Two others dived at USSFanshaw Bay but were destroyed by anti-aircraft fire. Motoharu Okamura who is largelybelievedto have been the first high-ranking Japanese officerto propose the idea as a preplanned tactic. Q&A with pilot Rosanna - what it's like . I myself was never deployed. The real question, of course, is what motivated men to willingly pilot torpedos to their deaths. Fools! Although causing some of the heaviest casualties on U.S. carriers in 1945 (particularly as Bunker Hill was unlucky to get hit with fueled and armed aircraft on deck), the IJN had sacrificed 2,525 kamikaze pilots and the IJAAF 1,387 without successfully sinking any fleet carriers, cruisers, or battleships. Soviet fighter aviation, which managed to destroyed three enemy aircraft and an anti-aircraft artillery which lost two planes participated in repulsing the air raids. According to the aforementioned Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney, in Kamikaze Diaries, other methods of encouraging men to volunteer included putting them in a room filled with their peers. Even encouraging capable pilots to bail out before impact was ineffective because vital personnel were often lost when they mistimed their exits and were killed as a result. He was found to have orders to attack the largest tanker in the port of Vladivostok, and if he failed, to ram the biggest house in the city. Onishi reportedlyapproached his superiors toask to create a suicide squad and was granted permission on one condition, he was only allowed to recruit volunteers. The kamikazes also flew solo. She was a prototype for the Mitsubishi Ki-15 ("Babs"). Under a program that encouraged students to support the imperialist military, he had been pen pals with a 17-year-old schoolgirl, Toshi Negishi. Before taking off, he had told his men that if his aircraft were to become badly damaged he would crash it into a "worthy enemy target". If youre wondering what happened to the few men that said no, according to Emiko. [27] This aircraft was possibly either an Aichi D3A divebomber, from an unidentified unit of the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service,[27] or a Mitsubishi Ki-51 of the 6th Flying Brigade, Imperial Japanese Army Air Force. ", RELATED ARTICLES IN THIS WEBSITE: They kept the pilots from getting too cold or even going deaf while flying with their cockpit canopy open. So they never met. The SovietJapanese War, and World War II, had come to an end. [2] "I think of the many men I killed with my pencil, and I apologize for having killed them in vain," he said. +++, In his final letter to his family, one 23-year-old kamikaze pilot wrote, "I am really grateful for my two decades of life in this beautiful island country. Many of the kamikaze pilots believed their death would pay the debt they owed and show the love they had for their families, friends, and emperor. Captain Motoharu Okamura, in charge of the Tateyama Base in Tokyo, as well as the 341st Air Group Home, was, according to some sources, the first officer to officially propose kamikaze attack tactics. I had a portable tea box with me and served rationed yokan bean-paste jelly from Torayaa sweets shop long famed for its yokan. U.S. The questionnaire comprised of a singlemulti-choice question that asked: Do you desire earnestly/wish/do not wish to be involved in kamikaze attacks? All the men had to do was circle the statement they most agreed with. Youll be handed a sheet of paper. About 3,800 kamikaze pilots died during the war, and more than 7,000 naval personnel were killed by kamikaze attacks.[2]. These instructions, among others, were meant to make pilots mentally ready to die. Many of those who were selected for a body crashing mission were described as being extraordinarily blissful immediately before their final sortie. They managed to hit targets around 14% of the time, sinking 34 Navy ships and damaging 368 others. It is easy to talk about death in the abstract, as the ancient philosophers discussed. ballymena court news. Some Japanese enlisted just to fly the Zero. Yuri Kageyama of Associated Press wrote: He survived only because Emperor Hirohito announced Japans surrender on a radio broadcast, just as he was on a train headed to take off on his kamikaze attack. [56], According to the United States Strategic Bombing Survey, from October 1944 until the end of the war, 2,550 Kamikaze missions were flown with only 475 (or 18.6%) achieving a hit or a damaging near miss. Like other regular military personnel, the . They lied!. require two P/E vehicles, front and rear. Pilots were told not to aim at a carrier's bridge tower but instead to target the elevators or the flight deck. [14] Japanese planners had assumed a quick war and lacked comprehensive programs to replace the losses of ships, pilots, and sailors; and Midway; the Solomon Islands campaign (19421945) and the New Guinea campaign (19421945), notably the Battles of Eastern Solomons (August 1942); and Santa Cruz (October 1942), decimated the IJNAS veteran aircrews, and replacing their combat experience proved impossible.[15]. Thats when I knew we had lost the war. [30], In early 1945, U.S. Navy aviator Commander John Thach, already famous for developing effective aerial tactics against the Japanese such as the Thach Weave, developed a defensive strategy against kamikazes called the "big blue blanket" to establish Allied air supremacy well away from the carrier force. [38][39], The resilience of well-armoured vessels was shown on 4 May, just after 11:30, when there was a wave of suicide attacks against the British Pacific Fleet. This headband was made by a thousand women in Japan and served as part of the ceremony before departure. A long steel splinter speared down through the hangar deck and the main boiler room (where it ruptured a steam line) before coming to rest in a fuel tank near the aircraft park, where it started a major fire. List of Imperial Japanese Army air-to-surface special attack units, List of Imperial Japanese Navy air-to-surface special attack units, "Father of the Kamikaze Liner Notes AnimEigo", The Rising Sun: The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire 19361945, ww2pacific.com, 2004, "World War II in the Pacific: Japanese Suicide Attacks at Sea", "Motoori Norinaga: A scholar-physician who loved cherry blossoms", Richard L. Dunn, 20022005, "First Kamikaze? 3 hours of cross country flight. Do not waste your life lightly.. You will also need to apply for your student pilot license before your first solo flight. After the fall of Saipan, the Japanese High Command predicted that the Allies would try to capture the Philippines, strategically important to Tokyo because of the islands' location between the oilfields of Southeast Asia and Japan. I died smiling so please smile. Bill Gordon, an American Japanologist who specializes in kamikazes, lists in a 2007 article 47 ships known to have been sunk by kamikaze aircraft. This must include: 20 hours of flight training with an instructor. In that moment, I thought for the first time that I wouldnt come back alive and felt a chill up my spine. In the transmission room, they knew the pilot had died when a long beep ended in silence. [Source: Yuri Kageyama, Associated Press, June 17, 2015 +++], Yuri Kageyama of Associated Press wrote: Zero pilots were the heartthrobs of the era. Kennedy stressed that kamikaze have little in common with suicide bombers today. Provide me with 300 aircraft and I will turn the tide of war. Projected job growth in 5 years. Kamikazes also operated against Red Army ground units. It is said that young pilots on kamikaze missions often flew southwest from Japan over the 922m (3,025ft) Mount Kaimon. In the newly formed kamikaze, Tokyos military leaders envisioned a dedicated unit of ideologically conditioned warriors willing to die a glorious death for their empire. 99. By the Battle of the Philippine Sea (June 1944), the Japanese had to make do with obsolete aircraft and inexperienced aviators in the fight against better-trained and more experienced US Navy airmen who flew radar-directed combat air patrols. If the height exceeds 14 ft. 11 in., Massachusetts requires two P/E vehicles and a police escort. But what was it that made these men so willing to lay down their lives in such a way? Each entry level qualification is available at three sub-levels - 1, 2 and 3. Twenty-three-year-old Ichizo Hayashi, wrote this to his mother, just a few days before his final mission, in April 1945: I am pleased to have the honour of having been chosen as a member of a Special Attack Force that is on its way into battle, but I cannot help crying when I think of you, Mum. The minute I got up, I was hit again by a club so that I would confess." Thus, on August 18, a Japanese plane Ki-45, flown by the Japanese kamikaze pilot Lieutenant Yoshira Tsiohara, attacked a tanker in the port of Vladivostok. A 23-year-old man wrote "Dear Mother and Father thank you for bringing me up to be a true man. Kamikaze pilots were officially members of the "Special Attack Corps." The world they lived in was like that multiple-choice form: It contained no real options. Questions or comments, e-mail ajhays98@yahoo.com, World War II - Okinawa, Kamikazes, Hiroshima and the End of the War. A final element included intensive fighter sweeps over Japanese airfields, and bombing Japanese runways, using delayed-action bombs making repairs more difficult.[31]. The 5-Point Oath for All Kamikaze Pilots . Its a peaceful evening. As he set it before my eyes I was told, Take a good look at this [before you go]., It was only after I joined the unit when I realized what my father was really saying. They killed around 4,900 sailors and injured 4,800. Seven vehicles were shot down by heavy barrage. It was written there, lol. "Mutsue, goodbye. They never returned, but there is no record of a Kamikaze hitting an Allied ship that day. By the end of the campaign Japan had difficulty finding kamikaze pilots. "[58] Okamura is credited with being the first to propose the kamikaze attacks. The three men survived and swam to nearby Kuroshima island, where they stayed for two-and-a-half months before being picked up by a Japanese submarine. About 6,000 Japanese, aged 17 to 30, participated in kamikaze suicide attacks. Most of those that survived did so because the war ended before they were scheduled to fulfill their missions. And I will be waiting for you." Most were 22 or younger and many died in the closing weeks of the war. Meniu. As my brother who was two years youngerYoshiharu Naya, the founder of Tankosha Publishing Co.was also called into the Imperial Japanese Army, they must have been worried sick about what would become of the family. It was multiple-choice, and there were three answers: "I passionately wish to join," ''I wish to join," and "I don't wish to join." Loyalty to the Japanese Emperor, family, and nation were his key motivations. 2nd Class: These pilots serve as second in command. Hishashi Tezuka was on a train headed to take . When you eliminate all thoughts about life and death, you will be able to totally disregard your earthly life. "I feel so bad for all the others who died," he says, bemoaning the fate of comrades who died so young, never having really experienced life. The kamikaze suicide pilots made their first attacks during the Battle of Leyte Gulf in October 1944. I will de with a smile on my face. One the day of his mission he wrote, Chiko, I want to see you; I want to talk to you. The tragic story has been turned into a hardback book and manga. Newer U.S.-made aircraft, especially the Grumman F6F Hellcat and Vought F4U Corsair, outclassed and soon outnumbered Japan's fighters. Officers such as Minoru Genda, Tadashi Minobe and Yoshio Shiga, refused to obey the policy. Kamikaze ('divine wind'), any of the Japanese pilots who in World War II made deliberate suicidal crashes into enemy targets, usually ships. One person started crying loudly. This is usually abbreviated to tokktai (). Does anyone know what the official name fora kamikase corps was. Most Western views of the kamikaze have emphasized their mindless fanaticism, and after 9/11, many pundits suggested parallels between the suicide bombers of 2001 and the Special Attack Force. The right way is to attack the enemy with skill and return to the base with good results. That is the number of aircraft the Japanese attribute to "other losses". This page was last edited on 10 January 2023, at 00:17. When Japan began to suffer intense strategic bombing by Boeing B-29 Superfortresses, the Japanese military attempted to use suicide attacks against this threat. At least one of these pilots was a conscripted Korean with a Japanese name, adopted under the pre-war Soshi-kaimei ordinance that compelled Koreans to take Japanese personal names. She kept them in a box for 70 years. My family welcomed me home with great joy after I was discharged from military service., Yuri Kageyama of Associated Press wrote: Yoshiomi Yanai, 93, survived because he could not locate his target a rare error for a kamikaze operation. Entering a smokestack was also said to be "effective". ! He lists: It was claimed by the Japanese forces at the time that there were many volunteers for the suicidal forces. Tokubetsu Kgekitai. As the end of the war approached, the Allies did not suffer more serious significant losses, despite having far more ships and facing a greater intensity of kamikaze attacks. Kuroda Kenjir decided not to volunteer, only to be taken by surprise when he found his name on the list of volunteers for the Mitate Navy tokktai corps; his superior had reported proudly that all the members of his corps had volunteered. On the morning of October 25, 1944, a squadron of five Japanese kamikaze pilots in Zero planes led by Yukio Seki soared over the Leyte Gulf in the Philippines. Overall, the kamikaze airstrikes proved ineffective and had little or no effect to Red Army during SovietJapanese War. Obsolete aircraft such as Yokosuka K5Y biplane trainers were also converted to kamikazes. From this manual, pilots were told to "attain a high level of spiritual training", and to "keep [their] health in the very best condition". " +++, The Japanese air force and navy selected young men, many of them taken from other parts of the military and from Japans best universities, to be kamikaze pilots. Mr Kennedy stressed that kamikaze have little in common with suicide bombers today. Entry level qualifications are: entry level award. I'm genuinely pleased to have the chance to attack the enemy. This generally only happens when they sting humans, as their stingers get stuck in our fleshy skin. He consoled families and told everyone how gentle the men had been. The total death toll of Navy kamikaze officer pilots- which included 685 former college students- was 782. Really, they were only one of the units under the umbrella of "Special Attack" forces. At the time of the surrender, the Japanese had more than 9,000 aircraft in the home islands available for Kamikaze attack, and more than 5,000 had already been specially fitted for suicide attack to resist the planned either American or Soviet invasion.[55]. He was to pilot a crew of three aboard a plane with an 800kg [1,763-pound] bomb strapped to its undercarriage. This plan also called for around-the-clock fighter patrols over Allied fleets. During WWII, thousands of Japanese pilots made the ultimate sacrifice for their country by becoming, essentially, flying suicide bombers. The mountain is also called "Satsuma Fuji" (meaning a mountain like Mount Fuji but located in the Satsuma Province region). "My mind went absolutely blank." In 1942, when U.S. Navy vessels were scarce, the temporary absence of key warships from the combat zone would tie up operational initiatives. In total, seven carriers were hit, as well as 40 other ships (five sunk, 23 heavily damaged and 12 moderately damaged). Many warships of all classes were damaged, some severely, but no aircraft carriers, battleships or cruisers were sunk by kamikaze at Okinawa. "I had been all set to die," he says. But there are others, which show a minority of. Imperial Japanese NavyGekitsui-O (flying ace), Saburo Sakai, who had at least 28 victories ranking him fourth for the war for Japan, including shooting down or severely damaging over 60 Allied planes, stated in an interview, Even now, many faces of my students come up when I close my eyes. Mom! My fellow fighter pilots also got up and began shouting Mom! toward their own hometowns. Japanese commanders, in order to prevent kamikaze sorties that got out of hand, ordered weapons depots to be secured and the propellers of aircraft on airfields to be removed. Main Menu On August 17, the Kwantung Army command gave its units an order to surrender, but some of the pilots got out of control and the Japanese air attacks continued. So Im grateful to the emperor that he stopped the war., Japan was still flying suicide missions up to the moment, on 15 August 1945, when Hirohito announced to a shattered people traumatised by nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki that Japan was surrendering. On 18 August convoys of the 20th and 21st Armoured Brigade were attacked. what qualifications did a kamikaze pilot need? [10], In Japanese, the formal term used for units carrying out suicide attacks during 19441945 is tokubetsu kgekitai (), which literally means "special attack unit". I will die with a smile," Yanai wrote in big letters on the opening pages. About 19% of kamikaze attacks were successful. On 9 May, Formidable was again damaged by a kamikaze, as were the carrier HMSVictorious and the battleship HMSHowe. "They were looking out for each other," he says, in a telephone interview from Los Angeles. First of all, kamikaze pilots never did wear helmets. Early successes such as the sinking of USS St. After a lengthy speech on patriotism, it was asked that anyone who didnt wish to be a kamikaze step forward. "Every day, 365 days a year, whenever I remember those who died, tears start coming. Everybody was looking down and tottering. Shinp is the on-reading (on'yomi or Chinese-derived pronunciation) of the same characters as the kun-reading (kun'yomi or Japanese pronunciation) kamikaze in Japanese. The personnel were unharmed as they managed to evade the raid. OKINAWA, KAMIKAZES, HIROSHIMA AND THE END OF WORLD WAR II factsanddetails.com; IWO JIMA AND THE DRIVE TOWARD JAPAN factsanddetails.com; BATTLE OF OKINAWA factsanddetails.com; SUFFERING BY CIVILIANS DURING THE BATTLE OF OKINAWA factsanddetails.com; KAMIKAZES AND HUMAN TORPEDOES factsanddetails.com; FIRE BOMBING ATTACKS ON JAPAN IN WORLD WAR II factsanddetails.com; DEVELOPMENT OF ATOMIC BOMBS USED ON JAPAN factsanddetails.com; DECISION TO USE TO ATOMIC BOMB ON JAPAN factsanddetails.com; ATOMIC BOMBING OF HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI factsanddetails.com; SURVIVORS AND EYEWITNESS REPORTS FROM HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI factsanddetails.com; HIROSHIMA, NAGASAKI AND SURVIVORS AFTER THE ATOMIC BOMBING factsanddetails.com; JAPAN SURRENDERS, THE USSR GRABS LAND AND JAPANESE SOLDIERS WHO DIDN'T GIVE UP factsanddetails.com; They said that the commander of a kamikaze attack should engage in the task first. Many were university students who had been previously exempt from service, but now Japan was running out of troops. what qualifications did a kamikaze pilot needtransfer function of capacitor and resistor in parallel. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Overall, the kamikazes were unable to turn the tide of the war and stop the Allied invasion. This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been authorized by the copyright owner. [23] These names were taken from a patriotic death poem, Shikishima no Yamato-gokoro wo hito towaba, asahi ni niou yamazakura bana by the Japanese classical scholar, Motoori Norinaga. I cannot predict the outcome of the air battles, but you will be making a mistake if you should regard Special Attack operations as normal methods. Shortly afterward, the main strength of the Japanese Army began to lay down its arms in surrender per the Emperor's broadcast. However, no ship larger than an escort carrier was sunk. "[58] Young Japanese people were indoctrinated from an early age with these ideals. One Zero attempted to hit the bridge of USSKitkun Bay but instead exploded on the port catwalk and cartwheeled into the sea. He was stunned to find they were very much like Americans or young people anywhere else in the world, "who were extraordinarily patriotic but at the same time extraordinarily idealistic." Beyond suicide, what other choice was there? [37], U.S. carriers, with their wooden flight decks, appeared to suffer more damage from kamikaze hits than the armoured-decked carriers from the British Pacific Fleet. This all might leave you wondering how effective the kamikaze program was for the Japanese. We were trained to suppress our emotions. what qualifications did a kamikaze pilot need 2021 suwannee hulaween On July 29, 1945, two months after Hasegawa had been shot down, another kamikaze pilot made it past the gunners in a bomb-laden biplane and sank the 2,000-ton ship. Captain Motoharu Okamura commented that "there were so many volunteers for suicide missions that he referred to them as a swarm of bees", explaining: "Bees die after they have stung. With his superiors, he arranged the first investigations into the plausibility and mechanisms of intentional suicide attacks on 15 June 1944. Shinichi Ishimaru, a famous baseball player. Attack on HMAS Australia 21 October 1944" (j-aircraft.com), "Divine Wind The Japanese secret weapon kamikaze suicide attacks", "HyperWar: Antiaircraft Action Summary Suicide Attacks [Chapter 2]", "United States of America 20 mm/70 (0.79") Marks 2, 3 & 4", American Merchant Marine at War (website), 2006, "Chronological List of U.S. It was an honour to die for Japan and the Emperor. [75][76] Some persons who obeyed the policy, such as Kiyokuma Okajima, Saburo Shindo and Iyozo Fujita, were also critical of the policy. Many kept a samurai sword and picture of the Emperor with them in the cockpit. and that requires one P/E, while heights more than 13 ft, 11 in. FAA's rules for getting a pilot's license (certificate) differ depending on the type of aircraft you fly. If it hadn't been for this rain, I'd be long gone by now." On 19 August 1945, 11 young officers under Second Lieutenant Hitoshi Imada, attached to the 675th Manchuria Deatachment, accompanied by two women of their engagement, left the Daikosan airfield and made a final aerial suicide attack against one of the Soviet armoured units that had invaded Manchuria knowns as the Shinshu Fumetsu Special Attack Corps (Japanese: ),[49][50][51][52][53] the last kamikaze attacks were recorded on 20 August 1945. [68], The manual was very detailed in how a pilot should attack. At Okinawa the suicide pilots inflicted the heaviest losses the US Navy ever suffered in a single battle. Contrary to certain Western perceptions, the kamikaze pilots were not mindless automatons, drunken, drugged, or chained into their cockpits to undertake these missions. Its non-retractable landing gear was jettisoned shortly after takeoff for a suicide mission, recovered, and reused. I thought then that this was a sign that he was personally requesting our services. [42][43][44] In the middle of August the Japanese military command planned to dispatch a group of 30 Kamikaze pilots from Japan to Korea to attack Soviet warships, but the Japanese leadership decided to surrender and the operation was cancelled. Date still has the letter that Anazawa wrote. Arima personally led an attack by a Mitsubishi G4M "Betty" twin engined bomber against a large Essex-class aircraft carrier, USSFranklin, near Leyte Gulf, on or about 15 October 1944. [65], The tokktai pilot's manual also explained how a pilot may turn back if he could not locate a target, and that a pilot "should not waste [his] life lightly". The Japanese lost over 400 carrier-based aircraft and pilots in the Battle of the Philippine Sea, effectively putting an end to their carriers' potency. Every nightmare scenario was put across on the Japanese public, saying this is whats going to happen if the Allies arent stopped now., A plaque commemorating kamikaze pilots at the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo reads: "The suicide operators, incomparable in their tragic bravery, struck terror in their foes and engulfed the entire country in tears of gratitude for their outstanding loyalty and selfless service. The kamikaze are the most potent symbol of the war in Japan, a vivid example of the dangers of fervent nationalism and martial fanaticism. par ; mai 21, 2022 Justin McCurry wrote in The Guardian, It was late 1944, and the tide of war was turning against Japan. Supposedly, the kamikazes carried out more than 50 suicide attacks against Soviet Red Army during the August 1945 hostilities with Japan. During the invasion of Okinawa, the Japanese launched 1,900 kamikaze attacks, inflicting 3,400 fatalities among American naval personnel out of a total of 4,907 total U.S. Navy deaths in the . They tried to go on a date, just once, when he had a rare opportunity to get out of training and visit Tokyo. +++, Over the decades, Hayashi was tormented by guilt for having sent dozens of young men to their deaths "with my pencil," as he put it, referring to how he had written the names for Ohka assignments each day. Marines suffered a huge number of casualties on land at Iwo Jima; 6,000+ dead, 19,000+ wounded. At Okinawa the suicide pilots inflicted the heaviest losses the US Navy ever suffered in a single battle. The four-age letter begins: We have put an effort into joining forces, but in the end our efforts will not tie up with reality. The practice was most prevalent from theBattle of Leyte Gulf, October 1944, to the end of the war. "[69] Publishers also played up the idea that the kamikaze were enshrined at Yasukuni and ran exaggerated stories of kamikaze bravery there were even fairy tales for little children that promoted the kamikaze. The current thinking is skewed. [Source: Justin McCurry, The Guardian, August 11, 2015], Like other pilots selected for suicide missions, Horiyama was asked to write a will and a letter that would be sent to parents when their mission was completed. I felt bad that I hadnt been able to sacrifice myself for my country. This is my last letter. The Japanese high command and propagandists seized on Arima's example. After the war, Hayashi joined the military, called the Self-Defense Forces, and attended memorials for the dead pilots. [45][46][47], Vice Admiral Matome Ugaki, the commander of the IJN 5th Air Fleet based in Kyushu, participated in one of the final kamikaze attacks on American ships on 15 August 1945, hours after Japan's announced surrender.[48]. Suicide-mission pilots looked over their shoulders to see the mountain, the southernmost on the Japanese mainland, said farewell to their country and saluted the mountain. fake by any means necessary jacket. . taken a kamikaze strike forward of its aft elevator the day before); and three smaller escorts: USS White Plains, USSKalinin Bay, and Kitkun Bay. luxury apartment hotels paris. Many kamikaze Army officers took their swords along, while the Navy pilots (as a general rule) did not. We felt the clock ticking away towards our death, every sound of the clock shortening our lives. APOLOGIES, LACK OF APOLOGIES, JAPANESE TEXTBOOKS, COMPENSATION AND WORLD WAR II factsanddetails.com; LEGACY OF THE ATOMIC BOMBING OF JAPAN AND OBAMA'S VISIT TO HIROSHIMA factsanddetails.com; LEGACY OF WORLD WAR II IN JAPAN factsanddetails.com, Ensign Kiyoshi Ogawa, the pilot who hit the Bunker Hill, Yuri Kageyama of Associated Press wrote: The pilots filed into the room and were presented with a form that asked if they wanted to be kamikaze. Its an album that he keeps carefully wrapped in a traditional furoshiki cloth. [32] It was found that heavy anti-aircraft guns such as the 5"/38 caliber gun (127mm) were the most effective as they had sufficient firepower to destroy aircraft at a safe range from the ship, which was preferable since even a heavily damaged kamikaze could reach its target. There was one absolute about being a kamikaze, he says: "You go, and its over. The kamikazes traded six of their aircraft for a tank and a couple of cars. Unlikely as it may seem, a number of I will always be with you, by you sideYour loving Daddy.". [Source: Yuri Kageyama, Associated Press, June 17, 2015 +++], Hisashi Tezuka recalls that a few of his colleagues quickly wrote their replies and strutted away. Now I warn to call to you loudly and clearly "mother, mother, mother.'" Since our plane was loaded with two bombs weighing 250 kilograms each on both wings, it flew even slower. Published on . Eight kamikaze hits on five British carriers resulted in only 20 deaths while a combined total of 15 bomb hits, most of 500kg (1,100lb) weight or greater, and one torpedo hit on four carriers caused 193 fatal casualties earlier in the war striking proof of the protective value of the armoured flight deck. The Seafires' best day was 15 August 1945, shooting down eight attacking aircraft with a single loss. The kamikaze shared ceremonial cups of sake or water known as "mizu no sakazuki". This was far more than the IJN had lost in 1942 when it sank or crippled three U.S. fleet carriers (albeit without inflicting significant casualties).
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