Twice the Mongol Khan Kublai tried to conquer Japan, and both times his fleets were scattered and destroyed by strong typhoons. It is no wonder that the Japanese themselves saw in this a higher craft and called typhoons kamikaze, "divine wind." During World War II, the same nickname was given to desperate daredevils who were ready to lay down their lives for the good of the country.
Suicide attacks have become one of the most terrifying tactics in the Pacific theater of war. The Americans were faced with a culture they simply could not understand: they saw the Japanese as insane, brainwashed fanatics. In fact, everything was much more complicated - here the samurai culture, the readiness for self-sacrifice and the desire to protect their native country were mixed.
Special means
Kamikaze received a special plane, which was specially lightened and equipped with rocket boosters. The Yokosuka MXY7 Ohka was actually a six-meter missile with wings and a pilot. Rocket boosters were required in order to bypass the enemy's defensive fire. Interestingly, the cockpit had a place for wakizashi - in case the pilot survives the collision.
Father kamikaze
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The naval battle in Leyte Gulf was the largest battle of our time. With a base on the small island of Suluan, the Americans set an almost impossible task for a small Japanese aircraft. Under these conditions, the commander of the first air fleet, Vice Admiral Takijiro Onishi, decided to form a special strike squad of kamikaze pilots. At a briefing on October 19, Onishi said: "I do not think there is any other way to accomplish the task before us, other than to unleash a Zero armed with a 250 kg bomb on an American aircraft carrier." He became known as the "father of the kamikaze".
Farewell ceremony
The suicide bombers considered their mission a special honor. Actually, for the Japanese, brought up in the spirit of the ancient samurai, it was so. Before departures, the pilots underwent a special ceremony, drank a ritual cup of sake and tied a hachimaki, a white suicide bandage, on their foreheads. Young kamikazes flew over Mount Kaimon and only after saying goodbye to their homeland set off on their last mission.
Kaiten
Few people know that kamikaze served not only in aviation. At the end of the war, Japan no longer had the resources to build a strong fleet, and manned torpedoes - kaiten - were adopted. The underwater kamikaze independently directed its terrible projectile on board the enemy ship and died with it.
Fukurui
When there was not enough metal, even for torpedoes, the Japanese began to train suicide combat swimmers. Detachments "fukurui" ("dragons of happiness") were located on the periphery of their own military ports, for defense. Fukurui fighters could hide on flooded ships with special locks and got out when they saw enemy landing craft. Unlike the famous Italian combat swimmers, the fukurui did not stick a mine to the side of an enemy ship, but simply beat it to the metal before detonation.
Lucky
Not all kamikazes died. The equipment was so small that the command ordered to return to the base at the slightest suspicion of a malfunction. Non-commissioned officer Yamamura survived as many as three flights. The first time he was shot down together with a carrier bomber - then fishermen found Yamamura in the sea. The second time the bomber was forced to return to the base due to poor visibility. In the third, already red with anger, Yamamura simply could not detach from the carrier and returned with him to the base. So the lucky one survived the whole war.
Terrible losses
During the entire war, the Japanese prepared 2,525 kamikaze. Another 1,387 people came from the army - they became kaiten pilots and fukurui divers. In suicidal attacks, these fearless descendants of the kamikaze managed to destroy 81 ships and damage 195 ships (remember only the terrible massacre of Pearl Harbor). The psychological pressure exerted on the American troops was much more important: the sailors went AWOL in droves and even tried to escape from aircraft carriers right on the high seas.