Harry Thompson

Who is Harry Thompson?

Harry Thomas Thompson was a former United States Navy yeoman who spied for Japan against the United States in 1934–35. He was the first American to be convicted of espionage since World War I.

Thompson had been a Maryland farm boy who served one cruise with the Navy; however in the summer of 1934 he was jobless, making him a good target for recruiting. His handler was an officer of the Imperial Japanese Navy, Lt. Cmdr. Toshio Miyazaki, who was an exchange student of English at Stanford University. Miyazaki, a.k.a. Mr. Tanni, recruited Thompson in San Pedro, California by offering to pay him $500 initially and an additional $200 monthly. He was persuaded to board U.S. Navy ships dressed in a yeoman's uniform, for the purpose of gathering information from the crews. Through this and other methods, he was able to sell engineering, gunnery, and tactical information about the Pacific Fleet that was mainly based in nearby San Diego at that time.

Unfortunately for Thompson, the Director of the Office of Naval Intelligence, Capt. William D. Puleston, took a personal interest in so-called language students like Miyazaki. His suspicions were borne out when Japanese coded radio messages were intercepted and deciphered.