Seven lives for the emperor. Japanese kamikazes

Suicide bombers or kamikazes, despite the fact that they turned out to be ineffective in the war that Japan lost, nevertheless became one of the most striking symbols of the Second World War. What they felt, how they went to death is most incomprehensible to us today. Soviet propaganda also could not explain the mass Japanese Sailors.

On December 7, 1941, Japan suddenly, without declaring war, dealt a crushing blow to the US Navy base on the Hawaiian Islands - Pearl Harbor. An aircraft carrier formation of ships of the Imperial Navy, having complete radio silence, approached the island of Oahu from the north and attacked the base and airfields of the island with two waves of aircraft.
The daring and unexpected attack on Pearl Harbor aimed to destroy the enemy's naval forces in the shortest possible time and ensure freedom of action in the southern seas. In addition, with a sudden attack, the Japanese hoped to break the Americans' will to fight. The operation was conceived, proposed, in general terms developed and approved by the commander-in-chief of the Japanese fleet. Yamamoto Isoroku.

The Japanese military made grandiose plans. The war was based on the principle of lightning speed. The war, as the Japanese leadership believed, could only be won as a result of fleeting military operations. Any delay is fraught with disaster. America's economic power would take its toll, and the Japanese understood this. the main objective The first stage of the war - the destruction of the US Pacific Fleet - was completed.

In addition to airplanes, small submarines took part in the attack on Pearl Harbor. Although, theoretically, it was planned to return these boats to the base, it was clear that the crews were going to certain death. Indeed, eight of the nine officers died during the attack and completed the snapshot of the gods at the Yasukuni Shrine. The ninth was a bummer. Lieutenant Sakamaki's boat got stuck on the coastal rocks, and he became the first captured officer in this war. Sakamaki could not make himself hara-kiri, because... was seriously wounded. But this was not an excuse for him. A stain of shame fell on the fleet. I, poor lieutenant, not only passed with enlistment as a god-kami of the Yasukuni Shrine, but was also called a person with a “small heart” and a “small belly.” Japanese propaganda went so far as to call him “a man without a belly at all.”

The suicide bombers of the Japanese fleet were divided into several categories. These included the so-called "suijō tokkotai" (Kamikaze Surface Force) and "sui Tokkotai" (Kamikaze Submarine Force). The surface forces were equipped with high-speed boats loaded with explosives. The symbolic designation of one of the types of such boats is “Xingye” (ocean shaking). Hence the name of the groups of katerniks - suicides - “Xingye Tokkotai”. "Xingye" were made of wood, equipped with a six-cylinder engine of 67 hp, which allowed them to reach speeds of up to 18 knots. The range of such boats was about 250 km. They were equipped with either a 120 kg bomb, a 300 kg depth charge, or a rocket. Kamikaze boat attacks were in most cases effective and the Americans were very afraid of them.

Underwater means of combating ships are the notorious "human torpedoes" ("mingen-gerai"), small and human submarines ("fukuryu") and teams of suicide paratroopers ("giretsu kutebutai"). The fleet had its own paratrooper units. Even the parachutes for them were developed separately and were very different from the army ones, although they were intended for the same purpose - landing on land.

The suicide-launched torpedoes were called Kaiten. Their other name is “Kongotai” (Kongo group, in honor of Mount Kongo, where the hero of the Japanese Middle Ages Masashi Kusonoke lived). Human torpedoes, in addition, were also called “kukusuitai”, from “kukusui” - a chrysanthemum on the water." Two main modifications of torpedoes, controlled by people, were developed. One serviceman was placed in the torpedo. a large number of explosive. The Kaiten's speed of 28.5 miles per hour and human guidance made it extremely difficult to combat the weapon. Massive attacks by Kaiten, as well as other suicide bombers, caused severe nervous tension personnel Americans.

The Japanese called the small submarines “Kyuryu” - dragon and “Kairu” - sea dragon. Small magnetic submarines were designated by the term "Shinkai". Their range usually did not exceed 1000 miles. They had a speed of 16 knots and were usually controlled by two suicide bombers. Dwarf submarines were intended for torpedo attacks inside enemy harbors or for ramming.

The "fukuryu" units - dragons of the underwater grotto (another translation of the hieroglyph - dragons of happiness) and "human mines" - that is, divers with mines - also posed a great danger to the American fleet. Secretly, under water, they made their way to the bottoms of enemy ships and blew them up with a portable mine.

Their activities are known mainly from the book “Underwater Saboteurs” by V. Bru (foreign literature publishing house, Moscow, 1957). Along with valuable data on the actions of Japanese saboteurs, this book also contains quite significant “blunders”. For example, he describes an oxygen apparatus designed for fukuryu teams, which allowed an underwater saboteur to dive to a depth of 60 meters and move there at a speed of 2 km/h. No matter how well a diver is trained, if his apparatus runs on oxygen, then at a depth of more than 10 meters, oxygen poisoning awaits him. Devices with a closed breathing circuit operating on mixtures of oxygen and nitrogen, allowing diving to such depths, appeared much later.

It was widely believed in the American Navy that at the entrances to the harbors, at a depth of 60 meters, Japanese listening posts were located to ensure that enemy submarines and guided torpedoes could not penetrate into the harbor. Firstly, this was not technically feasible at that time, because it was necessary to keep the crews in them in a saturated dive mode, supplying them with air from the shore, to ensure regeneration as in a submarine. What for? From a military point of view, shelter at such a depth is pointless. Submarines also have sonars and microphones. Rather than fence off this whole garden with underwater shelters, it’s easier to keep a submarine on duty there. But shelters in submerged shallow waters, or even merchant ships with their keels sticking up, are a very real thing. For the concentration of fukuryu fighters, this is quite acceptable, given that they will die anyway. From their own mine, from a Japanese shell that fell into the water next to the ship they are attacking, or from an American grenade thrown into the water by an alert soldier who noticed something suspicious in the water.

The Japanese Navy has long had well-trained and equipped diver units. Their equipment was advanced for those times; even before the war they used fins. Suffice it to recall the Japanese raid mask, which was used back in the twenties to search for the “Black Prince”. To our divers it seemed the height of technical perfection. True, it is completely unsuitable for sabotage affairs. Mention of it as a technical novelty, indicative of the development of diving in Japan, which followed its own path, different from Europe. In February 1942, light divers of the Japanese fleet cleared minefields near Hong Kong and Singapore, opening the way for their amphibious landings. But there were few of them. And Japan could not equip the huge masses of newly recruited divers with good equipment and weapons. The emphasis was again placed on mass heroism. This is how one of the participants in the Japanese war of 1945 describes a suicide attack on our destroyer:
“Our destroyer stood in the roadstead of one of the Korean ports, covering the landing of the Marine Corps. The Japanese were almost knocked out of the city, through binoculars we saw how the Korean population was greeting ours with flowers. But in some places there were still battles. The watch observer noticed that some strange object was moving in our direction from the shore. Soon through binoculars it was possible to see that it was a swimmer’s head, next to which a bubble inflated with air was hanging, either appearing on the surface or hiding in the waves. One of the sailors pointed a rifle at it and looked at the commander, awaiting further orders. Don't shoot! - the political officer intervened, - maybe it's a Korean with some kind of report or just to establish contact. The sailor lowered his rifle. No one wanted to kill a class brother who was sailing to extend a hand of friendship. Soon the swimmer was almost next to the side. We saw that he was young, almost a boy, completely naked, despite the cold water, on his head he had a white bandage with some hieroglyphs. Through the clear water it was clear that a small box and a long bamboo pole were tied to the inflated bladder.

The swimmer looked at us, we looked at him. And suddenly he stuck a knife that came from nowhere into the bubble and, shouting “Banzai!”, disappeared under the water. If it weren’t for that stupid scream, no one knows how it all would have ended. Sergeant Major Voronov, who was standing next to me, pulled the pin out of the lemon bottle that he had prepared in advance and threw the grenade into the water. There was an explosion and the saboteur floated to the surface like a stocked fish. Since then we have increased our vigilance. Later, talking with tank crews who were also attacked by suicide bombers, I learned that the Japanese jumped out of the trenches with mines on bamboo poles and fell under machine-gun fire, having time to shout “Banzai!” If they had tried to slip their mine unnoticed, their losses could have been much greater. But the impression was that dying gracefully was more important to them than destroying a tank.

The suicide squads did not experience a shortage of volunteers. In letters to family and friends, young people who faced imminent death enthusiastically announced their intention to give their lives for Japan, for the Emperor.

So twenty-year-old midshipman Teruo Yamaguchi wrote to his parents: “Don’t cry for me. Although my body turns to dust, my spirit will return to my native land, and I will forever remain with you, my friends and neighbors. I pray for your happiness.” Another Kaiten driver, twenty-two-year-old midshipman Ichiro Hayashi, consoled his mother in a letter: “Dear mother, please don’t miss me. What a blessing it is to die in battle! I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to die for Japan... Goodbye dear. Ask Heaven to take me in. I will be very sad if Heaven turns away from me. Pray for me, Mom!"

The atomic bomb is of course a crime. But when landing on the islands of the mother country, the Japanese command prepared to meet the American landings with an army of suicide bombers. More than 250 super small submarines, more than 500 Kaiten torpedoes, 1000 exploding Xinye boats, 6000 Fukuryu divers and 10,000 kamikaze pilots. The American command decided to kill several tens or hundreds of thousands of Japanese civilians rather than lose the lives of their soldiers. And, in the end, the Japanese were the first to start. Who is right and who is wrong is up to God to decide. But it is already possible to pay tribute to the courage of the people who, by the will of fate, were our opponents in this war.

Part 2

The greatest interest for military historians now is not the great battles of large armies, but single actions, where a person discovers his superiority over a machine and destroys it with his fearlessness, self-control, and strength of mind.

Carrying out special missions to mine ships and commit other acts of sabotage is obviously associated with mortal risk. A combat swimmer who has undergone thorough preparation and training, inspired by a sense of patriotism, possessing unbending willpower and fearlessness, consciously takes risks to complete the assigned task. This is typical for special forces of any army in the world. But even against the background of these iron men, the Japanese stand out especially. After all, a saboteur of any army takes a mortal risk, and a Japanese man goes to his death.
This phenomenon has its roots in ancient history Japan is the basis of the Shinto religion, which in the “Land of the Rising Sun” strangely coexists with Buddhism.
The first mention of the use of suicide bombs refers to XIII century. In 1260, the grandson of Genghis Khan, Kublai Khan, ascended the Mongol throne. After the victory over China, a new Mongol dynasty of Chinese emperors, the Yuan, was founded. The Mongols landed troops on Sumatra and Java and attacked Vietnam and Burma. By that time, the whole of Central Asia already lay under the heel of the Mongols. Far East, part of Western Asia, the Caucasus, Eastern Europe, including Rus'. However, there was a country that refused to submit to the mighty Empire, which enslaved dozens of states. This was Japan. In 1266, an ambassador was sent to Japan demanding submission to the Great Khan.

The Shikken (ruler) of Japan, Hojo Tokemuni, unconditionally rejected the Mongol demands. War became inevitable. A terrible danger of a Mongol invasion loomed over Japan, which received the name “GENKO” in Japanese history. In November 1274, an armada of the Mongol fleet, consisting of 900 ships, with 40 thousand Mongol, Korean and Chinese soldiers, set out from the Korean port of HAPPO towards the Japanese Islands. This army quickly killed the small samurai squads on the islands of Tsushima and Iki. The Mongols fought using masses of cavalry and tactics that allowed them to conquer vast areas of Europe and Asia.

The Japanese did not use large formations in battles. A samurai is, first of all, a solitary warrior. The Japanese attached great importance to external forms of warfare. The main thing is that everything is beautiful and according to the rules. First, they fired a whistling Kaburai arrow towards the enemy, challenging them to a duel. The best warriors came forward and demanded single combat. Then a hundred knights rode out and fought with the same number of the enemy. And only after that the army went into battle. In this case, this tactic failed. Military honor did not exist for the Mongols and their satellites. As a group, they surrounded individuals and killed them in the back, using poisoned arrows, which was not acceptable for samurai (for samurai, not ninja). The Japanese were losing the war without even causing much damage to the enemy. Next up is the island of Kyushu. The Japanese clearly did not have enough strength to repel aggression. Near the town of Hakata, the Mongols entered into a fierce battle with a small, but brave and well-trained detachment of samurai. Stubborn resistance, the sun setting; The commander's decision forced the Mongols to retreat to the ships to regroup their forces.

In the evening a storm began and turned into a typhoon. The Mongolian fleet was scattered across the water surface, destroying more than 200 ships. The remnants of the armada were forced to return to Korea in complete disorder. Thus ended the first invasion.

The Japanese were already distinguished by their ability to learn and not make old mistakes. Realizing that Kublai would not calm down, they prepared more carefully for the next invasion. Defensive structures were built on Kyushu and Honshu, and samurai squads were concentrated at the sites of the proposed landing. The tactics of the Mongols were studied and adopted, their own miscalculations and shortcomings were taken into account and analyzed.

In the spring of 1281, 4,500 ships with 150,000 warriors on board under the command of the Mongol commander Alahan left the Korean port of Happo. Never before or subsequently in the history of all nations has there been a fleet larger than the Mongol fleet of 1281, either in the number of ships or in the number of troops. Huge ships armed with catapults were transported in the holds great amount people and horses.

The Japanese built a huge number of small rowing ships that had good speed and maneuverability. These ships were waiting in the wings in Hakata Bay. The morale of the Japanese was very high. Even Japanese pirates abandoned their craft and joined the imperial fleet.

The aggressor fleet was approaching Hakata Bay, destroying everything in its path. Finally, the Mongol armada entered Hakata Bay. And the battle began on land and at sea, where the Mongols were attacked by rowing boats. The advantage here was on the side of the Japanese. The boats, despite the hail of cannonballs and arrows, approached the clumsy bulk of the Chinese ships, the samurai with lightning speed climbed onto the sides of the ships and destroyed the crews. The Japanese fought despising death, and this helped in the fight. The Mongols turned out to be morally unprepared for the self-sacrifice that the Japanese soldiers made. The samurai won battles in a limited space; their individual swordsmanship was better than that of the Mongols, who were accustomed to fighting in masses, if possible at a distance, shooting the enemy with poisoned arrows.

History has brought to us many episodes of this battle. Among the heroes of the naval battle, Kusano Jiro stands out. A hail of arrows and cannonballs fell on the boat he commanded, one of which tore off his arm. Having stopped the bleeding with a tourniquet, he continued to lead the battle. According to sources, the wounded samurai, overcoming pain, led the boarding team, personally killed 21 people in battle and set the enemy ship on fire.

Another Japanese military leader, Michi Iri, wrote a prayer before the battle asking the kami gods to punish the enemy. Then he burned the paper with the text and swallowed the ashes. Miti Ari equipped two rowing boats with the best warriors who swore to die in this battle. Hiding their swords under the folds of their clothing, the Japanese approached the Mongol flagship. They thought that the unarmed Japanese were approaching in order to negotiate or surrender. This allowed us to get closer. The samurai flew onto his deck. In the bloody battle, most died, but the remainder managed to kill the commander of the Mongol fleet and set fire to the huge ship.

Faced with such resistance on land and at sea (much is known about the land battle, but it is beyond the scope of this article), the Mongol fleet left Hakata Bay to regroup and meet the second part of the armada approaching Japan. It was decided to go around the island of Kyushu and land on the other side.

After the fleets met, a huge force of the Mongols and their allies attacked the island of Takashima, preparing a new invasion of Kyushu. A mortal threat once again loomed over Japan.
In all Shinto shrines, prayer services were held without ceasing.

On August 6, 1281, a dark streak appeared in the clear, cloudless sky, which eclipsed the sun in a matter of minutes. And a deadly typhoon broke out. When the wind died down three days later, barely a quarter of the original strength remained of the Mongolian fleet - about 4 thousand military ships and more than 100 thousand people died in the abyss.

The demoralized remnants on the crippled ships returned to Kolre. This is how the campaign against Japan ended ingloriously for Kublai’s soldiers. It was from this time that the idea took root in the minds of the Japanese that their country was under the special protection of national gods and that no one could defeat it.

The idea of ​​the divine origin of the country, belief in miracles, and the help of the Shinto gods, primarily Amaterasu and Hachiman, significantly influenced the formation of the national ideology. The heroes of the battles with the Mongols, who became gods in the minds of the Japanese, became examples for young people. And beautiful death in battle has been glorified in this country for thousands of years. Michi Ari and his samurai became gods and the inspiration for Japanese suicide divers and torpedo drivers.

Japanese military doctrine is based on lightning speed. The war in the Pacific Ocean has many examples when the Japanese acted first and thought later. Or they didn’t think at all, but only acted. The main thing is that it is lightning fast and beautiful.

The desire for self-sacrifice, which made the Japanese fierce and fanatical warriors, led at the same time to irreparable losses in trained and well-prepared pilots and submariners, which the Empire so needed. Enough has been said about Japanese views on warfare. These views may have been good for the samurai of the Middle Ages and the legendary 47 ronin, who, as the saying goes, ancient legend, made themselves hara-kiri after the death of the master, but they are completely inappropriate for 1941. American Admiral S.E. Morison, in his book Rising Sun in the Pacific, assesses the Japanese decision to attack Pearl Harbor as strategically stupid. He gives a very telling example of the interrogation of a captured Japanese admiral, one of the planners of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Former Japanese admiral: "Why do you think our attack on Pearl Harbor was strategically stupid?"
Investigator: “Had it not been for this attack, the United States might not have declared war on Japan, and if war had been declared, efforts to hold back the Japanese advance to the south due to our involvement in Europe in the war with Hitler would not have been so decisive. A sure way to bring America to war was an attack on American soil.
Former Japanese admiral: “However, we considered it necessary to disable your fleet so that, by eliminating the possibility of offensive actions by the Americans, we could launch an offensive to the south.
Investigator: For how long, according to your calculations, after the attack on Pearl Harbor would the American fleet have been unable to take offensive action?
Former Japanese admiral: According to our assumptions, within 18 months.
Investigator: In fact, when did the first actions of the American fleet begin?
Former Japanese admiral: Fast carriers began conducting air strikes on the Gilbert and Marshall Islands in late January and early February 1942, that is, less than 60 days after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Investigator: Tell me, did you know the location of the tanks with fuel supplies in Pearl Harbor?
Former Japanese admiral: Of course. The location of the tanks was well known to us.
Investigator: How many bombs were dropped on these tanks?
Former Japanese admiral: None, the main targets of attack were your large warships.
Investigator: Did it ever occur to your operations officers planning the attack that the destruction of the fuel depots on the island of Oahu would mean the incapacitation of the entire fleet located in the Hawaiian Islands until the fuel was delivered from the continent ? Then your boats could prevent the delivery of fuel, thereby preventing the possibility of an American attack for many months?
The Japanese admiral was shocked. The idea of ​​destroying fuel reserves was new to him. The most expedient ways and means of neutralizing the American fleet did not occur to the Japanese, even in retrospect. So they fought, making up for the lack of strategic thinking with the heroism of their personnel. Japanese boats were huge and difficult to control. They had poor noise masking and an unreliable control system. Lack of living quarters, unsanitary conditions, strong vibration of the building. It's amazing how Japanese submarines could swim at all. And not only sail, but also sink large warships.

Almost all the successes of the Japanese were associated with the cult of self-sacrifice in the war, taken to the point of absurdity. According to the samurai code of Bushido, dying in battle is the highest happiness. But the decision to die or not is made by the warrior himself. In the early 30s, during the war in China, the first suicide bombers appeared; in the 20th century, they deliberately went to their death.
During the Shanghai operation, three soldiers - sappers, tied a hachimaki bandage around their heads, drank a cup of sake and swore an oath to die (like the ancient samurai during the Mongol invasion) and blew up a Chinese fortification with the help of one large mine. The fallen soldiers were hailed as divine and declared to be examples of the "yamatodamasiya" of the "Japanese spirit." In Japan they began to be called "Bakudansanyushi" (three brave warriors with a bomb). It is much easier to send soldiers to certain death than to call in artillery. In addition, you can make a fuss about this issue and intimidate America and the Soviet Union, which support China. In 1934, an advertisement was published in Japanese newspapers for the recruitment of volunteer suicide bombers, drivers of guided torpedoes.

Such actions were needed to keep the United States from sending a fleet to help Beijing. More than 5,000 applications were received for 400 places. But then it didn’t come to use, and there were no torpedoes. The Japanese returned to the idea of ​​suicide torpedo drivers in 1942, after losing the Battle of Midway, although the idea of ​​striking with a torpedo fired by a submarine, but controlled by a person in it (a volunteer), had taken shape by the time of the first attack on Pearl Harbor. Motitsura Hashimoto, commander of the submarine (I 58) - the carrier of guided torpedoes, describes in detail in his memoirs the history of the creation of Kaiten torpedoes.

“For the first series of tests, several such torpedoes were manufactured,” writes Hashimoto, “their tests were carried out near the Kure naval base on the island, which was known under the code name “Base 2.” By January 1943, the development of the human torpedo project had reached such a level stage when it seemed that they could be put into production and then used in combat situations. However, the design of the torpedoes excluded the possibility of saving the person who controlled it, that is, he was doomed to certain death, which the naval command objected to. Changes were made to the design of the torpedoes a device that allows the driver to be thrown into the sea at a distance of about 45 meters from the target by simply pressing a button.

Around February 1944, a prototype of the human torpedo was delivered to Navy headquarters, and the torpedoes were soon put into production. With passionate hope for success, their production began in the experimental torpedo workshop of the ship repair plant in Kura. Great hopes were placed on this weapon. Now, it seemed, it was possible to take revenge on the enemy for the heavy losses that Japan had suffered. By this time the island of Saipan had passed into American hands and we had suffered heavy losses.

The new weapon was called "Nightens", which meant "Path to Heaven". In Taras’s book the name of this torpedo is translated as “Shaking the Heavens”; in other sources there are translations “Turning to the Sky” and “Restoring Strength After Their Decline”. Apparently this hieroglyph has many interpretations.

While the production of torpedoes was underway, a base was established in Tokuyama Bay where personnel were trained.
Alas! On the very first day of testing in Tokuyama Bay, one of the volunteers and advocates of this weapon drowned. The torpedo he was in was buried in the mud and could not be recovered. This bodes ill for the future."

The omen did not deceive. During the training process alone, 15 people died as a result of imperfect technology. The idea of ​​a catapult, which offered a chance for salvation, had to be abandoned. The Japanese command had no time to save the lives of the torpedo drivers. Japan lost one battle after another. It was urgent to launch the miracle weapon. The first Kaiten samples were launched on the surface. The boat surfaced, launched torpedoes and went into the depths. The drivers, landed in the area of ​​​​operations of the American fleet, were looking for their own target. Since it was dangerous to risk a boat in an area where planes and ships could detect it, the drivers were dropped off at night near the harbors where the Americans were based and often the torpedoes simply disappeared without finding a target, sank to the bottom due to technical problems, or got stuck in anti-submarine nets. There was no driver exit for cutting the network.

Later they began to re-equip the boats to launch torpedoes from a submerged position. The drivers boarded the torpedoes in advance and waited for the boat to find the target. Air was supplied through a hose, communication was carried out by telephone. Finally, at the very end of the war, boats appeared from which it was possible to go to the torpedo directly from the compartment through the lower hatch of the torpedo. The effectiveness of the torpedo immediately increased. Hashimoto describes an incident when his boat was lying on the ground, and an American destroyer was throwing depth charges at it. He decided to attack the destroyer with human torpedoes. The suicide bomber said goodbye to everyone and got into the Kaiten. The sailor closed the rear hatch behind him, a few minutes later the noise of a torpedo engine was heard, the cry of “Banzai!” Then the connection was lost. Then there was an explosion. When the boat surfaced, only debris floated on the surface.

The descriptions of the behavior of torpedo drivers before going on a mission are interesting. “During long periods of being under water, there was nothing to do in the boat. Both officers from the torpedo drivers, in addition to preparing their torpedoes and practicing observation through the periscope, had no other duties, so they played chess. One of them was present during the attack of human torpedoes in area of ​​the Ulithi Islands, but he himself was unable to go on the attack due to a malfunction of the torpedo. He was a very good chess player...

The enemy seemed to surround us. I ordered the drivers of torpedoes No. 2 and No. 3 to immediately take their places. It was cloudy, but here and there bright stars could be seen in the sky. In the darkness, we did not see the drivers’ faces when they both came to the bridge to report. They remained silent for some time, then one of them asked: Commander, where is the Southern Cross constellation? His question took me by surprise. I looked around the sky, but still didn't notice this constellation. The navigator standing nearby noticed that the constellation was not yet visible, but that it would soon appear in the southeast. The drivers, simply saying that they were going to take their seats, resolutely shook our hands and left the bridge.

To this day I am reminded of the composure of these two young men. The sailor, whose duty it was to close the bottom cover of the torpedo, did his job and raised his hands, indicating that everything was ready. At 2:30 a.m. the order came: “get ready to launch human torpedoes!” The torpedo rudders were installed in accordance with the position of the submarine rudders. Before the release of human torpedoes, communication with them was maintained by telephone; at the moment the torpedoes were detached from the submarine, the telephone wires leading to them could be tied up.
Ten minutes later, everything was ready for the release of torpedoes, scheduled according to the plan for 3.00 on the assumption that it would begin to get light at 4:30.

The driver of torpedo No. 1 reported: “Ready!” The last clamp was released, the torpedo engine started working and the driver rushed towards his target. The last connection with him was cut off at the moment when the torpedo separated from the boat and rushed towards the enemy ships stationed in the harbor of the island of Guam! At the very last moment before release, the driver exclaimed: “Long live the Emperor!”
The release of torpedo No. 2 was carried out in exactly the same way. Despite his youth, her driver remained calm until the end and left the boat without saying a word.
Too much water got into the engine of torpedo No. 3, and its release was postponed to the last stage. When torpedo No. 4 was released, the following sound was also made: “Long live the Emperor!” Finally, torpedo No. 3 was fired. Due to a phone malfunction, we were unable to hear her driver's last words.
At that moment there was a strong explosion. We surfaced and, fearing persecution, began to retreat to the open sea...
...We tried to see what was happening in Apra Bay, but at that moment a plane appeared and we had to leave."

Meanwhile, the war became increasingly fierce. In addition to human torpedoes, small boats and human ships from fukuryu teams, the Japanese naval command began to use “giretsu kutebutai” units - teams of suicide paratroopers. In February 1945, the Japanese dropped a parachute assault force consisting of military personnel from this team onto one of the army airfields. The paratroopers, tied with bags of explosives, destroyed seven “flying fortresses” and burned 60 thousand gallons (1 gallon - 4.5 liters) of gasoline. 112 suicide soldiers died in this battle. Information about the effectiveness of suicide bombers is very contradictory. Japanese propaganda agreed that every kamikaze, as a rule, destroyed a large warship. When suicide divers ceased to be a military secret, they began to write a lot about them, extolling the results of their actions to the skies, drawing new crowds of young people into the ranks of suicide. The Americans, on the contrary, did not admit their losses and reported underestimated figures, misleading the Japanese command about the degree of effectiveness of their sabotage forces and means. According to Japanese propaganda, kamikaze, fikuryu, kaiten and other suicide teams destroyed many times more ships than the Americans had in the Pacific Fleet. According to American data, the Japanese lost a whole lot of carrier boats and achieved virtually no results. By the way, I read a book by an Englishman about Japanese ace pilots (not kamikazes). He treats their reports of victories over Soviet and American aircraft with irony. For example, in the battles at Khalkin Gol, one Japanese ace, according to his reports, destroyed a number of aircraft that the Russians did not have at all in that area. A Japanese newspaper wrote that one Soviet pilot he hacked to death with a samurai sword, sitting next to the downed Soviet plane. The samurai is taken at his word (as a gentleman). So, if no one blames the Japanese for lack of courage, then they have a problem with truthfulness. Therefore, the degree of effectiveness of the use of suicide submariners is still not known (and probably will not be known) (I am not talking about aviation).

By the end of the war, the rights and benefits of suicide bombers and their families were regulated. Goodbye to the gods, the future soldier god will have the opportunity to live to his fullest. Every restaurant owner considered it an honor to host a suicide bomber without taking money from him. Universal honor and admiration, love of the people, benefits for the family. All the close relatives of the future kami (god) were surrounded by honor.

The mission was arranged according to the rules invented for kamikazes. The headband "hachimaki" with sayings, inscriptions or the image of the sun - the emblem of the Empire, like the medieval samurai, symbolized a state in which a person was ready to move from everyday life to sacredness, and tying it was, as it were, a prerequisite for the inspiration of the warrior and his acquisition of courage. Before boarding a plane or torpedo, suicide bombers said to each other a ritual farewell phrase: “See you at the Yasukuni Shrine.”
You had to go to the goal with your eyes open, not closing them until the very last moment. Death had to be perceived without any emotion, calmly and quietly, with a smile, according to the medieval traditions of the feudal army. This attitude towards one’s own death was considered the ideal of a warrior.

The use of suicide bombers, according to interpretations of Japanese propaganda, was supposed to show the superiority of the Japanese spirit over the Americans. General Kawabe Torashiro noted that until the end of the war, the Japanese believed in the possibility of fighting the Americans on equal terms - “Spirit against machines.”

What is the difference between the European and Japanese understanding of death. As one Japanese officer explained to the Americans to an unconscious prisoner: while Europeans and Americans think life is wonderful, the Japanese think it is good to die. Americans, British or Germans, having been captured, will not regard this as a disaster; they will try to escape from it in order to continue the fight. The Japanese will consider captivity a cowardly act, because... For a warrior - a samurai - true courage is to know the time of his death. Death is victory.

As a rule, everyone going on a mission left dying poems chanting death for the Emperor and the Motherland. Some former suicide bombers who did not have time to die in battle still regret it.

It was not possible to replace the typhoon that saved Japan in the 13th century. Hundreds of midget submarines and thousands of guided torpedoes remained in hangars without waiting for their crews. And thank God (both ours and the Japanese one). Japan lost the war. Some will call suicide bombers fanatics and scumbags. Someone will admire the courage of people who go to death for their Motherland in a desperate attempt to save the situation, fighting in spirit against the machines. Let everyone draw a conclusion for themselves.

(c)V. Afonchenko

I will add on my own that regarding the fact described above, there is a huge variety of opinions, both in Japan itself and throughout the world. I will not undertake to judge the correctness or agree on the correctness of any of them. I just think that people died, it’s scary. Although someone will say to this, what do you care about those people who died in some kind of war, in any war, not just this one? After all, every day so many of them die and die from causes completely unrelated to the war.

But in my opinion, it is worth thinking about the fact that by forgetting about something that happened, we deliberately provoke a repetition of it in the future.

The word kamikaze has firmly entered our lexicon. We most often call them “crazy” people who do not value their lives, who unreasonably take mortal risks, in other words, suicides. Thus we distort its true meaning. At the same time, many people know that they called it that Japanese pilots-suicide bombers who attacked enemy ships. Few initiates even know the history of the origin of this movement among Japanese pilots. But few people, even historians of the Second World War, realize that in Japan there were much more suicide bombers like kamikazes. And they operated not only in the air, but also on land, on water, and under water. And they weren’t called kamikazes at all. This is what our story will be about.

Already in 1939, a movement of volunteers was organized in Japan, first to serve in the army, then to work in enterprises, in agriculture, in hospitals. Volunteers formed units called teishintai. In the army, among such units, the medieval philosophical code of the samurai was widespread - Bushido, which literally meant - a way to die.

The combination of the militaristic postulates of Bushido with nationalism demanded from the warriors complete devotion to the god-emperor Hirohito, and during the war, death for the Emperor and the country. Due to this belief system, sacrificing one's life for a noble cause was seen as the purest and highest form of achieving the meaning of life. “Death is as light as a feather,” was a phrase that was a hit among the ranks of the Japanese military. However, the ruling elite of Japan understood perfectly well that such high ideals were beyond the strength of spirit of all warriors. Therefore, purely material incentives were added to the ideology. In addition, the suicide bombers who died were canonized as patron saints of Japan, became national heroes, and their relatives became very respected people who enjoyed certain government benefits. And although there was no shortage of people wishing to join teishintai, the selection into the detachments was carried out with fairly strict requirements, not devoid of common sense. After 1943, the army's teishintai units turned into suicide shock troops. Their general rule is self-sacrifice in order to destroy superior enemy forces.

There are five categories of teishintai. The first is kamikazes - suicide pilots in naval and general aviation, with the former intended to destroy ships, and the latter - heavy bombers, columns of tanks or trucks, railways, bridges and other important objects. The second - teishintai paratroopers - were used to destroy aircraft, ammunition and fuel at enemy airfields using bombs and flamethrowers. The third - underwater teishintai - using mini-submarines and human torpedoes, they were used to destroy enemy ships. These included demolition divers (fukuryu, “dragons of fortune”). The fourth - surface teishintai - operating on high-speed exploding boats to destroy enemy ships. And the fifth, most common and numerous category is ground-based teishintai - suicide infantrymen who, with anti-tank mines on poles or special devices, or simply with explosives in backpacks and similar methods, attacked enemy tanks and armored vehicles. Each of these categories is described in detail below.

Kamikaze - teishintai in the air

After defeat at the Battle of Midway on June 4, 1942, Japan began to lose the initiative in the Pacific War. During 1943-1944, the Allied forces, supported by the industrial power of the United States, advanced step by step towards the Japanese islands. By this time, Japanese aircraft, especially fighters, were seriously inferior in technical parameters to the new ones American models. Due to heavy combat losses, there was a shortage of experienced pilots in Japan. In addition, a shortage of spare parts and fuel made conducting any major air operation a problem for Japan. After the US captured the island of Saipan in July 1944, the Allies had the opportunity to bomb Japanese territory. Their further advance towards the Philippines threatened to leave Japan without sources of oil in Southeast Asia. To counter this, the commander of the 1st Air Fleet, Vice Admiral Takijiro Onishi, decided to form a special strike force of suicide pilots. At a briefing on October 19, Onishi said: “I don’t think there is any other way to accomplish the task before us than to bring a Zero armed with a 250-pound bomb down on an American aircraft carrier.” Thus Onishi became known as the “father of kamikazes.”

The name kamikaze comes from the “divine wind”, which was the name given to the typhoon that twice, in 1274 and 1281, saved Japan from the invasion of the Mongol fleet of Kublai Khan. In answer to the prayers of the Japanese, the typhoon destroyed enemy ships off the coast of Japan. By analogy, kamikaze pilots were supposed to save the country from defeat.

Kamikazes were part of the teishintai movement in aviation. And although they were officially called the “special assault squad of the divine wind,” with the light hand of American translators they began to be called simply kamikazes, in fact, like all other categories of Japanese suicide bombers. After the war, the Japanese allowed the reading of hieroglyphs in the interpretation of “suicide pilot”.

The first squads of kamikaze pilots were formed on October 20, 1944, based on naval aviation units in which the pilots were ready to sacrifice their lives for their country. Naval aviation initially trained 2,525 kamikaze pilots, and another 1,387 were recruited into the army. The bulk of the kamikazes were young non-commissioned officers or junior officers, that is, graduates of naval and military flight schools. Although there were twenty-year-old university students who joined the detachments, both out of patriotism and the desire to glorify their family. An important motivation for young people to sign up as volunteers was the desire to protect their families from possible “atrocities” of the Allies after the occupation, which were widely trumpeted by Japanese propaganda. They considered themselves the last defense. All those joining kamikaze units received officer rank, and those who already had it - an extraordinary rank. Distinctive features The uniform of the kamikaze pilots included a white scarf and a red sun flag. And the symbol of the kamikaze was the chrysanthemum flower. It was usually minted on brass uniform buttons, which were then prized trophies for American sailors.

Over time, a ritual developed to honor the kamikazes while they were alive. On the eve of departure for the mission, they were treated to festive lunch, and just before departure the commander poured a ceremonial glass of sake. They were given a headband - hachimaki - with the symbols of the Japanese flag or a white headband with inspiring hieroglyphs written on it. Hachimaki symbolized steadfastness of intentions and maintained morale. It also has a direct function - protecting the face from sweat. Typically, hachimaki was 50 mm wide and 1200 mm long.

Often, kamikazes were given a senninbari - a “belt of a thousand stitches” or “a thousand needles”, sewn by a thousand women, each of whom made one stitch or knot. It was worn either at the waist or tied on the head and was considered the strongest amulet, as well as allowing the soul to be reborn again after death. Sometimes, in addition to fellow soldiers, civilians were also present at the farewell to the last flight. For example, high school girls from schools or girls from teishintai units. The farewell was solemn, something in the form of a rally. Thankful or glorifying poems were read to them.

The basis of training for new pilots entering the kamikaze squads was preparation for the readiness to die. To achieve this, various methods were used, from brainwashing with patriotism and the tenets of religion, to physical torture during training. Training in flight skills was reduced to simple basic skills: takeoff and landing, flight in formation, imitation of an attack. The kamikaze pilot's manual detailed how the pilot should attack. It was indicated that when attacking from a height, the best aiming point was the place between the bridge and the chimneys. On aircraft carriers, one should look for aircraft lifting elevators or an “island” (a ship’s control superstructure above the deck). For horizontal attacks, the pilot had to "aim for the middle of the ship, slightly higher than the waterline", or "aim for the entrance to the aircraft hangar". There was also a rule in the manual that allowed him to return from a mission if the target was not detected. It was believed that life should not be spent lightly. However, there are cases where, after repeated returns, pilots were shot for cowardice.

It should be noted that groups of kamikaze pilots were led to their destination by experienced pilots, whose task was not only to guide poorly trained pilots to the target, but also to record the results of the attack. But even under these conditions, attempts to bring the detachment to the goal did not always work out.

Despite the fact that, according to the Japanese, there was no shortage of kamikaze volunteers, after their first combat operations, a massive campaign was launched in the country to glorify suicide bombers, and agitation to sign up as volunteers. The authorities appealed to the population with a request to support volunteers and help in recruiting them into units. In addition to materials in the media, brochures, leaflets, posters, and even children's tales about the courage of kamikazes were published. Since this hysteria lasted until the very end of the war, there were probably problems with the mass registration of volunteers. There are known cases of forced transfer of army units to kamikaze units. And as the pinnacle of the idea of ​​“voluntariness,” it should be noted that the literature describes a case when a kamikaze rammed its own command post.

Even those kamikazes who agreed to carry out suicidal attacks raise doubts and enthusiasm. So, on November 11, 1944, one of the American destroyers pulled a pilot from the water, who could not hit an aircraft carrier, and crashed into the sea. During interrogation, he willingly shared any information and stated that on October 27, his unit was completely transferred to kamikaze tactics. From the very beginning, the pilot found this idea as stupid and ineffective as possible, but did not dare to tell his comrades about it. The fact that he survived impact with the water suggests a safe dive angle, which in turn raises the question of whether his miss was accidental. It is also interesting that already in the post-war period, the Japanese who expressed doubts about the voluntariness of the formation of kamikaze squads, in their training system, were harshly persecuted by the authorities.

The first kamikaze attack was carried out on October 21, 1944 against the flagship of the Australian fleet, the heavy cruiser Australia. Armed with a 200-kilogram bomb, the pilot of which remained unknown, crashed into the superstructure of the Australia, scattering debris and fuel over a large area, but the cruiser was lucky and the bomb did not explode. However, 30 people died, including the ship's commander. On October 25, Australia received another hit, after which the ship had to be sent for repairs (the cruiser returned to service in January 1945, and by the end of the war, Australia had survived 6 hits from kamikaze aircraft).

On October 25, 1944, a kamikaze squad led by Yukio Seki attacked an American aircraft carrier force in the east of Leyte Gulf. The first Zero hit the stern of the USS Senti, killing 16 people in the explosion and causing a fire. A few minutes later, the aircraft carrier Suwanee was also disabled. Fires caused by a kamikaze hitting the deck of the escort aircraft carrier Saint-Lo soon caused the detonation of the arsenal, as a result of which the ship was torn apart. 114 crew members were killed. In total, as a result of this attack, the Japanese sank one and disabled six aircraft carriers, losing 17 aircraft. On October 29, kamikaze planes damaged the aircraft carriers Franklin (33 aircraft were destroyed on board the ship, 56 sailors were killed) and Bello Wood (92 killed, 44 wounded). On November 1, the destroyer Abner Reed was sunk, and 2 more destroyers were disabled. On November 5, the aircraft carrier Lexington was damaged (41 people were killed, 126 were wounded). On November 25, 4 more aircraft carriers were damaged. On November 26, kamikazes attacked transports and covering ships in Leyte Gulf. The destroyer "Cooper" was sunk, the battleships "Colorado", "Maryland", the cruiser "St. Louis" and 4 more destroyers were damaged. In December, the destroyers Mahan, Ward, Lamson and 6 transports were sunk, and several dozen ships were damaged. On January 3, 1945, a kamikaze hit the aircraft carrier Ommany Bay caused a fire; soon, as a result of the detonation of ammunition, the ship exploded and sank, taking 95 sailors with it. On January 6, the battleships New Mexico and the California, which was revived after Pearl Harbor, were damaged. In total, as a result of kamikaze actions in the Battle of the Philippines, the Americans lost 2 aircraft carriers, 6 destroyers and 11 transports; 22 aircraft carriers, 5 battleships, 10 cruisers and 23 destroyers were damaged.

Further actions involving the massive use of kamikazes unfolded during the Battle of Iwo Jima. On February 21, as a result of fires caused by kamikaze hits, the aircraft carrier Bismarck Sea burned and sank (318 people died), the aircraft carrier Ticonderoga was also damaged, its losses amounted to 140 people. Particularly vulnerable to kamikazes were American attack aircraft carriers, which, unlike their British counterparts, did not have flight deck armor, as well as Casablanca-class escort aircraft carriers.

The kamikaze attacks reached their maximum intensity during the Battle of Okinawa - a total of 1,465 aircraft took part in the attacks. On April 3, the aircraft carrier Wake Island was disabled. On April 6, along with its entire crew (94 people), the destroyer Bush was destroyed, into which 4 aircraft crashed. The destroyer Calhoun was also sunk. On April 7, the aircraft carrier Hancock was damaged, 20 aircraft were destroyed, 72 people were killed and 82 were wounded. Before April 16, another destroyer was sunk, 3 aircraft carriers, a battleship and 9 destroyers were disabled. On May 4, the aircraft carrier Sangamon with 21 aircraft on board completely burned down. On May 11, two kamikaze hits caused a fire on the aircraft carrier Bunker Hill, in which 80 aircraft were destroyed, 391 people were killed and 264 were injured. By the end of the Battle of Okinawa, the American fleet had lost 26 ships, 225 were damaged, including 27 aircraft carriers. However, the measures taken by the Americans to protect against kamikazes yielded results - 90% of Japanese planes were shot down in the air.

By the spring, the strengthened Allied air defense made daytime kamikaze raids almost useless, and the Japanese command attempted night attacks. However, after several sorties of kamikaze squads, they were forced to abandon this practice, since not a single plane was able to find the target and almost all died after getting lost.

According to Japanese statements, 81 ships were sunk and 195 damaged as a result of kamikaze attacks. According to American data, losses amounted to 34 sunk and 288 damaged ships. There are other numbers. Obviously, we will no longer know the exact data, because everyone calculated differently. For example, the same cruiser Australia was damaged 6 times. Should we count it as one or six units? During the operation of the kamikaze squads, according to the Japanese, 2,800 aircraft were lost, in which 3,862 suicide pilots died, of which about 12-15% were professional military personnel. The greater number of pilot deaths is explained by the deaths of bombers and carriers of the MXY7 missile aircraft, which had numerous crews. It is unknown whether the losses include planes bombed at airfields and killed pilots, although their number is quite large. It is also unknown whether the death toll statistics include suicides of pilots who were not members of kamikaze squads, but committed a ramming attack or an attack on ships on their own initiative or out of despair. According to experts, there were at least 200-300 such cases.

From 3 to 7 thousand Allied sailors died from kamikaze attacks, and from 5 to 6 thousand were wounded, which amounted to 68% of combat injuries in the fleet. The debate about these figures is also still ongoing. Some count only losses at sea, others include airfields, and others add non-surviving wounded. In addition, the initial psychological effect on American sailors was also important. And although the Americans downplay it and the Japanese exaggerate it, several thousand sailors were still written off. Over time, the fear on the ships passed.

It should be noted that of the 30% planned by the Japanese command, only 9% of kamikaze aircraft reached their targets. At the same time, the accuracy of hitting the target was only 19%. Actually, these two figures most fully characterize the effectiveness of the use of kamikazes.

Initially, conventional aircraft in service with the army and navy were used for kamikaze attacks, which were minimally modified, and often not at all, to carry out an effective collision with an enemy ship. These planes were stuffed with any explosives that were at hand: explosives, bombs, torpedoes, containers with flammable mixtures.

Soon, due to the decrease in the number of aircraft the Japanese had, a special type of aircraft for kamikaze was developed - Yokosuka MXY-7 called “Ohka”, which translated meant cherry or sakura flower. Having seen this plane, both in action and captured on the ground, the Americans, not knowing its name, nicknamed the aircraft “Baka” (idiot, fool). According to another version, the name “Baka” was introduced by American propaganda to instill confidence in American military personnel and sailors, since, in accordance with the postulate psychological impact: “a ridiculed enemy is not terrible.” In any case, in American manuals these projectile aircraft were called only “Baka”.

The aircraft was a manned rocket-powered bomb carried to the attack site by a Mitsubishi G4M, Yokosuka P1Y or Heavy Nakajima G8N aircraft. In the area where the target was located - in the direct line of sight of the enemy ship - "Ohka" was disconnected from the carrier and planned until it was stabilized by the pilot and aimed at the target, and after turning on the rocket boosters, which worked for 8-10 seconds, it approached it until it collided, causing the detonation of the charge . The plane had a length of 6-6.8 m, a height of 1.6 m, a wingspan of 4.2-5.1 m, a wing area of ​​4-6 m², a curb weight of 1.4-2.1 tons; charge weight – 600-1200 kg, maximum speed – 570-650 km/h, dive speed – 800 km/h, flight range – 40 km, crew – 1 person.

The aircraft began to be developed in August 1944 with a simplified design to ensure the possibility of its production at enterprises that did not have qualified personnel. The aircraft consisted of a wooden glider with an explosive charge in the nose, a single-seat pilot's cabin in the middle section and a rocket engine in the rear of the hull. It did not have take-off engines or landing gear. An assembly of three solid rocket boosters located in the tail section of the aircraft was used as an engine. A total of 854 vehicles of six modifications were produced, differing in engines, wing shape, explosive weight and the ability to be launched from caves or from submarines.

Dropping "Ohka" from a carrier aircraft.

The Ohka aircraft were ready for combat in October 1944. But fate itself did not let them onto the battlefield. Either an aircraft carrier carrying 50 aircraft was sunk, then the airfield was bombed by the enemy, or all the carriers were destroyed while still approaching the combat area. And only on April 1, 1945, six missile aircraft attacked US ships near Okinawa. The battleship West Virginia was damaged, although it is still not known for certain whether it was an Ohka or two ordinary kamikaze aircraft. On April 12, an attack from 9 “Ohka” took place - the destroyer “Mannert L. Abele” sank, the destroyer “Stanly” was damaged. On April 14, the fleet was attacked by 7 Ohka aircraft, on April 16 - by six, on April 18 - by four. Not a single one hit the target.

The general measures taken against kamikaze aircraft also had a positive effect against projectile aircraft. Further, the losses of the American fleet, despite the increasing intensity of kamikaze raids, became smaller and smaller. So, on May 4, out of seven Ohkas, one hit the navigation bridge of the minesweeper Shea, and on May 11, out of four aircraft, one destroyed the destroyer Hugh W. Hadley, which was written off without repair. On May 25, eleven Ohkas, and on June 22, six failed to hit the target.

Thus, the effectiveness of using a special projectile aircraft turned out to be significantly lower than conventional aircraft with kamikaze pilots on board. And of the entire production of Ohka aircraft, about two dozen remained intact, which today are scattered throughout museums around the world.

For kamikaze operations, another type of special aircraft was developed - the Nakajima Ki-115 called "Tsurugi", which translated meant sword. This vehicle was developed as a disposable single bomber. The bomber had a length and wingspan of 8.6 m, height - 3.3 m, weight - 1.7 tons, engine power - 1,150 hp, maximum speed - 550 km/h, flight range - 1,200 km, armament - 500 or 800 kg bomb, crew - 1 person. After takeoff, the landing gear was reset and was unsuitable for further use, and the plane, if lucky enough to return, landed on its “belly.”

The prototype of the aircraft was manufactured in January 1945, and its production began in March. The aircraft's manufacturing technology was designed to allow its production even in small factories by unskilled workers. The only materials used were steel and wood. The plane used outdated engines from 1920-1930. The plane had so many design defects that it was extremely dangerous to fly. So the plane had a very rigid chassis suspension, which, moreover, also did not obey the steering wheel very well, which often led to a capsize during takeoff. Incorrect calculations of the load on the wing and tail caused the aircraft to stall during descent and turns. According to the testers, the aircraft was unsuitable for flight.

The military command considered it possible to use the aircraft as a bomber, in which only the engine and crew were reusable. Everything else was proposed to be installed new after the plane landed. By the end of the war, 105 vehicles were produced, but no evidence of its use in combat has been established.

In addition to these two special aircraft for kamikazes, the Japanese industry developed two more types of aircraft, but they did not have time to put them into mass production.

The first Allied defensive tactics against kamikazes appeared only in early 1945. It involved air patrols within a radius of 80 km from the fleet bases or the main location of the ships. This ensured early interception of enemy aircraft detected by radar stations on long-range approaches. This distance also made it possible to destroy enemy aircraft that broke through the patrolled area, preventing them from reaching their ships. In addition, strategic bombers regularly attacked nearby Japanese airfields, including with bombs with a delayed explosion time, in order to actively interfere restoration work on the runways. At the same time, large-caliber anti-aircraft artillery of ships began to use shells with radio fuses against kamikazes, which were on average seven times more effective than conventional ones. On aircraft carriers, to the detriment of bombers, the number of fighters was increased. All ships were additionally equipped with small-caliber anti-aircraft guns, which did not allow kamikaze aircraft to approach at ultra-low altitudes. In addition, anti-aircraft searchlights began to be used on ships even during the day, which blinded pilots at close distances. On aircraft carriers, where the boundaries of the aircraft lifts, which kamikazes loved to aim at, were painted with white paint, we had to paint false ones and wash off the paint from the real ones. As a result, the kamikaze plane simply crashed onto the armored deck, causing virtually no damage to the ship. The measures taken by the allies yielded positive results. And although at the end of the war the kamikazes significantly increased the intensity of their attacks, their effectiveness was significantly lower than those carried out at the end of 1944.

Assessing the actions of kamikazes, it should be noted that their appearance, although presented by Japanese propaganda, is an impulse of the soul of the Japanese, the highest manifestation of patriotism, etc. etc., in fact, was a cover for the militaristic policy of the authorities, an attempt to shift onto the people all the burdens and responsibility for the war they started. When organizing kamikaze detachments, the Japanese command understood perfectly well that they would not be able to stop the allies or turn the tide of the war even with the help of a real “divine wind,” and not just with the help of poorly trained pilots and students. Did the kamikazes themselves understand this? Judging by the memories of the survivors, very few. And even today they don’t understand how much propaganda poisoned them. Was the damage the kamikaze caused to sensitive Allies significant? Not at all! The number of all lost ships was replaced by US industry in less than three months. Personnel losses were within the statistical error in the total losses during the war. The result is myths and legends for the world, and a couple of dozen museums for the Japanese themselves.

Teishintai skydivers

In 1944-1945, the United States achieved absolute air superiority in the Pacific theater of operations. Regular bombing of Japan began. In order to weaken their intensity, the Japanese command decided to create special sabotage groups of army paratroopers to attack American airfields. Since such operations did not provide for the evacuation of units after completing the task, and the possibility of survival for the paratroopers was only hypothetical, they were rightly classified as suicide bombers.

The formation of such groups began at the end of 1944 under the overall command of Lieutenant General Kyoji Tominaga. The special forces unit of paratroopers was called "Giretsu kuteitai" (heroic paratroopers). Combat operations of the Giretsu unit were to be carried out at night, after a bomber raid. The suicide bombers either parachuted or landed their planes at an enemy airfield with the task of blowing up warehouses with fuel and ammunition and destroying as many enemy aircraft as possible. For this, each of the paratroopers had a supply of explosives and grenades. In addition, they had light small arms: Ture-100 machine guns, Ture-99 rifles, Ture-99 light machine guns, Ture-30 bayonets, Ture-89 grenade launchers, and Ture-94 pistols.

The first Operation Giretsu, on the night of December 6–7, 1944, was carried out by 750 paratroopers from the 1st Raid Group. The transfer to the targets was carried out by Ki-57 transport aircraft, which towed gliders (13 people each). The landings were made on enemy airfields in the Philippines, including two at Dulag and two at Tacloban on the island of Leyte. The mission was initially suicidal: according to the order, the paratroopers were to destroy all enemy aircraft possible, and then defend their positions to the last soldier. As a result, it was possible to land approximately 300 saboteurs on one of the intended targets - all other Japanese planes were shot down. After several hours of battle, all the paratroopers capable of resisting were killed, but they could not cause any harm to the American planes or the airfield.

Another operation of the Giretsu units was carried out on the night of May 24-25, 1945, when nine Mitsubishi Ki-21 bombers (each with 14 saboteurs on board) raided Yontan airfield on Okinawa. Four planes returned back due to engine problems, three were shot down, but the remaining five were able to land. During this operation, paratroopers armed with submachine guns, phosphorus grenades and demolition charges detonated 70,000 gallons of aviation fuel, destroyed nine American aircraft and damaged 26 more. The airfield was put out of action for the whole day. According to the Japanese, only one paratrooper survived the operation and reached his own people almost a month later. However, the name of this hero is unknown, which means either he died or did not exist at all. Otherwise, Japanese propaganda would not have missed such a chance to popularize heroism.

On August 9, 1945, the Japanese planned a massive Giretsu attack against B-29 bomber bases on Saipan, Tinian, and Guam. During this attack, 200 transports were supposed to deliver 2,000 saboteurs to the targets. But this operation was never carried out, since the Japanese planes were destroyed while still on the ground. The next operation was planned for August 19-23, but since Japan surrendered, it was not destined to happen.

This is where the list of combat actions of the Giretsu paratroopers ends. But, despite this, the “heroic parachutists” are still remembered in Japan. A memorial was even opened in their honor.

You know, mom, tomorrow I will become the wind,

By sacred will, striking from above.

I ask you for love and faith,

And I ask you to plant cherries near your house,

I'll see, mom, I'll become the wind.

Divine wind

Group photo of six Japanese kamikaze pilots in flight uniforms and personal signatures. Such pictures are usually
done on the eve of the last flight. Presumably 1945.

On October 15, 1944, a fighter plane took off from a small military airfield in the Philippines. He did not return to base. Yes, however, no one expected his return: after all, he was piloted by the first suicide pilot (kamikaze) Rear Admiral Arima, commander of the 26th Air Flotilla.

The young officers tried to dissuade the rear admiral from participating in the deadly flight. But he tore the insignia from his uniform and boarded the plane. Ironically, Arima failed to complete the task. He missed and crashed into the sea waves, missing the target of the American ship. Thus began one of the darkest combat campaigns of World War II in the Pacific.

The kamikaze tactics are extremely simple: fight your way through the anti-aircraft artillery fire of American ships and send your plane into a deadly dive onto the deck of an enemy aircraft carrier. To perform such a task, no special skill was required from the pilot, and there was no shortage of fanatics willing to voluntarily give their lives for the emperor and Japan. In a few days in the Philippines, four squadrons were formed from the remnants of naval aviation, which received symbolic names: “Asahi” (“Rising Sun”), “Yamazakura” (“Wild Cherry Tree” - a poetic symbol of Japan), “Shikishima” (a poetic name of Japan) and “Yamato” (the ancient name of Japan), and the entire formation of suicide pilots is “Kamikaze Tokubetsu Kogekitai” - Special Purpose Strike Force “Kamikaze”.

Japanese kamikaze pilot Corporal Yukio Araki (in the center of the photo with a puppy in his hands) with his comrades from the 72nd Shinbu Squadron at Bansei airfield

Kamikaze pilots received a form to fill out and took five oaths:

The soldier is obliged to fulfill his obligations.

A soldier is obliged to observe the rules of decency in his life.

A soldier must be a highly moral person.

A soldier must live a simple life

Onishi Takijiro. The man called "the father of kamikaze"

Japanese kamikaze pilots before a combat mission from Choshi Airfield east of Tokyo. From left to right: Tetsuya Ueno, Koshiro Hayashi, Naoki Okagami, Takao Oi, Toshio Yoshitake. Of the eighteen pilots who took part in this flight, only Toshio Yoshitake survived: his plane was shot down by an American fighter, made an emergency landing and the pilot was rescued by Japanese soldiers.

The pilots were photographed against the background of a Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighter.

Team Sikishima of the 1st Special Attack Corps prepares to take off from Mabalacat Air Base in the Philippines. People are photographed having a ceremonial farewell toast. The group commander - Lieutenant Yukio Seki - with a cup of water in his hands. Vice Admiral Onishi is in the center of the photo, facing the five members of Team Shikishima. The man offering Seki a cup of water - Asaichi Tamai (October 20, 1944).

Lieutenant Seki Yukio!!

“The sacred wind... The saved homeland... The path of the warrior... American aircraft carriers...” and finally said the name - Yukio Seki.

Yukio Seki stood first in the line. He had a dry face with sunken cheeks. The eyes are tense and half-closed. He greedily caught every word of the general in order to carefully take it with him into the sky. We all knew: nine cars had been prepared, and under each pilot’s seat there was a box with a towel. Before throwing a car onto an American ship from a height, each pilot pulls the fuse out of the box...

Last flight!! In the foreground is Seki Yukio!!
Farewell on the island of Iwo Jima!

The death of the escort aircraft carrier Saint-Lo and Lieutenant Seki Yukio.

The convoy aircraft carrier "St. Lo" is on fire after a kamikaze attack.

April 11, 1945. America's largest warship, the USS Missouri, moments before being struck by a kamikaze Zero. The aircraft struck the ship below the main deck, causing minimal damage and no catastrophic consequences. Photo: U.S. Naval Historical Center

USS Bunker Hill on May 11, 1945 after the Tokkotai attack. A couple of minutes later, the aircraft carrier is attacked by another suicide bomber. One crashed directly into the midst of the aircraft on the aft deck and caused a large fire. The bomb that separated from the aircraft pierced several decks and the outer skin and exploded at the surface of the water, riddling the left side of the ship with shrapnel. The second plane struck the flight deck next to<островом>and exploded inside the hull, causing fires in the gallery deck. An engine detached from the aircraft landed in the premises of the flagship command post (at<Банкер Хилле>the flag was held by the commander of TF-58, Admiral Mitscher) and caused the death of most of the staff officers who were there. The losses in its crew were very heavy: 391 killed and 264 wounded. In addition, almost all the aircraft on the aircraft carrier burned down.

Bunker Hill is on fire

View of the burning aircraft carrier USS Bunker Hill (CV-17) from the battleship USS South Dakota (BB-57).

On May 11, 1945, the USS Bunker Hill was hit by two Japanese kamikaze aircraft fired 30 seconds apart. 372 soldiers were killed and 264 military personnel were injured. Most of the dead were suffocated by combustion products in the interior of the ship.

Kamikaze pilot Kiyoshi Ogawa who attacked the USS Bunker Hill

On April 12, 1945, schoolgirls escort Lieutenant Toshio Anazawa to his death in the Okinawa region, waving cherry branches after him. The pilot's return salute is addressed not so much to the schoolgirls as to his native country and life in general. On board his Hayabusa plane is a 250-kilogram bomb

The light cruiser USS Columbia is attacked by kamikazes in Lingayen Gulf. January 6, 1945.

Kamikaze pilots in a 1944 photo taken in the city of Choshi (east of Tokyo) before a combat mission towards the Philippines (Reuters).

A kamikaze pilot ties a hachimaki.

Before departures, special ceremonies were held, including a ritual cup of sake and hachimaki (a white bandage on the forehead). The symbol of the kamikaze was the chrysanthemum flower. According to legend, young kamikaze pilots, flying on a mission, flew over Mount Kaimon in southwestern Japan. The pilots took a last look at their homeland, and, saluting, said goodbye to it.

The kamikaze attack took place on October 21, 1944. The victim was the heavy cruiser Australia, which was the flagship of the Australian fleet. The aircraft, believed to be an Aichi D3A or Mitsubishi Ki-51, was armed with a 200 kg bomb. The collision occurred in the area of ​​the superstructure of the cruiser Australia. The ship was lucky: the bomb did not explode. The attack killed 30 people, including the ship's commander. 64 people were injured. On October 25, Australia received another hit, after which the ship had to be sent for repairs. By the end of the war, "Australia" survived 6 hits from kamikaze aircraft.

Damaged cruiser Australia

They can't get to the port

That's all, I touch the side,

And reflected in dilated pupils

All my long way to the goal,

The one in sight

There is a reason for me to explode for others.

Damaged destroyer!

Kamikaze strike on the battleship Maryland. That time, on November 25, 1944, the damage was significant - the main battery turret was damaged, 31 sailors were killed

Saratoga is on fire - three kamikaze strikes led to the loss of 36 aircraft of the air wing, the entire bow was destroyed, 123 sailors were killed

The last dive. Target: cruiser Columbia

Debris on the deck of HMS Formidable. Powerful shocks caused the steam line of the power plant to burst, the speed dropped, the radars failed - in the midst of the battle the ship lost its combat capability

Consequences of a kamikaze attack

Former Japanese kamikaze pilot Hichiro Naemura holds his wartime portrait as he stands next to a Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighter jet at the Imperial War Museum in London, where he came to meet British war veterans at a book launch. "Kamikaze: Japanese Gods of Suicide." October 7, 2002 (Reuters)

From a farewell letter to Jr. Lieutenant Shunsuke Tomiyasu: “Today the fate of our country is in my hands. We are the defenders of our country. You may forget me when I'm gone, but please live better than you lived before. Don’t worry and don’t be discouraged.”

Kamikaze monument. This monument, glorifying the heroism of Japanese kamikaze pilots, stands today at the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo.

"I'm flying into the sky. The sky will become my grave. I'm dying for the emperor." Kamikaze pilots wrote such haiku on their hachimaki. "Don't cry. Don't be sorry. I'll come home. Meet me at the Yasukuni Shrine. I'll be there."

At the end of the post, an accompaniment to what was written and seen above, Rosenbaum’s hit, simple music, simple words, like the life and death of a kamikaze!! Banzai to you glorious sons of your Motherland!!

The popularized and highly distorted image of the Japanese kamikaze that has formed in the minds of Europeans has little in common with who they actually were. We imagine the kamikaze as a fanatical and desperate warrior, with a red bandage around his head, a man with an angry look at the controls of an old plane, rushing towards the target shouting “banzai!” But kamikazes were not only suicide bombers in the air; they also operated underwater.

Preserved in a steel capsule - a guided torpedo-kaiten, kamikazes destroyed the enemies of the emperor, sacrificing themselves for the sake of Japan and at sea. They will be discussed in today’s material.

Restored Na-51 (Type C) submarine on display in Guam

Kamikaze schools

Before moving directly to the story about “live torpedoes,” it is worth briefly diving into the history of the formation of schools and kamikaze ideology.

The education system in Japan in the mid-20th century was not much different from dictatorial schemes for the formation of a new ideology. WITH early years children were taught that by dying for the emperor they were doing the right thing and their death would be blessed. As a result of this academic practice, young Japanese grew up with the motto “jusshi reisho” (“sacrifice your life”).

Plus, the state machine did its best to hide any information about the defeats (even the most insignificant) of the Japanese army. The propaganda created a false impression of Japan's capabilities and effectively indoctrinated poorly educated children with the fact that their death was a step towards total Japanese victory in the war.

It is appropriate to recall the Code of Bushido, which played important role in the formation of kamikaze ideals. Since the time of the samurai, Japanese warriors have viewed death literally as a part of life. They got used to the fact of death and were not afraid of its approach.

Educated and experienced pilots flatly refused to join kamikaze squads, citing the fact that they simply had to stay alive in order to train new fighters who were destined to become suicide bombers.

Thus, the more young people sacrificed themselves, the younger were the recruits who took their places. Many were practically teenagers, not even 17 years old, who had the chance to prove their loyalty to the empire and prove themselves as “real men.”

Kamikazes were recruited from poorly educated young men, the second or third boys in families. This selection was due to the fact that the first (that is, eldest) boy in the family usually became the heir to the fortune and was therefore not included in the military sample.

Kamikaze pilots received a form to fill out and took five oaths:

The soldier is obliged to fulfill his obligations.
A soldier is obliged to observe the rules of decency in his life.
The soldier is obliged to highly respect the heroism of the military forces.
A soldier must be a highly moral person.
A soldier is obliged to live a simple life.

So simply and simply, all the “heroism” of the kamikaze came down to five rules.

Despite the pressure of ideology and the imperial cult, not every young Japanese was eager to accept with a pure heart the fate of a suicide bomber ready to die for his country. There were indeed lines of young kids lining up outside kamikaze schools, but that’s only part of the story.

It’s hard to believe, but even today there are still “live kamikazes”. One of them, Kenichiro Onuki, said in his notes that young people could not help but enroll in kamikaze squads, because this could bring disaster to their families. He recalled that when he was “offered” to become a kamikaze, he laughed at the idea, but changed his mind overnight. If he dared not carry out the order, then the most harmless thing that could happen to him would be the brand of “coward and traitor,” and in the worst case, death. Although for the Japanese everything can be exactly the opposite. By chance, his plane did not start during the combat mission, and he survived.

The story of underwater kamikazes is not as funny as Kenichiro's story. There were no survivors left in it.

Midway operation

The idea of ​​​​creating suicide torpedoes was born in the minds of the Japanese military command after a brutal defeat in the Battle of Midway Atoll.

While Europe was unfolding known to the world drama, a completely different war was going on in the Pacific. In 1942, the Imperial Japanese Navy decided to attack Hawaii from the tiny Midway Atoll, the outermost one in the western group of the Hawaiian archipelago. There was a US air base on the atoll, with the destruction of which the Japanese army decided to begin its large-scale offensive.

But the Japanese greatly miscalculated. The Battle of Midway was one of the major failures and the most dramatic episode in that part of the globe. During the attack, the imperial fleet lost four large aircraft carriers and many other ships, but exact data regarding human losses on the part of Japan has not been preserved. However, the Japanese never really considered their soldiers, but even without that, the loss greatly demoralized the military spirit of the fleet.

This defeat marked the beginning of a series of Japanese failures at sea, and the military command was forced to invent alternative ways of waging war. Real patriots should have appeared, brainwashed, with a sparkle in their eyes and not afraid of death. This is how a special experimental unit of underwater kamikazes arose. These suicide bombers were not much different from airplane pilots; their task was identical - by sacrificing themselves, to destroy the enemy.

Main caliber turret of a battleship MUTSU(Mutsu)

From sky to water

Underwater kamikazes used kaiten torpedoes to carry out their mission underwater, which translated means “will of heaven.” In essence, the kaiten was a symbiosis of a torpedo and a small submarine. It ran on pure oxygen and was capable of reaching speeds of up to 40 knots, thanks to which it could hit almost any ship of that time.

The inside of a torpedo is an engine, a powerful charge and a very compact place for a suicide pilot. Moreover, it was so narrow that even by the standards of small Japanese, there was a catastrophic lack of space. On the other hand, what difference does it make when death is inevitable?

1. Japanese kaiten at Camp Dealy, 1945. 2. USS Mississinewa burning after being hit by a kaiten in Ulithi Harbor, November 20, 1944. 3. Kaitens in dry dock, Kure, October 19, 1945. 4, 5. A submarine sunk by American aircraft during the Okinawa campaign.

Directly in front of the kamikaze's face is a periscope, next to it is a speed shift knob, which essentially regulates the supply of oxygen to the engine. At the top of the torpedo there was another lever responsible for the direction of movement. The instrument panel was stuffed with all sorts of devices - fuel and oxygen consumption, pressure gauge, clock, depth gauge, etc. At the pilot's feet there is a valve for admitting sea water into the ballast tank to stabilize the weight of the torpedo. It was not so easy to control a torpedo, and besides, the training of pilots left much to be desired - schools appeared spontaneously, but just as spontaneously they were destroyed by American bombers.

Initially, kaiten were used to attack enemy ships moored in bays. The carrier submarine with kaitens attached to the outside (from four to six pieces) detected enemy ships, built a trajectory (literally turned around relative to the location of the target), and the captain of the submarine gave the last order to the suicide bombers.

The suicide bombers entered the kaiten's cabin through a narrow pipe, battened down the hatches and received orders via radio from the submarine captain. The kamikaze pilots were completely blind, they did not see where they were going, because the periscope could be used for no more than three seconds, since this led to the risk of the torpedo being detected by the enemy.

At first, kaitens terrified the American fleet, but then the imperfect technology began to malfunction. Many suicide bombers did not swim to the target and suffocated from lack of oxygen, after which the torpedo simply sank. A little later, the Japanese improved the torpedo by equipping it with a timer, leaving no chance for either the kamikaze or the enemy. But at the very beginning, kaiten claimed to be humane. The torpedo had an ejection system, but it did not work in the most efficient way, or rather, it did not work at all. At high speed, no kamikaze could eject safely, so this was abandoned in later models.

Very frequent raids of the submarine with kaitens led to the devices rusting and breaking down, since the torpedo body was made of steel no more than six millimeters thick. And if the torpedo sank too deeply to the bottom, then the pressure simply flattened the thin hull, and the kamikaze died without due heroism.

Project Kaiten fails

The first evidence of a kaiten attack recorded by the United States dates back to November 1944. The attack involved three submarines and 12 kaiten torpedoes against a moored American ship off the coast of Ulithi Atoll (Carolina Islands). As a result of the attack, one submarine simply sank, of the eight remaining kaitens, two failed upon launch, two sank, one disappeared (although was later found washed ashore) and one exploded before reaching its target. The remaining kaiten crashed into the tanker Mississinewa and sank it. The Japanese command regarded the operation as successful, which was immediately reported to the emperor.

It was possible to use kaitens more or less successfully only at the very beginning. Thus, following the results of naval battles, official Japanese propaganda announced 32 sunk American ships, including aircraft carriers, battleships, cargo ships and destroyers. But these figures are considered too exaggerated. By the end of the war, the American navy had significantly increased its combat power, and it was increasingly difficult for kaiten pilots to hit targets. Large combat units in the bays were reliably guarded, and it was very difficult to approach them unnoticed even at a depth of six meters; the kaitens also did not have the opportunity to attack ships scattered on the open sea - they simply could not withstand long swims.

The defeat at Midway pushed the Japanese to take desperate steps in blind revenge against the American fleet. Kaiten torpedoes were a crisis solution that imperial army I had high hopes, but they did not materialize. Kaitens had to solve the most important task - to destroy enemy ships, and no matter at what cost, but the further they went, the less effective their use in combat operations seemed to be. A ridiculous attempt to irrationally use human resources led to the complete failure of the project. War is over

In general, we can recall in more detail the history of Japanese ultra-small boats. The Washington Naval Agreement of 1922 was a significant setback in the growing naval arms race that began during the First World War. According to this agreement, the Japanese fleet was significantly inferior to the fleets of England and the United States in the number of aircraft carriers and “capital” ships (battleships, cruisers). Some compensation for this could be permission to build forward bases on the islands Pacific Ocean. And since agreements on the number of submarines could not be reached in Washington, Japanese admirals began to plan the deployment of small coastal boats at remote island bases.

In 1932, Captain Kishimoto Kaneji stated: “If we launch large torpedoes with men on board, and if these torpedoes penetrate deep into enemy waters and, in turn, launch small torpedoes, it will be almost impossible to miss.” This statement determined that in the event of attacks on enemy bases and anchorages, small boats would be delivered to the site of the operation on a specialized carrier ship or submarine. Kishimoto believed that if we installed twelve midget submarines on four ships, then victory in any naval battle would be ensured: “In the decisive battle between the American and Japanese fleets, we will be able to fire almost a hundred torpedoes. By doing this we will immediately reduce the enemy’s forces by half.”

Kishimoto received permission to implement his idea from the head of the naval headquarters, Admiral of the Fleet, Prince Fushimi Hiroyashi. Kishimoto, together with a group of naval officers consisting of four specialists, developed the drawings and, in conditions of the strictest secrecy, two experimental midget submarines were built in 1934. They were officially classified as A-Hyotek (“type A target boats”). To achieve high underwater speed for ultra-small boats, a powerful electric motor was installed on them, and the hull was given a spindle-shaped shape.

Based on the test results, the necessary improvements were made to the project, after which serial construction of boats under the designation Ko-Hyotek was launched. Changes in the design of the submarine turned out to be small - the displacement increased (47 tons instead of 45 tons), the caliber of torpedoes decreased to 450 mm (instead of 533 mm) and The maximum underwater speed of the submarine decreased to 19 knots (from 25).

Japanese Type A boat, Second Lieutenant Sakamaki, at low tide on a reef off the coast of Oahu, December 1941.

Japanese Type C dwarf boats on American-occupied Kiska Island, Aleutian Islands, September 1943.

At the same time, Chiyoda and Chitose air transports, as well as Hei-Gata (C) type submarines, were equipped as carrier ships. There is evidence that the Mizuiho and Nisshin seaplanes were also modernized for the same purpose, each of which could transport 12 midget submarines.

The deck sloped towards the stern and the rails made it possible to quickly, in just 17 minutes, launch all the boats. The motherships of ultra-small submarines were supposed to be used in naval battle along with battleships.

On April 15, 1941, 24 junior naval officers received a secret order to join a special formation. They met on board the seaplane carrier Chiuod. The ship's commander, Harada Kaku, announced to them that the Japanese fleet possessed a top-secret weapon that would revolutionize the world. naval battles, their task is to master it. All the young officers had diving experience, and Lieutenant Iwasa Naoji and Sub-Lieutenant Akied Saburo had been testing the new weapon for over a year.

Submarine crew training was conducted at Base II, located on the small island of Ourazaki 12 miles south of Kure. During the development of submarines, accidents and breakdowns sometimes occurred. The crews also died, and instead of targets, the boats that ensured their delivery were hit...

The first ultra-small boats had too short a cruising range, which was determined by the capacity of the batteries, and their recharging was possible only on the carrier ship. For the same reason, it was impossible to use boats from unequipped parking lots on the islands. To eliminate this drawback, in the fall of 1942, the design of an improved version of Type B submarines began, which took into account the operational experience of Type A.

At the beginning of 1943, the last five Type A submarines (the total order for them was 51 units) were converted to Type B.

Japanese landing ship Type 101 (S.B. No. 101 Type) in Kure Harbor after the Japanese surrender. 1945

The first of the improved submarines to be tested was the Na-53, and after their completion, a series of specially designed modernized type C submarines were built. The main difference from the type A submarines was the installation of a diesel generator - with its help, complete recharging battery was carried out in 18 hours.

They were used as carrier ships for type B and C boats. landing ships type T-1.

In December 1943, based on the Type C submarine, the design of a larger Type D (or Koryu) submarine began. The main differences from Type C submarines were the installation of a more powerful diesel generator - with it, the battery charging process decreased to eight hours, seaworthiness increased and living conditions for the crew increased to five people improved. In addition, the hull has become noticeably stronger, which increases the diving depth to 100 m.

In the spring of 1945, even before the completion of testing of the lead ship, serial construction of submarines began. In accordance with the plans of the naval command, by September 1945 it was planned to deliver 570 units to the fleet, with a subsequent construction rate of -180 units per month. To speed up the work, a sectional method was used (the boat was assembled from five sections), which reduced the construction period to 2 months. However, despite the involvement of a large number of shipyards in the Koryu construction program, the pace of delivery of these submarines to the fleet could not be maintained, and by August 1945 there were only 115 boats in service, and another 496 were at various stages of construction.

On the basis of the midget submarine (SMPL) Koryu, in 1944, a project was developed for the underwater ultra-small minelayer M-Kanamono (literal translation - “Metal product Type M”), intended for laying mine cans at enemy bases. Instead of torpedo armament, it carried a mine tube containing four bottom mines. Only one such submarine was built.

At the end of the war, in addition to the family of dwarf submarines, descending from the A-class submarines (types A, B, C and D), the Japanese fleet was also replenished with smaller Kairyu-class submarines (their characteristic feature was fixed side rudders (fins) in the middle part of the hull The design armament consisted of two torpedoes, but their shortage led to the appearance of a boat version with a 600-kg demolition charge instead of torpedo tubes, which actually turned them into human torpedoes.

Serial construction of Kairyu class boats began in February 1945. To speed up the work, it was carried out using a sectional method (the submarine was divided into three sections). The plans of the naval leadership provided for the delivery of 760 ultra-small boats of this type to the fleet by September 1945, but by August only 213 units were delivered, and another 207 were under construction.

Information about the fate of Japanese midget submarines is fragmentary and often contradictory. It is known that during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, 5 Type A midget boats were lost.

Young submarine officers persistently sought the inclusion of midget submarines in the operation against Pearl Harbor. And finally, in October, the command allowed them to be turned on, with the condition that the drivers return after the attack. Work was in full swing. I-22 was the first to arrive in Kure to make the necessary modifications to the design.

A few days later, three more arrived. The fourth submarine, I-24, had just been built in Sasebo and immediately began its sea trials.

The following commanders arrived on the submarines: Lieutenant Iwasa Naoji (I-22), Sub-Lieutenant Yokoyama Masaharu (I-16), Sub-Lieutenant Haruno Shigemi (I-18), Second Lieutenant Hiroo Akira (1-20) and Second Lieutenant Sakamaki Katsuo (I- 24). The second crew members were non-commissioned officers: Sasaki Naoharu (I-22), Ueda Teji (I-16), Yokoyama Harunari (I-18), Katayama Yoshio (I-20), Inagaki Kyoji (I-24). A characteristic detail: the crews were formed only from unmarried submariners, from large families and older sons. Sakamaki Katsuo, for example, was the second of eight sons.

The formation of midget submarines was called Tokubetsu Kogekitai, or Tokko for short. This phrase can be translated as “Special Attack Force”, or “Special Naval Strike Force”.

Early on the morning of 18 November, the submarines left Kure, stopping briefly at Ourazaki to pick up small boats. In the evening they headed for Pearl Harbor. The boats sailed, staying 20 miles apart. The flagship - I-22 - was located in the center. In the daytime, the boats went underwater, fearing detection, and surfaced only at night. According to the plan, they were supposed to arrive at the assembly point, located 100 miles south of Pearl Harbor, at night, after sunset, two days before the attack. Having once again checked the boats under cover of darkness, the carrier submarines were then to leave for Pearl Harbor, take up a position 5 - 10 miles from the entrance to the harbor and disperse in an arc. Three hours before dawn, the leftmost submarine I-16 is the first to launch its midget boat. Then, sequentially, with an interval of 30 minutes, ultra-small boats launch from carriers I-24, I-22, I-18. And finally, the dwarf boat from the last boat I-20 was supposed to pass through the harbor gate half an hour before dawn. In the harbor, all boats were ordered to lie on the bottom, after which they would join the air attack and inflict maximum destruction on the enemy with their ten torpedoes.

At 3:00 the midget boats were launched, and the carrier boats began diving. The “little one” of Lieutenant Sakamaki was unlucky. The gyrocompass failed and the problem could not be eliminated. It was already 5:30, and she was not yet ready to descend, two hours late from the scheduled time. Dawn was approaching when Sakamaki and Inagaki squeezed through the hatch of their boat.

The entrance to Pearl Harbor Bay was blocked by two rows of anti-submarine nets. American minesweepers carried out control trawling of the waters surrounding the base every morning. It was not difficult to follow them into the bay. However, the Japanese plans were disrupted from the very beginning. At 3:42, the minesweeper Condor discovered the submarine's periscope in front of the entrance to the bay. The old destroyer Ward, built in 1918, was included in her search. At about 5:00 the Americans opened a passage in the nets to allow the minesweepers, as well as vehicles, a tug and a barge, to pass. Apparently, two midget submarines managed to sneak into the harbor, and the third was spotted from the Ward and from the Catalina flying boat circling over the sea.

The boat's wheelhouse and part of the cigar-shaped hull rose above the surface of the water. She seemed to notice no one as she moved into the harbor at 8 knots. "Ward" opened direct fire from a distance of 50 meters and hit the base of the wheelhouse with the second shot. The boat shuddered, but continued to move with a ragged hole in the wheelhouse. The explosions of four depth charges tore the boat in half. Catalina also made its contribution, also dropping several bombs. Presumably, the boat of Lieutenant Iwas from the carrier boat I-22 was hit.

Second Lieutenant Sakamaki and Non-Commissioned Officer Inagaki desperately tried to correct the trim of their submarine for more than an hour. With difficulty they managed to do this, and they reached the entrance to the bay. The gyrocompass was still faulty. Sakamaki was forced to raise the periscope, and the boat was spotted from the destroyer Helm. Having sunk and moving away from him, the boat hit a reef and stuck out of the water. The destroyer opened fire and rushed to the ram. However, he slipped past, while the boat managed to free itself from the reef and leave, but as a result of hitting the reef, one of the torpedo tubes jammed, and water began to flow into the hull. Because of chemical reaction water containing sulfuric acid from the batteries began to release a suffocating gas. Somewhere at 14:00 the submarine hit the reef again. The second torpedo tube failed.

On the morning of December 8, a helpless, uncontrollable boat found itself close to the shore. Sakamaki started the engine, but the boat hit the reef again! This time she was stuck firmly. Sakamaki decided to blow up the boat and swim to land himself. Having inserted detonators into the demolition charges, he lit the fuse. Sakamaki and Inagaki rushed into the sea. It was 6 o'clock. 40 minutes... Inagaki, who jumped into the water after commander, drowned. The exhausted Sakamaki was captured on the shore by five patrolmen of the 298th American Infantry Division...

Another super small one Submarine, most likely, was sunk at 10:00 by the cruiser Saint Louis. Heading towards the exit from the bay, he came under torpedo attack. Having dodged two torpedoes, the cruiser discovered a boat behind the outside of the net fence and fired at it. As for the fifth boat, according to modern data, it managed to get into the harbor, where it took part in a torpedo attack on a battleship, and then sank along with the crew (possibly sunk by them).

Among other operations of midget submarines, it should be mentioned that three more boats of this type were lost on May 30, 1942 in the Diego Suarez area, and four in Sydney Harbor on May 31, 1942.

During the battles near the Solomon Islands in 1942, eight Type A submarines (including Na-8, Na-22 and Na-38) were lost. In the area of ​​the Aleutian Islands in 1942 - 1943, three more Type A boats were lost. In 1944 - 1945, during the defense of the Philippines and the island of Okinawa, eight Type C boats were lost.

sources

http://www.furfur.me/furfur/all/culture/166467-kayten

http://modelist-konstruktor.com/morskaya_kollekcziya/yaponskie-sverxmalye

http://www.simvolika.org/mars_128.htm

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