Mark VII guns and mount them in a new battery west of the Point Lonsdale Light House. In order to camouflage this movement, heavy telegraph poles were painted green and mounted in the existing gun positions to give the impression of the guns still being there. Hence the origin of the Pinocchio gun story.

