The Kamikaze idea really starts with the Leyte Battle when the japanese pilots based at Formosa have received the autorisation by admiral Onishi to crash down on the american ships. October 24th the escort carrier Saint-Lô is destroyed.
Kamikaze is a japanese word that means Divine Wind and refering to the typhoon that had destroyed the invading mongol fleet in the 13th century. Fanatised by the ancient code of the Bushido Warriors, many soldiers are ready to kill themselves to keep their honor: never surrender to the enemy. The Japaneses don't have anymore experimented pilots and neither have they time to teach well pilots/fighting and so the pilots they have are unable to compete with the americans in flight and thus the officers sees in the Kamikazes an efficient mean to stop the enemy progress. Also that type of attack doubles the range of the planes since the pilots don't have to come back.
The 6th Air army and the 5th air fleet are thus created to defend by Kamikaze attacks the Ryu Kyu archipelago (where is Okinawa) from Shikoku and Kyushu. When Okinawa is under attack 10 major attacks named Kibusui (floating chrysanthemums) are launch with 1465 suicidal-planes. There will be 1900 suicidal attacks made against the ships near Okinawa, without counting the last mission of the Yamato. At Formosa 250 suicidal attacks are also launched against ships around Leyte.
To protect their fleets the Americans use picket-ships: ships far ahead of the main group (100km) that warn when Kamikazes are coming. These ships are in fact destroyers equipped with powerful radar and aircraft guiding systems that allow them to help american fighters to spots the Kamikazes. But the Kamikazes are too eager to accomplish their last mission and often they will crash down on the first ships they see: the picket-ships. Eleven of them will so be sunk.
In 1944 with the threat of Americans landing in the Philippines, admiral Onishi leading the Air forces receive the autorisation to create a special attack corps: the Kamikazes. Four groups are created at Cebu (Philippines) with all volontary pilots that want to make the Jibaku: volontary crashing on an enemy ship. This idea has already some roots in the mind of the pilots as being the only mean to stop the american progress. A big bomb under the frame plus the speed of the Zero plus the gas will give a diabolic weapon.
October 21st 1944 the first Kamikaze operation is planned but when the 3 Kamikaze airplanes and their 5 escort aircrafts are about to take off a group of Hellcat bombs the runway. After the raid there is only one Kamikaze airplane left and two escort fighters but the operation continue and vessel-ensign Kuno gets the honor of flying the Kamikaze plane.The three planes go toward the enemy and find him at Leyte Gulf . Kuno spots one of the big troop transports and aims it even if the DCA fire is heavy. The first official Kamikaze finally crashes in the ocean at less than 2m of its target, bulleted and on fire.
The second Kamikaze attack is combined to the attack of the japanese fleet on the american landing at Leyte: 3 squadrons are sent (Yamazakura, Shikishima and Asahi).October 25th while admiral Kurita is closing on the transports and admiral Nishimura is trying to escape the american airplanes, 4 american escort carriers covering the landing are attacked by 4 Kamikazes from Asahi squadron -one on each carrier. The first Zero to go down crashes on the lift of the carrier Santee after machine gunning the whole bridge: the crash opens the bridge on 8m by 5; in the hangar planes are exploding and fire is going wild and so the crew is obliged to throw overboard a stock of 453kg bombs. The fire is under control after losses of 16 men and 27 injured. The second Kamikaze targets the Sangamon but fly over the Suwanee's DCA which disables the plane which then crashes in the sea. The third Kamikaze aims the Petrof Bay but the DCA once again save the day by hitting the ventral bomb which as soon explode desintegrating the plane in flight. Peace and silence return. Suddenly an explosion is heard from the Santee's right side: the submarine I-56 has fired a torpedo on the carrier while everybody was looking up and now the carrier as to close compartments to prevent the heeling of the ship. This is the moment chosen by the fourth Kamikaze to strike: he comes down on the Suwanee. Even with the american fighters climbing to meet him and the DCA firing, the Kamikaze keeps his target in his aim and crashes on the bridge, opening a hole of 3m by 4 and then continuing is way in the hangars where his bomb explode creating another hole of 7m. Fires are put off and even if the lift is destroyed only 3 men died and 7 others were injured.
The second squadron -Shikishima- made by 5 Kamikazes and 5 escort fighters finds another group of 4 escort carriers. Three Kamikazes target the Kitkun Bay. The first Zero fly over the commanding post touching it by its wing, which makes its bomb fall, and then crashes on the bridge without damaging it and finally slides to the end of the bridge where the plane falls into the sea. The fallen bomb start a fire on the bridge. The other two Kamikazes are shot down by the Fanshow Bay. The last two Kamikazes targets the White Plains. Even with is windows destroyed and its wings broken one of the two Kamikazes keeps its target in the aim and finally explode at 10m over the bridge. Once again the last Kamikaze is hidden in the clouds and the Americans think that all is over and so they relax. While a squadron of patrolling Wildcats is landing, the vessel lieutnant Seki with the last Zero takes his position to land and increases his speed while going down at 45 degrees on the Saint-Lo where he crashes in the center, making a hole in the bridge and a fire in the hangars. The fire spreads to the gas and torpedos stocked there and all explode: the lift fly in the airs to fall back in the water with corpses and planes while the Saint-Lo opens up in two and sink. Deads: 114; injured: 400.
The third Kamikaze squadron (Yamazakura): 5 fighters and 5 Kamikazes go toward the same group of escort carriers. While the 5 Zero fighters are shot down by the american Wildcats, the Kamikazes spot the 3 escort carriers left. The first Kamikaze gets his wings broken and fly over the bridge of the Kitkun Bay to fall in the water. Another Kamikaze crashes on the bridge of the Kitkun Bay but doesn't make a hole in the bridge. The 3 others Kamikazes targets the Kalinin Bay and while two of them are shot down the third cuts the chimney and then crashes on the bridge. The Kalinin Bay is forced to leave the front.
October 26th the four Kamikaze squadrons from Cebu are build back with new planes from Japan. The Americans are destroying the last survivors of the Battle of Leyte. The escort carriers group attacked the day before by the Kamikaze squadron Asahi is spotted near Surigao strait and the Japaneses send 2 Kamikazes and one escort. At 100 miles of their target the three Zeros are shot down by american fighters. So a second group of 3 Kamikazes with 3 escort fighters is sent. The 3 fighters decoy the Americans so that the 3 Kamikazes can go through. The first Kamikaze dives on the Sangamon while is sidekick targets the Petrof Bay. This is the moment when 5 Wildcats appears out of the clouds and dive pursuing the Kamikazes which they shot down. But the third Kamikaze goes unnoticed and crashes at 800km/h on the lift which was going up with a plane of the Suwanee. The gas from the Zero spreads toward the front and with it a line of fire spreads and licks the Avengers A.S.M. which take on fire. The Zero has fallen in the hangars where it burns for a while. The Suwanee is disabled and suffers losses of 143 men and 92 more are harmed. Also the submarine I-45 has strike launching a torpedo/sinking the destroyer Eversale.
October 30th 6 Kamikazes covered by 4 fighters fly over the sea to attack part of the Task Force 38 led by Mitscher. The attack is a complete surprise since the Americans thought that the coming planes were theirs and so before they can react 2 Kamikazes crash on the bridge of the Franklin while a third one falls at a few meters beside the Belleau Wood. Another Kamikaze misses the Franklin and his wingman crashes on the San Jacinto while the last Kamikaze crashes on a battleship.
November 25th 20 Kamikazes and 20 escort fighters take off at Manilla with the goal of attacking the Task Force 38 of Halsey with its 16 carriers and 300 fighters. Hellcats are sent to intercept the incoming group and while the sky is full of dogfightings the Kamikazes pass through and spot the fleet. Five of them explode in the sky, hit by the DCA. Two light carriers (Cabot and Independence) are disabled along with three of the bigger carriers (Hancock, Essex and Intrepid). The next morning another attack is made but the american fighters are ready and so they shoot down all the Kamikazes -those planes with a ventral bomb- leaving alone the japanese escort fighters. At the end of November 26th 25 Kamikazes are sent at Leyte Gulf where they crash and sink 10 troop transports. In the morning of November 27th 30 Kamikazes covered by 30 escort fighters attack the 7th fleet covering the landings. The american airplanes have no time to take off and so the cruiser Saint-Louis is disabled by a crash on its front. The cruiser Montpellier takes three Kamikazes but still floats. A fourth Kamikaze attack it by behind and his cut in half by a 20mm canon before touching the bridge. A fifth Kamikaze dive on the poor cruiser and crashes on one of the 127mm turret while a sixth Kamikaze crashes on one of the machine guns. Two lasts Kamikazes try to finish off the Montpellier but miss the target. Cruiser Vincennes and battleship Colorado are also hit. These lasts attacks show that except the carriers which are full of explosive stocks, warships are about unsinkable by Kamikaze attack. Neither the actual crash of a 3 tons plane at 800km/h, nor the ventral 250kg bomb, nor the gas which burns are able to sink the big warships. But after all the ships are disabled for a while and the Kamikazes are scaring to death the crews.
November 28th the Kamikazes squadrons are back again and the operations continue in the Leyte Gulf where a dozen ships are eliminated. November 29th the battleship Maryland escapes 3 Kamikazes. The cruiser Portland change the course of a Kamikaze with its DCA but the plane crashes on a near ship: the destroyer Aulick which sink at once. Another Kamikaze guns the bridge of the Maryland, goes vertically and then comes back to crash on a 406mm turret making it go out of its rail even if it weights a 1000 tons. The destroyer Saufley is also disabled during that attack. December 3rd the big destroyer Cooper is cut in half by a Kamikaze and sinks. An hospital-ship is missed by another. Two destroyers, the Mahan and the Ward are sunk by Kamikazes on December 7th 1944. On the 11th the destroyer Reid sink hit by three Kamikazes while the Cadwell is disabled. On 14th of December before dawn a squadron of 17 Zeros and 9 Kamikazes bomber (covered by 38 fighters) tries to attack the Task Force 38 but they are intercepted and only one bomber passes and spots the cruiser Nashville in the middle of the fleet yielding 190 injured men and 133 dead. December 15th while the Americans are landing at Mindoro the Kamikazes attack and sink 3 liberty ships and 5 L.S.T.
December 18th 1944 the Japanese Gods finally answer to the human sacrifices and send the Kami Kaze: -the divine wind- a typhoon which blows the 3rd fleet of Halsey and sweeps planes off the carriers and shakes the hangars. With that typhoon 8 carriers and one cruiser are disabled and 3 destroyers sink. 800 people are injured or dead while 186 airplanes are lost. The fleet retreats. At a meeting some time after the Americans decide to increase the efficiency of their DCA, to double the number of fighters on each carrier (this mean that from now on there will be as much bomber as fighters while before it was 2 bomber for one fighter) and finally to attack more often the japanese airports. This last decision will allow to destroy 200 japanese airplanes on the ground and to force admiral Onishi to hasty Kamikaze operation. December 30th 8 Kamikazes attack a convoy and all crash; starting a fire onboard a tanker and exploding on an ammunition transport.
January 3rd a tanker is hit. The 4th while admiral Oldendorf is passing near Panay island, he spots a take off of japanese airplanes on the island. It is a bimotor bomber group which as soon dive on the fleet. One of the Kamikaze crashes on the bridge of the carrier Ommaney Bay and explode in the hangar where the ammunitions also explode and pierce the hull. The carrier is abandonned and destroyers sink it with torpedoes. January 5th 1945 a large american fleet is spotted and many Kamikaze operations are launch. Fifteen Kamikazes escorted by two fighters take off and are intercepted by 20 Wildcats which are decoyed from the Kamikazes by the two fighters. So the Kamikazes get to the fleet and attack: two Zeros are shot down in the sky while another crashes on the lift of the carrier Manila Bay, and the cruisers Australia and Louisville are disabled. A destroyer and a L.C.I. are also hit.
January 6th the last Kamikazes of the Philippines are launch. While the last battleships of the 7th fleet are bombing from the Lingayen Gulf the Kamikazes are spotted. A first Kamikaze targets a cruiser but the DCA cut is wing and so the plane zigzags but the pilot takes back the control and crashes on the New Mexico by hitting the commanding post. Three destroyers (Walke and two others) are hit along with a mine-sweeper which sinks. The waves of Kamikazes continue all afternoon and the battleship California is hit, then the cruiser Colombia and then another time the cruiser Australia. At 17h30 the last wave of attack comes. The cruiser Louisville is hit from the front and three transports are also hit. MacArthur himself is scared on January 8th when the cruiser Boise aboard which he is, is targeted by a Kamikaze which misses the ship by a few meters. The carrier Kadashan Bay is disabled the same day by a Kamikaze while a few mine-sweepers explode and sink. The cruiser Australia is hit a third and fourth time but stay operationnal. The escort carrier Kitkun Bay is disabled after a successful Jibaku. Later the cruiser Colombia is hit a second time by a Kamikaze while he destroy the 3rd one who was targeting it. The carrier Salamaua is also disabled with many others ships of the Task Force 38 of which the majors are the carriers Langley and Ticonderoga (167 deads and 201 airplanes destroyed). In the afternoon two others Jibaku are successfule on the battleship Mississippi and on the cruiser Australia (its 5th Kamikaze). The Kamikaze operation in the Philippines ends there: 500 Kamikaze airplanes have take off of which 130 have been successful, sinking 2 carriers, 4 destroyers and 7 transports and disabling 6 battleships, 23 carriers, 12 cruisers and 31 destroyers.
The Americans then go after Iwojima. But admiral Mitscher wants first to free the Philippines of all Kamikazes and for that he has to destroy the airports of Formosa where the survivor pilots have retreated. January 21st he thus sent all his airplanes, keeping only a few fighters for safety. On Formosa admiral Onishi creates 3 groups of 2 Suisei Kamikazes and of 2 Zero Kamikazes covered by 2 fighters. One of the three groups is intercepted by the attacking american airplanes but the Kamikazes escape. The Japaneses spot the fleet: 16 carriers, 8 battleships and a hundred destroyers without any air cover! Four of the 12 Kamikazes Jibaku successfully and hit the carrier Ticonderoga twice, the light carrier Langley and the destroyer Maddox. The first Kamikaze operation of Iwojima happens February 21st: 20 Kamikazes covered by 12 fighters go after the Task Force 58 of Mitscher. Carrier Saratoga is first hit by 2 Kamikazes; one on the bridge and the other on the side but the carrier stays operational. Two other Kamikazes hit the carrier Bismark Sea of which's stocks bomb explode. The backend of the carrier explodes two hours later, sinking the ship with 350 men. The carrier Lunga Point is also attacked but the Kamikaze misses the bridge and slides along the hull to explode at the touch of water. A third Kamikaze crashes on the Saratoga and increase the number of victims to 300 and disabling the ship for three months. The Kamikaze's escort also dive to Jibaku even if the planes have no bomb but no major damage is caused. Seeing all these honor-sacrifices, women and children of Japan learn to defend themselves with bambou sticks to defend their country.
After Iwojima Task Force 58 withdraw onto Ulithi in the Mariannas -the second biggest naval base after Pearl Harbor. The Japaneses learn that the Americans will move and so they launch the Tan operation: 25 bimotor bombers Ginga are loaded with a 800kg bomb and have for orders to Jibaku on the Task Force 58's 8 carriers and 7 escort carriers. March 10th 1945 the Kamikaze group has to travel 2600km at low speed to spare the fuel and halfway to their target 11 bombers have left the formation due to mecanic problems. The group then pass through a storm and 2 other bombers are lost. They finally see an island but it is Yap: the wind has push them aside and so they have to turn left 90 degrees to go to Ulithi. That island is so remoted from the frontline of war that no blackout is instaured and so the Kamikazes easily spot the ships anchored there around 19h00. The leader dives on the carrier Randolph and hit it but with no more gas and missing the lift he doesn't do any damage and no fire starts. The Americans don't know what is happening and so they shut down the lights: the rest of the Kamikazes (now without any fuel left) find themselves suddenly in the total dark and so they guess the ship's position and dive: all sink in the sea without even seeing a ship. The Americans think that it is an accidental explosion until dawn when they finally see the crashed plane on the bridge of the carrier.
March 18th the Task Force 58 goes near the coast of Japan to make some raids on the airports of Kyushu. The Japaneses counter-attack with 50 Kamikazes Zeros and Suisei bombers covered by 30 fighters. Two of the Kamikazes crash on two big carriers: the Enterprise and the Franklin. The next day another japanese attack yield 3 hit carriers: Essex, Wasp and once again the Franklin which in all is hit three time and is forced to retreat to the USA with some 700 deads.
The next american step is Okinawa. March 31st one Kamikaze crashes on the cruiser Indianapolis, the admiral ship, and disables it until the end of the war. The next morning the battleship West Virginia is damaged while the british carrier Indefatigable is also hit by is first Kamikaze without damage. A transport and a L.S.T. are also hit. At the beginning of April the Yamato makes its last mission covered by a Kamikaze group. On April 12th 160 Kamikaze Zeros, 10 Oka and 30 Kamikaze bombers covered by 150 fighters are sent against the american fleet at Okinawa . The carriers Essex and Enterprise, the battleships Missouri, New Mexico, Tennessee and Idaho, the cruiser Oakland, 13 destroyers, 3 mine-sweepers and one landing ship are all hit by Kamikazes but only the destroyer Abele sinks when it is cut in two by a Oka bomb. In all 27 airplanes hit a ship. In the next days small groups of Kamikazes are sent and they damage one battleship and 5 destroyers. The Americans become mad and they send a massive raid on April 15th to destroy the planes on the ground but only 55 japanese aircrafts are destroyed. The Japaneses strike back: 155 Kamikazes and 36 fighters are sent on April 16th: one battleship and 7 destroyers are hit, the carrier Intrepid is hit by 3 Kamikazes but resist, the destroyer Pringle and a mine-sweeper are sunk. The destroyer Harding is attacked by 22 Kamikazes of which 6 crash on the bridge but the ship doesn't sink. On April 19th two victory-ships loaded with 30 000 tons of ammunitions explode when hit by Kamikazes. April 22nd 79 airplanes sacrifice to disable 6 ships. In the night of 27th 117 Kamikazes Jibaku and hit 7 destroyers of which one sink. Then the destroyer Haggard sinks and after that it is the hospital-ship Comfort which is hit even if it bores big red crosses. The Americans are desperate: the bomber/fighter ratio passes to 1/3 (it was 3/1 in 1941). They force the Air Force to take part in the fight against the Kamikazes with its B-29 rather then sending them in strategic bombing. On May 3rd and 4th 120 fighters covering 156 Kamikazes attacks the ships around Okinawa : 24 of them hit a ship, 3 carriers, the cruiser Birmingham, 12 destroyers and 8 amphibic ships are hit. The destroyers Little and Morrison are hit by 4 Kamikazes each and they sink while the destroyer Luce is hit by 2 before it sinks along with the mine-sweeper Aaron Ward which is hit by 6 airplanes. Soon after it is the carrier Sangamon which has to retreat after a very damaging hit. The battleship New Mexico and 7 carriers are also hit. May 11th 2 Kamikazes crash on the carrier Bunker Hill which is under the banner of admiral Mitscher and yield 373 deads and the definitive withdraw of the ship. Mitscher transfers onto the Enterprise. May 14th 20 Zero fighters are shot down in the sky but at 6h50 the radars spot one plane coming. The Kamikaze dive on the Enterprise, misses and go back in the clouds. He comes back 2 minutes later and escapes the DCA fire while aiming… the plane is hit and take in fire but it doesn't deviate. He crashes on the front and his bomb make a hole in two levels before exploding in a toilet paper stock, blowing the bridge 40m high and blowing the lift 100m high before it falls back in the sea. The Enterprise will no more fight.
The british carriers Victorious and Formidable get also their lot of Kamikazes but they have a bridge more shielded and that decrease the amount of damages. May 24th japanese bombers crash on the american airports at Okinawa to allow their soldiers onboard to destroy the american aircrafts. In the month of June the attacks continue but in a decreasing amount: 200 Kamikazes go for their Jibaku and 20 hit: the battleship Mississippi, the cruiser Louisville, the carrier Natoma Bay and 14 smaller ships. An Oka bomb crashes on the destroyer Twiggs which as soon sinks. June 5th a second Divine Wind comes to the help of the Japaneses and it disables 3 battleships, 4 carriers, 3 cruisers and 13 destroyers.
August 15th 1945 when the capitulation is official 19 airplanes make a dive but only one hit a ship: he crashes on an hydroplanes transport. Admiral Onishi kills himself and deny the ritual end (to have his head shopped) and this lengthen is death of 12 hours.
The Ketsu plan is the defense of Japan and it mobilizes the 6th Air army, the 5th which is stationed in Mandchouria and the 1st to ready 1500 aircrafts with 3000 others from the 5th and 3rd Air Fleets. The Japaneses creates also other suicidal-means to defend their islands:
- Human bombs (Oka). Their official name is Jinrai (God's thunder) but their pilots named it Oka (cheery tree's flowers). The first prototype: MXY-8 has many problems and so the first squadron will only be ready at the end of March 1945. A box 6m long and with 2 wings 5m long and without any landing gear, the Jinrai are made of plywood on a metallic backbone, it weights 2140kg with a 1200kg bomb and the whole (speed and explosive) is equivalent to a 356mm shell. The reduced wings allow only flights at high speeds started from special Mitsubishi G4 bombers. The Oka is launch at about 7000m to have a 30km range with a speed of about 1000km/h (this high speed is to avoid the enemy fire since there is no shield). The engine is 5 powder rockets type 4-1 model 20 (Deutch) which gives a 800kg push for 9 seconds. The pilot is placed at the back of the box.
The first attack by Okas is a desaster: 16 bombers covered by 55 fighters are sent toward the Task Force 58. Before they see the ships, 25 Zeros have to turn back due to problems. Then a hundred Hellcats intercept the group, even the bombers which have dropped their Okas. The second attack is made by 8 Okas but only one hit a troop transport. After that they have only few success at Okinawa: mine-sweeper Shea, destroyer Abele and destroyer Twiggs. The transporting bomber are to slow and the Oka has a too short range.
- Human torpedoes (Kaiten). 120 are built. The human torpedoes are transported bu submarines toward their objective and once near they are launch. From there the pilot drives the torpedo to its target. 2 tankers are sunk that way and 4 other ships are damaged.
- Suicidal submarines. 400 are built. Two types are made: the Koryu with a crew of 5 people and the Kairyu with only 2 crewmen.
- Suicidal fast patrol boats (Shinyo). 2000 boats are found in bays, ready to go when the Americans finally appears in Japan. 9 Landing Carriers are sunk by this mean and 15 other small ships are damaged.
The Americans have been mostly scared and demoralized by these suicidal-attacks: the attacks showed how much the Japaneses are proud people and that they will fight to the last. Netherless these attacks accounted for 3000 deads and 6000 injured Americans, 317 ships have been hit by Kamikazes and 40 have sunken; 4615 Japaneses have proudly sacrificed their life to the glory of their country and of their Emperor. But above all these attacks showed to the Americans that the Japaneses won't surrender and that added to the battles of Iwojima, Okinawa and in the Philippines , the Americans see that their Olympic (landing at Kyushu in November 1945) and Coronet (landing at Honshu in March 1946) plans means heavy heavy human losses (probably more than 1 000 000 Americans!).
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