History of kamikaze. Kamikaze - what is it? The meaning of the word "kamikaze"

The word kamikaze has firmly entered our vocabulary. We, most often, call them “reckless” people who do not value their lives, who unreasonably risk death, in other words, suicides. Thus, we distort it true value. At the same time, many people know that it was called Japanese suicide pilots attacking enemy ships. Few initiates even know the history of this movement among Japanese pilots. But few people, even from the historians of the Second World War, realize that in Japan there were much more suicide bombers like kamikazes. And they acted not only in the air, but also on land, on water, and under water. And they were not called kamikaze 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 detachments, which were called teixintai. In the army, among such detachments, the medieval philosophical code of the samurai, Bushido, was widespread, 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. By virtue of this belief system, the sacrifice of 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 pen" is a phrase that was a hit among the ranks of the Japanese military. However, the ruling elite of Japan was well aware that such high ideals were beyond the strength of the spirit of all warriors. Therefore, purely material incentives were added to the ideology. In addition, the dead suicide bombers were ranked among the patron saints of Japan, became national heroes, their relatives turned into very respected people who used certain state benefits. And although there was no shortage of those wishing to get into teixintai, the selection into the detachments was carried out with fairly stringent requirements, not without common sense. After 1943, the teixintai army units became suicide strike units. Them general rule becomes self-sacrifice in order to destroy the superior forces of the enemy.

There are five categories of teixintai. The first - kamikaze - suicide pilots in naval and combined arms aviation, and the first were intended to destroy ships, and the second - heavy bombers, columns of tanks or trucks, railways, bridges and other important objects. The second - Teixintai paratroopers - were used to destroy aircraft, ammunition and fuel at enemy airfields using bombs and flamethrowers. The third - underwater teishintai - using mini-submarines and man-torpedoes, were used to destroy enemy ships. They also included demolition divers (fukuryu, "dragons of luck"). The fourth - surface teishintai - operating on high-speed exploding boats to destroy enemy ships. And the fifth, most common and numerous category - ground teishintai - suicide infantrymen who, with anti-tank mines on poles or special devices, or simply with explosives in backpacks and the like, attacked enemy tanks and armored vehicles. Each of these categories is detailed below.

Kamikaze - teishintai in the air

After losing the Battle of Midway on June 4, 1942, Japan began to lose the initiative in the Pacific War. During 1943-1944, the allied forces, reinforced by the industrial might of the United States, moved step by step towards the Japanese islands. By this time, Japanese aircraft, especially fighters, were seriously inferior in technical parameters new American models. Due to heavy combat losses, there was a shortage of experienced pilots in Japan. In addition, the shortage of spare parts and fuel made it difficult for Japan to hold any major aviation operation into a problem. After the US captured the island of Saipan in July 1944, the allies had the opportunity to bomb the territory of Japan. Their further advance to the Philippines threatened to leave Japan without sources of oil in South-East Asia. To counter this, the commander of the 1st Air Fleet, Vice Admiral Takijiro Onishi, decided to form a special strike squad of suicide pilots. At a briefing on October 19, Onishi stated: "I don't think there is any other way to accomplish the task before us, except to bring down a Zero armed with a 250-kilogram bomb on an American aircraft carrier." So Onishi became known as the "father of the kamikaze".

The name kamikaze comes from the "divine wind", which was called the typhoon, which twice, in 1274 and 1281, saved Japan from the invasion of the Mongol fleet of Khan Kublai. In response 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.

Kamikaze were part of the teishintai movement in aviation. And although they were officially called the "Divine Wind Special Assault Squad", with light hand American translators began to call them simply kamikaze, in fact, like all other categories Japanese suicide bombers. After the war, the Japanese allowed the reading of hieroglyphs in the interpretation of "suicide pilot".

The first detachments of kamikaze pilots were formed on October 20, 1944 on the basis of naval aviation units, in which the pilots were ready to sacrifice their lives for the sake of their country. Naval aviation initially trained 2,525 kamikaze pilots, and another 1,387 were recruited in the army. The bulk of the kamikaze 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 on the impulses of patriotism and the desire to glorify their family. An important motivation for volunteering young people 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 who entered the kamikaze detachments received an officer's rank, and those who already had it received an extraordinary rank. Distinctive features in the form of kamikaze pilots there was a white scarf and a red sun flag. And the chrysanthemum flower was the symbol of the kamikaze. Usually it was minted on the brass buttons of the uniform, which were then a valuable trophy for American sailors.

Over time, a ritual of honoring the kamikaze developed while they were alive. On the eve of departure on a mission, they were treated to a festive dinner, and just before the departure, the commander poured a ceremonial glass of sake. They were given a headband - hachimaki - with the symbols of the flag of Japan or a white headband with inspiring hieroglyphs written. Hachimaki symbolized the inflexibility of intentions and supported the fighting spirit. It also has a direct function - to protect the face from sweat. Usually hachimaki had a size of 50 mm wide and 1200 mm long.

Often the kamikaze was 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 around the head and was considered the strongest amulet, as well as allowing the soul to be reborn after death. Sometimes at the send-offs on the last flight, in addition to colleagues, there were also civilians. For example, high school girls from schools or girls from teixintai squads. The farewell was solemn, something in the form of a rally. Thanksgiving or glorifying verses were read to them.

The basis of the training of novice pilots who entered the kamikaze detachments was preparation for readiness to die. For this, a variety of methods were used, from brainwashing with patriotism and the postulates of religion, to physical torture in training. Training in flight skills was reduced to simple elementary skills: takeoff and landing, flying in formation, imitation of an attack. The kamikaze pilot's manual detailed how the pilot should attack. It was pointed out 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 lift elevators or an “island” (ship control superstructure above the deck). For horizontal attacks, the pilot had to "aim at the middle of the ship, slightly higher than the waterline", or "aim at 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 wasted lightly. However, there are cases that 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 bring 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 were not always successful.

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

Causes doubt and enthusiasm even those kamikazes that agreed to carry out suicidal attacks. So, on November 11, 1944, one of American destroyers pulled a pilot out of the water, who could not hit the 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 hitting the water suggests a life-safe diving angle, which in turn raises the question of whether his miss was accidental. It is also interesting that in postwar period, the Japanese publicized doubts about the voluntariness of the formation of kamikaze detachments, in their training system, the authorities severely pursued.

The first kamikaze attack was carried out on October 21, 1944 against the flagship of the Australian Navy, the heavy cruiser Australia. Armed with a 200-kilogram bomb, the pilot of which remained unknown, crashed into the superstructures of the "Australia", scattering debris and fuel along large area, however, the cruiser was lucky, and the bomb did not explode. However, 30 people died, including the commander of the ship. 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 in total, by the end of the war, "Australia" survived 6 hits by kamikaze aircraft).

On October 25, 1944, a kamikaze detachment led by Yukio Seki attacked an American carrier formation in the east of Leyte Gulf. The first Zero hit the stern of the USS Senty, killing 16 people in the explosion and starting a fire. A few minutes later, the aircraft carrier "Swany" was also put out of action. The fires that arose from a kamikaze hit on the deck of the escort aircraft carrier Saint Lo soon caused an arsenal detonation, 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 aircraft damaged the Franklin aircraft carriers (33 aircraft were destroyed on board the ship, 56 sailors died) and Bello Wood (92 killed, 44 wounded). On November 1, the destroyer Abner Reed was sunk, and 2 more destroyers were put out of action. On November 5, the aircraft carrier Lexington was damaged (41 people were killed, 126 were injured). On November 25, 4 more aircraft carriers were damaged. On November 26, kamikazes attacked transports and cover 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, several dozen ships were damaged. On January 3, 1945, a kamikaze hit on the aircraft carrier Ommani Bay caused a fire, and 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 resurrected California after Pearl Harbor were damaged. In total, as a result of kamikaze actions in the battle for 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 on the massive use of kamikaze unfolded during the battle for Iwo Jima. On February 21, as a result of fires caused by a kamikaze hit, the Bismarck Sea aircraft carrier burned down and sank (318 people died), the Ticonderoga aircraft carrier was also damaged, its losses amounted to 140 people. Particularly vulnerable to kamikaze were American strike aircraft carriers, which, unlike their British counterparts, did not have flight deck armor, as well as Casablanca-class escort aircraft carriers.

The maximum intensity of the kamikaze attack was reached during the Battle of Okinawa - in total, 1,465 aircraft participated in the attacks. On April 3, the USS Wake Island was put out of action. On April 6, along with the 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 were killed and 82 people were injured. Until April 16, another destroyer was sunk, 3 aircraft carriers, a battleship and 9 destroyers were put out of action. On May 4, the Sangamon aircraft carrier with 21 aircraft on board burned down completely. On May 11, hit by two kamikazes 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 for Okinawa, the American fleet had lost 26 ships, 225 were damaged, including 27 aircraft carriers. Nevertheless, the measures taken by the Americans to protect against kamikazes gave a result - 90% of Japanese aircraft were shot down in the air.

The strengthened anti-aircraft defense of the Allies by the spring made daytime kamikaze raids almost useless, and the Japanese command attempted night attacks. However, after several sorties by kamikaze detachments, they were forced to abandon this practice, since not a single aircraft could find a target and almost all of them died astray.

According to Japanese statements, 81 ships were sunk and 195 damaged as a result of kamikaze attacks. According to American data, the losses amounted to 34 sunk and 288 damaged ships. There are other numbers as well. Obviously, we will not know the exact data, because everyone thought differently. For example, the same cruiser "Australia" was damaged 6 times. Count it as one or six units? During the operation of the kamikaze detachments, 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 pilots killed is explained by the death of bombers and carriers of MXY7 projectiles, where there were numerous crews. Whether the planes bombed at the airfields and the dead pilots are among the losses is not known, although their number is rather large. It is also unknown whether there are suicides in the statistics of losses of pilots who were not members of kamikaze detachments, but who rammed or attacked ships on their own initiative or out of desperation. 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 injured, which accounted for 68% of combat injuries in the fleet. The debate about these figures is also still ongoing. Some consider only losses at sea, others include airfields, others add non-surviving wounded. In addition, the initial psychological effect produced by American sailors. And although the Americans downplay it, and the Japanese exaggerate it, several thousand sailors were nevertheless written off to the shore. Over time, the fear on the ships passed.

It should be noted that out of the 30% planned by the Japanese command, only 9% of the 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 kamikaze.

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

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

The aircraft was a rocket-powered manned bomb carried to the attack site by Mitsubishi G4M, Yokosuka P1Y or Heavy Nakajima G8N aircraft. In the area where the target was located - in direct line of sight of the enemy ship - "Ohka" was disconnected from the carrier and glided until the pilot stabilized it and aimed at the target, and after turning on the rocket boosters, which worked for 8-10 seconds, approached it until a collision caused a detonation of the charge . The aircraft had a length of 6-6.8 m, height - 1.6 m, wingspan - 4.2-5.1 m, wing area - 4-6 m², curb weight - 1.4-2.1 tons; charge mass - 600-1200 kg, top 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 enable its production at enterprises that do not have qualified personnel. The aircraft consisted of a wooden glider with an explosive charge in the nose, a single-seat cockpit in the middle and a rocket engine in the rear of the hull. It did not have takeoff engines and landing gear. As an engine, an assembly of three solid-propellant rocket boosters placed in the tail section of the aircraft was used. In total, 854 vehicles of six modifications were produced, differing in engines, wing shape, mass of explosives and the ability to launch from caves or submarines.

Reset "Ohka" from the aircraft carrier.

The Ohka aircraft were ready for combat operations as early as October 1944. But fate itself did not let them on the battlefield. Either an aircraft carrier carrying 50 aircraft was sunk, then the enemy bombed the base airfield, then all carriers were destroyed, still on the distant approach to the combat area. And only on April 1, 1945, six projectiles attacked US ships near Okinawa. The battleship West Virginia was damaged, although it is still not known for certain whether it was the Ohka or two conventional 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 - six, on April 18 - four. None hit the target.

General measures taken against kamikaze aircraft gave positive effect and against aircraft projectiles. Further, the losses of the American fleet, despite the increase in the intensity of kamikaze raids, became less and less. 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 decommissioned without repair. On May 25, eleven Ohkas, and on June 22, six, failed to hit the target.

Thus, the effectiveness of the use of 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 are now scattered around the museums of the world.

For kamikaze actions, another type of special aircraft was developed - Nakajima Ki-115 called "Tsurugi", which means sword. This machine was developed as a one-time 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 - 1200 km, armament - a bomb of 500 or 800 kg, crew - 1 person. After takeoff, the landing gear was dropped and was unsuitable for further use, and the plane, if it was lucky to return, landed on its "belly".

The prototype of the aircraft was made in January 1945, and its production began in March. The manufacturing technology of the aircraft was designed for the possibility of its production even at small factories by unskilled workers. Of the materials used only steel and wood. The aircraft used obsolete engines from the 1920s-1930s. The plane had so many design defects that it was extremely dangerous to fly it. So the plane had a very rigid chassis suspension, which, moreover, also poorly obeyed the rudder, which often led to a rollover 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 flights.

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 the facts of its use in hostilities have not been established.

In addition to these two special aircraft for kamikaze, 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 did not appear until early 1945. She assumed patrols in the air within a radius of 80 km from the bases of the fleet or the main location of the ships. This ensured the early interception of enemy aircraft detected by radar stations on long-range approaches. Such a distance also made it possible to destroy enemy aircraft that broke through the patrolled zone, preventing them from reaching their ships. In addition, strategic bombers regularly attacked nearby Japanese airfields, including bombs with a delayed explosion time, in order to actively interfere with the restoration work on the runways. At the same time, large-caliber anti-aircraft artillery of ships began to use radio-fuzed shells against kamikaze, 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 range. On aircraft carriers, where the boundaries of the aircraft lifts, which were so fond of aiming kamikazes, were painted with white paint, they had to draw false ones, and wash off the paint from the real ones. As a result, the kamikaze plane simply crashed on the armored deck, causing little or no harm to the ship. The measures taken by the allies gave their positive results. And although at the end of the war the kamikaze 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 kamikaze, it should be noted that their appearance, although served by Japanese propaganda, as an impulse of the soul of the Japanese, supreme manifestation patriotism, etc. etc., in fact, was a cover for the militaristic policy of power, an attempt to shift all the hardships and responsibility for the war unleashed by them onto the people. When organizing kamikaze detachments, the Japanese command was well aware 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 that with the help of poorly trained pilots and students Did the kamikaze themselves understand this? Judging by the memories of the survivors - very few. And even today they do not understand how much they were poisoned by propaganda. Was the damage inflicted by the kamikaze on the allies sensitive, significant? By no means! The number of all lost ships was made up by US industry in less than three months. Personnel losses were within the statistical error in total losses for the war. As a result - myths and legends to the world, and to the Japanese themselves a couple of dozen museums.

Teixintai 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 reduce their intensity, the Japanese command decided to create special sabotage groups from army paratroopers to attack American airfields. Since such operations did not provide for the evacuation of units after the task was completed, and the possibility of surviving 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 the paratroopers was named "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 on their planes at an enemy airfield with the task of blowing up fuel and ammunition depots and destroying as many enemy planes as possible. To do this, each of the paratroopers had a supply of explosives and grenades. In addition, they had an easy small arms: Toure-100 assault rifles, Toure-99 rifles, Toure-99 light machine guns, Toure-30 bayonets, Toure-89 grenade launchers, and Toure-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 were towed by gliders (13 people each). 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 the enemy aircraft that they could, and then defend their positions to the last soldier. As a result, approximately 300 saboteurs were landed on one of the intended targets - all other Japanese aircraft were shot down. After several hours of fighting, all the paratroopers capable of resisting were killed, but they could not cause any harm to American aircraft and 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 the Yontan airfield in Okinawa. Four planes returned 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 explosive charges, blew up 70,000 gallons of aviation fuel, destroyed nine American aircraft and damaged 26 more. The airfield was put out of action for a whole day. According to the Japanese, only one paratrooper survived the operation and reached his own almost a month later. However, the name of this hero is unknown, from where it follows either he died, or he did not exist at all. Otherwise, Japanese propaganda would not miss 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 capitulated, it was not destined to happen.

This is where the list of military operations of the Giretsu paratroopers ends. But, despite this, the "heroic paratroopers" in Japan are still remembered. A memorial was even erected in their honor.

America? No more your America..

Japanese military customs contributed to the obscurity in which Japanese fighter aces arrived. And not only for their opponents, but also for their own people, which they defended. For the Japanese military caste of that time, the idea of publishing military victories was simply unthinkable, and any recognition of aces was also unthinkable. fighter aviation generally. Only in March 1945, when the final defeat of Japan became inevitable, did military propaganda allow the names of two fighter pilots, Shioki Sugita and Saburo Sakai, to be mentioned in an official report. Japanese military traditions only recognized dead heroes. For this reason, in Japanese aviation it was not customary to mark air victories on aircraft, although there were exceptions. The indestructible caste system in the army also forced outstanding aces pilots to fight almost the entire war in the rank of sergeants. When after 60 air victories and eleven years of service as a combat pilot, Saburō Sakai became an officer in the Imperial Japanese Navy, setting a record for rapid promotion.

The Japanese tried their combat wings in the skies over China long before the start of World War II. Although they rarely encountered any serious resistance there, they nonetheless gained invaluable experience in real combat shooting at air targets, and the self-confidence that arose as a result of the superiority of Japanese aviation became exclusively important part combat training.
The pilots who swept everything over Pearl Harbor sowed death over the Philippines and Far East, were outstanding combat pilots. They excelled both in the art of aerobatics and in aerial shooting, which brought them many victories. Especially the pilots of naval aviation went through such a harsh and strict school, like nowhere else in the world. For example, for the development of vision, a construction in the form of a box with telescopic windows directed to the sky was used. Novice pilots spent long hours inside such a box, peering into the sky. Their eyesight became so sharp that they could see the stars during the day.
The tactics used by the Americans in the early days of the war played into the hands of the Japanese pilots who were at the controls of their Zeros. At that time, the Zero fighter had no equal in close air "dog dumps", 20-mm guns, maneuverability and low weight of the Zero aircraft became an unpleasant surprise for all allied aviation pilots who happened to meet them in dogfights start of the war. Until 1942, in the hands of well-trained Japanese pilots, the Zero was at the zenith of its glory, fighting Wildcats, Aircobras, and Tomahawks.
American carrier-based pilots were able to move on to more decisive actions only after they received the F-6F Hellket fighters, which were the best in their flight data, and with the advent of the F-4U Corsair, P-38 Lightning, P-47 Thunderbolt "and the P-51 Mustang, Japan's air power gradually began to fade away.
The best of all Japanese fighter pilots, in terms of the number of victories won, was Hiroshi Nishizawa, who fought in the Zero fighter throughout the war. Japanese pilots called Nishizawa "The Devil" among themselves, since no other nickname could so well convey the manner of his flying and destroying the enemy. With a height of 173 cm, very tall for a Japanese, with a deathly pale face, he was withdrawn, haughty and secretive person who defiantly avoided the company of his comrades.
In the air, Nishizawa made his Zero do things that no one else could repeat. Japanese pilot. Some of his willpower seemed to burst out and connect with the plane. In his hands, the limits of the machine's design meant absolutely nothing. He could surprise and delight even hardened Zero pilots with the energy of his flight.
One of a select few Japanese aces flying with the Lae Air Wing in New Guinea in 1942, Nishizawa was prone to bouts of dengue fever and was often ill with dysentery. But when he jumped into the cockpit of his plane, he threw off all his ailments and infirmities in one fell swoop like a cloak, immediately acquiring his legendary vision and the art of flying instead of an almost constant painful condition.
Nishizawa was credited with 103 air victories, according to other sources 84, but even the second figure may surprise anyone who is accustomed to the much lower results of American and English aces. However, Nishizawa took off with the firm intention of winning the war, and was such a pilot and shooter that he shot down the enemy almost every time he went into battle. None of those who fought with him doubted that Nishizawa shot down more than a hundred enemy aircraft. He was also the only World War II pilot to shoot down over 90 American aircraft.
On October 16, 1944, Nishizawa piloted an unarmed twin-engine transport aircraft with pilots on board to receive new aircraft at Clark Field in the Philippines. The heavy, clumsy machine was intercepted by the US Navy's Hellcats, and even Nishizawa's invincible skill and experience proved useless. After several fighter approaches, the transport aircraft, engulfed in flames, crashed down, taking the lives of the Devil and other pilots with it. It should be noted that despising death, the Japanese pilots did not take a parachute with them, but only a pistol or a samurai sword. Only when the loss of pilots became catastrophic did the command oblige the pilots to take parachutes with them.

The title of the second Japanese ace is the pilot of the First Class of Naval Aviation Shioki Sugita, who has 80 air victories. Sugita fought throughout the war until its recent months when American fighters began to fly already over the islands of Japan itself. At this time, he flew on a Sinden aircraft, which, in the hands of an experienced pilot, was not inferior to any Allied fighter, on April 17, 1945, Sugita was attacked during takeoff from the Kanoya air base, and his Sinden flashed like lightning crashed into the ground, becoming a funeral the fire of the second ace of Japan.
When human courage and endurance are remembered in connection with air battles, one cannot ignore the career of Lieutenant Saburo Sakai, the best of the Japanese aces who survived the war, who had 64 downed aircraft. Sakai began fighting back in China and ended the war after the surrender of Japan. One of his first victories in World War II was the destruction of a B-17 air hero USA - Colin Kelly.
The history of his military life is vividly described in autobiographical book"Samurai", written by Sakai in collaboration with journalist Fred Saido and American historian Martin Caidin. The aviation world knows the names of the legless ace Bader, the Russian pilot Maresyev, who lost his feet, and Sakai cannot be forgotten. The courageous Japanese flew at the final stage of the war, having only one eye! Similar examples are very difficult to find, since vision is a vital element for a fighter pilot.
After one brutal fight with American planes over Guadalcanal, Sakai returned to Rabul almost blind, partially paralyzed, in a damaged aircraft. This flight is one of outstanding examples struggle for life. The pilot recovered from his wounds and, despite the loss of his right eye, returned to service, again engaging in fierce battles with the enemy.
It is hard to believe that this one-eyed pilot, on the very eve of Japan's surrender, took off his Zero at night and shot down a B-29 Superfortress bomber. In his memoirs, he later admitted that he survived the war only because of the poor aerial shooting of many American pilots, who often simply missed him.
Another Japanese fighter pilot, Lieutenant Naoshi Kanno, became famous for his ability to intercept B-17 bombers, which instilled fear in many Japanese pilots with their size, structural strength and power of defensive fire. Kanno's personal score of 52 victories included 12 Flying Fortresses. The tactic he used against the B-17 consisted of a forward hemisphere dive attack followed by a roll, and was first tried early in the war in the South Pacific.
Kanno was killed during the final part of the defense of the Japanese islands. At the same time, the Germans credit Major Julius Meinberg (53 victories), who served in squadrons JG-53 and JG-2, with the invention and first use of the frontal attack of B-17 bombers.

Japanese fighter pilots boast at least one exception to " Japanese character"in his ranks. Lieutenant Tamei Akamatsu, who served in the Japanese Imperial Navy, was a very peculiar person. He was something of a "white crow" for the entire fleet and a source of constant irritation and anxiety for the command. For his comrades in arms, he was a flying a mystery, and to the girls of Japan an adored hero. Distinguished by a violent temper, he became a violator of all rules and traditions, and yet managed to score a huge number of aerial victories. It was not unusual for his squadron mates to see Akamatsu staggering through the area in front of the hangars to to his fighter, brandishing a bottle of sake, being indifferent to rules and Japanese army, he refused to attend pilot briefings. Messages about upcoming flights were passed to him by a special messenger or by telephone so that he could wallow in his chosen brothel all the way last moment. A few minutes before takeoff, he could appear in an ancient beat-up car, rushing across the airfield and roaring like a demon.
He was denounced many times. After ten years of service, he was still a lieutenant. His unbridled habits on the ground doubled in the air, and were complemented by some special dexterous piloting and outstanding tactical skill. These characteristics of his in air combat were so valuable that the command allowed Akamatsu to go to obvious violations of discipline.
And he brilliantly demonstrated his flying skills, piloting a heavy and difficult to fly Raiden fighter, designed to deal with heavy bombers. With a maximum speed of about 580 km / h, it was practically not suitable for aerobatics. Almost any fighter was superior in maneuver, and it was more difficult to engage in air combat on this machine than on any other aircraft. But, despite all these shortcomings, Akamatsu on his "Raiden" more than once attacked the formidable "Mustangs" and "Hellkets", and, as is known, shot down at least a dozen of these fighters in air battles. His swagger, arrogance and arrogance on the ground could not allow him to reasonably and objectively recognize the superiority of American aircraft. It is possible that only in this way he managed to survive in air battles, not to mention his multiple victories.
Akamatsu is one of the few best Japanese fighter pilots who managed to survive the war with 50 aerial victories to his credit. After the end of hostilities, he went into the restaurant business in the city of Nagoya.
The brave and aggressive pilot, non-commissioned officer Kinsuke Muto, shot down no less than four huge B-29 bombers. When these aircraft first appeared in the air, the Japanese barely recovered from the shock caused by the power and fighting qualities. After the B-29, with its tremendous speed and lethal force of defensive fire, brought war to the islands of Japan itself, it became an American moral and technical victory, which the Japanese could not really resist until the very end of the war. Only a few pilots could boast of shooting down B-29s, while Muto had several such aircraft on his account.
In February 1945, the intrepid pilot took to the air alone in his old Zero fighter to take on 12 F-4U Corsairs strafing targets in Tokyo. The Americans could hardly believe their eyes when, flying like a demon of death, Muto set fire to two Corsairs one after the other in short bursts, demoralizing and upsetting the order of the remaining ten. The Americans were still able to pull themselves together and began to attack the lone Zero. But brilliant aerobatics and aggressive tactics allowed Muto to stay on top of the situation and avoid damage until he had exhausted all the ammunition. By this time, two more Corsairs had crashed down, and the surviving pilots realized that they were dealing with one of the best pilots in Japan. The archives show that these four Corsairs were the only American aircraft shot down over Tokyo that day.
By 1945, the Zero was essentially left far behind by all the Allied fighters that attacked Japan. In June 1945, Muto still continued to fly the Zero, remaining loyal to him until the very end of the war. He was shot down during an attack on the Liberator, a couple of weeks before the end of the war.
Japanese rules victory confirmations were similar to the Allied rules, but applied very loosely. As a result, many personal accounts of Japanese pilots may be in question. Due to the desire to reduce weight to a minimum, they did not install photo machine guns on their aircraft, and therefore did not have photographic evidence to confirm their victories. However, the likelihood of exaggeration and attributing false victories to oneself was quite small. Since this did not promise any awards, distinctions, thanks or promotion, as well as fame, there were no motives for "inflated" data on downed enemy aircraft.
The Japanese had many pilots with twenty or fewer victories to their credit, quite a few with victories between 20 and 30, and a small number standing next to Nishizawa and Sugita.
The Japanese pilots, with all their valor and brilliant successes, were shot down by the pilots of the American aviation, which gradually gained its power. American pilots were armed the best technique, had better coordination of actions, excellent communications and excellent combat training.

Real kamikaze were not terrorists. Japanese pilots during the Second World War voluntarily gave their lives for their homeland.

October 19, 1944. Luzon Island, home base Japanese aviation in the Philippines. The meeting of the commanders of the fighter units is held by Vice Admiral Onishi ...

Two days in the new position was enough for the vice admiral to understand that neither he nor the people subordinate to him would be able to perform the functions that were assigned to them. What Onesi took command of was pompously called the First Air Fleet- but in reality it was only three dozen battle-worn
Zero fighters and several Betty bombers. In order to prevent an American invasion of the Philippines, a huge japanese navy, which included two super battleships - Yamato and Musashi. Onisi's planes were supposed to cover this fleet from the air, but the enemy's multiple superiority in air power made this impossible.

Onishi told his subordinates what they understood even without him - the Japanese fleet was on the verge of disaster, the best ships in a few days would be launched to the bottom by torpedo bombers and dive bombers from American aircraft carriers. It is impossible to sink aircraft carriers with fighter planes, even if you arm them with bombs. Zeros don't have bomb sights, and their pilots don't have the skills to do so. However, there was one suicidal way out in the full sense of the word - fighters equipped with bombs would crash into enemy ships! Onisi's subordinates agreed with the vice admiral that they had no other way to end the American aircraft carriers. A few days later, the Divine Wind Special Attack Squadron, Kamikaze Tokubetsu Kogekitai, was formed.

Self-sacrifice as a tactic

Now the word "kamikaze" has become a household term, this is the name of any suicide bombers, and in a figurative sense - and just people who do not care about their own safety. But the real kamikaze were not terrorists, but soldiers - Japanese pilots of the Second World War, who voluntarily decided to give their lives for their homeland. Of course, in war, anyone risks their life, and some even deliberately sacrifice it. Often, commanders also give orders, the executors of which have no chance of staying alive. But kamikaze is the only example in mankind when suicide bombers were assigned to a special branch of the armed forces and were specially trained to fulfill their mission. When the headquarters developed tactics for them, and in design bureaus designed special equipment...

After Vice Admiral Onishi came up with the idea of using kamikaze, self-sacrifice ceased to be an initiative of individual pilots and received the status of an official military doctrine. Meanwhile, Onishi just figured out how to more effectively use the tactics of combating American ships that Japanese pilots had already used de facto. By 1944, the state of the country's aviation rising sun was deplorable. There were not enough planes, gasoline, but above all, qualified pilots. While schools in the United States were preparing hundreds and hundreds of new pilots, there was no effective reserve training system in Japan. If an American who succeeded in air battles was immediately withdrawn from the front and appointed as an instructor (therefore, by the way, American aces do not shine a large number downed aircraft), then the Japanese, as a rule, fought until his death. Therefore, after a couple of years, almost nothing was left of the personnel pilots who started the war. A vicious circle - inexperienced pilots acted less and less efficiently and died faster. The prophecy of Admiral Yamamoto, who had died by that time, came true: back in 1941, one of the organizers of the attack on Pearl Harbor warned that long war his country is not ready.

Under these conditions, the first examples appeared of how poorly trained Japanese pilots, who could not hit an American ship with a bomb, simply crashed into the enemy. A plane diving onto the deck is difficult to stop - even if anti-aircraft guns inflict a lot of damage on it, it will achieve its goal.

Admiral Onishi decided that such an "initiative" could be legalized officially. Moreover, the combat effectiveness of an aircraft crashing into the deck will be much higher if it is filled with explosives ...

The first massive kamikaze attacks took place in the Philippines on October 25, 1944. Several ships were damaged, and the escort aircraft carrier Saint Lo, which was hit by the only Zero, was sunk. The success of the first kamikaze led to the fact that Onishi's experience was widely disseminated.

The lightweight and durable design of the Zero made it possible to fill the aircraft with additional cargo - explosives.

Death is not an end in itself

Soon there were four air connections- Asahi, Shikishima, Yamazakura and Yamato. Only volunteers were accepted there, because the death in an air sortie for pilots was an indispensable condition for the successful completion of a combat mission. And by the time Japan surrendered, almost half of the remaining naval pilots in the ranks had been transferred to kamikaze detachments.

It is well known that the word "kamikaze" means "Divine Wind" - a hurricane that destroyed the enemy fleet in the 13th century. It would seem, what does the Middle Ages have to do with it? However, unlike technology, everything was in order with the "ideological support" of the Japanese military. The "divine wind" was believed to have been sent then by the goddess Amaterasu, patroness of Japan's security. She sent it at a time when nothing could prevent the conquest of her country by the 300,000-strong Mongol-Chinese army of Khan Kublai. And now, when the war approached the very borders of the empire, the country was supposed to be saved by the “Divine Wind” - this time embodied not in a natural phenomenon, but in young guys who want to give their lives for the fatherland. Seen in a kamikaze the only force, capable of stopping the American offensive literally on the outskirts of the Japanese Islands.

Kamikaze formations might seem elite in terms of the outward attributes of their activities, but not in terms of their level of training. Combat pilot who got into the detachment additional training did not need. And kamikaze-novices were prepared even worse than ordinary pilots. They were not taught bombing or shooting, which made it possible to drastically reduce the preparation time. According to the army leadership of Japan, only mass training of kamikaze could stop the American offensive.

You can read a lot of strange information about kamikaze - for example, that they were not taught how to land. Meanwhile, it is completely clear that if the pilot is not taught to land, then the first and last for him will be by no means a combat, but the very first training flight! Contrary to popular belief, a rather rare occurrence on kamikaze aircraft was landing gear dropped after takeoff, which made it impossible to land. Most often, suicide pilots were provided with an ordinary worn-out Zero fighter, or even a dive bomber or bomber loaded with explosives - and no one was involved in altering the chassis. If the pilot did not find a worthy target during the departure, he had to return to military base and wait for the next task of management. Therefore, several kamikazes who made combat sorties have survived to this day ...

The first kamikaze raids produced the effect they were designed for - the crews of the American ships were very frightened. However, it quickly became clear that crashing into an enemy ship is not so easy - at least for a low-skilled pilot. And they certainly didn’t know how to dodge American kamikaze fighters. Therefore, when they saw the low combat effectiveness of the suicide bombers, the Americans calmed down somewhat, while the Japanese command, on the contrary, was puzzled. Meanwhile, such an aircraft had already been invented for the kamikaze, which, according to the plan of its creators, would be difficult to shoot down by fighters. Moreover, the author of the idea, Mitsuo Ota, “punched through” the project even before the first squads of suicide pilots were created (which again shows that the idea of a kamikaze was in the air at that moment). What was built according to this project at Yokosuka was more likely not an airplane, but a one-of-a-kind man-controlled bomb ...

At the beginning of the war, "Zero" terrified American fighter pilots, and then became a formidable kamikaze

Cruise missile with pilot

The tiny MXY-7 "Oka" (Japanese for "Cherry Blossom") resembled a German glide bomb invented at the end of the war. However, it was a completely original development. The planning bomb was controlled by radio from the carrier aircraft, and the jet engines installed on it made it possible for the bomb to maneuver and keep up with the aircraft that launched it. The Oka was controlled by the kamikaze sitting in it, and jet boosters served to accelerate the bomb plane to a speed of almost 1000 km / h on the way to the target. It was believed that at this speed, the Oki would be invulnerable to both anti-aircraft fire and fighters.

It is characteristic that during this period, research was conducted at the headquarters on the use of kamikaze tactics in other areas. For example, human-controlled torpedoes were created, as well as submarine mini-boats, which first had to launch a torpedo into an enemy ship, and then crash into it themselves. The suicide pilots were planned to be used for ram attacks by the American Flying Fortresses and Liberators, which bombed Japanese cities. Later, there were also ... land kamikazes, pushing a cart with explosives in front of them. With such weapons in the Kwantung Army, they tried to cope with Soviet tanks in 1945.

But, of course, the main goal of the kamikaze was the American aircraft carriers. A guided cruise missile carrying a ton of explosives was supposed to, if not sink an aircraft carrier, then at least severely damage it
and put it out of action for a long time. The Oka was suspended under the Betty twin-engine bomber, which was supposed to get as close as possible to the American squadron. At a distance of no more than 30 km, the kamikaze transferred from the bomber to the Oka, the guided bomb separated from the carrier and began to slowly plan in the right direction. Three solid rocket boosters worked for only ten seconds, so they had to be turned on in close proximity to the target.

Kamikaze differed from other Japanese pilots in silk overalls and white headbands with the image of the rising sun.

The very first combat use of bombing aircraft was a real massacre. But the victims were by no means the crews of American ships, but Japanese pilots. The need to fly pretty close to the target
made carrier bombers very vulnerable - they entered the zone of action of carrier-based fighters of aircraft carriers and immediately got lost. And the perfect radars that the Americans had at that time made it possible to detect an approaching enemy formation, whether it be a kamikaze group, bomb carriers, conventional bombers or torpedo bombers. In addition, as it turned out, the cruise missile accelerated under the action of accelerators did not maneuver well and did not aim very accurately at the target.

Thus, kamikaze could not save Japan from defeat in the war - and nevertheless, volunteers who wanted to enroll in the air unit special purpose, was sufficient until the moment of surrender. Moreover, it was not only about exalted youths who did not sniff gunpowder, but also about pilots who had time to make war. Firstly, the Japanese naval pilot somehow got used to the idea of his own death. In the American naval aviation was debugged efficient system search for downed pilots at sea with the help of seaplanes and submarines (this is how the onboard gunner of the Avenger torpedo bomber George W. Bush, the future US president, was saved). And the downed Japanese pilot most often drowned in the sea along with his plane ...

Secondly, the Shintoism that dominated Japan gave rise to special treatment to death. This religious and philosophical system gave the suicide pilots the hope, after completing the task, to join the host of numerous deities. Thirdly, the further, the more inevitable the defeat of Japan seemed, and Japanese military traditions did not recognize surrender.

Of course, any fanaticism is terrible. And yet, kamikaze pilots were participants in the war and acted against the enemy army. This is their fundamental difference from modern suicide bombers, who are called by this word without any reason.

And those who led the Japanese kamikaze were not cynics who cold-bloodedly dispose of other people's lives, not wanting to sacrifice their own. Vice Admiral Takijiro Onishi, after the surrender of Japan, chose a way out for himself, the name of which does not need to be translated from Japanese - hara-kiri.

Kamikaze - what is it? It is a well-known fact that this word means "divine wind". As the legend says, once the goddess Amaterasu, the sacred patroness of Japan, called upon the forces of nature to protect her possessions - namely, a strong and destructive hurricane that destroyed the enemy fleet twice in the 13th century.

History of kamikaze

In the distant Middle Ages, to protect Japan from the 300,000th Mongol-Chinese army, which was led by cruel khan Kublai, the mighty forces of nature have come. It was the last chance. It was possible to escape from the attack, and as many as two times in a century the enemy was defeated. Through the centuries, the concept of "kamikaze" has slightly changed its meaning. The meaning of the word began to be considered in a slightly different context. The divine wind has already been called not a natural destructive element that cannot be controlled, but desperate and brave soldiers who are ready to give their lives for their homeland.

What is kamikaze: definition

These are soldiers who consciously and voluntarily went to their death, directing their planes to enemy bases and equipment. Kamikaze is the name for a special Japanese aviation unit that was used during World War II with America. Identification features of the form of suicide pilots were a scarf white color and a flag with a red sun.

According to American data, in total, 45 units of naval equipment were flooded by kamikaze units, and about three hundred warships were damaged, but they did not manage to turn the tide of the war.

Strategy and tactics of self-sacrifice

Kamikaze - what is it? And why is this concept associated with terrorists going to their deaths? During the Second World War, this was the name given to Japanese military pilots who agreed to voluntarily give their lives for the victory and honor of the country. Everyone who goes to fight is somehow aware of the possibility that they may not return home. But kamikaze is, perhaps, the only example in history, when those going to their death united in special units for which tactics were developed and special aircraft were designed.

First success

The purpose of one of the first massive sorties was an air attack on the Philippines (10/25/1944), which led to the sinking of a large aircraft carrier and damage to several ships. Some time later, 4 more kamikaze combat detachments were formed, the significance of which was very important for the country's leadership at that time. They were named "Asahi", "Sikima", "Yamazakura" and "Yamato".

Features of preparation

Initially, mostly volunteers were recorded in the ranks of suicide bombers, but by the time Japan's surrender was inevitable, almost all pilots, whose equipment was still in service, became kamikazes. Their training differed in many ways from the elite training of fighter pilots. AT various sources You can learn a lot of strange and frightening facts about this. For example, pilots were taught how to land a plane and drop the landing gear, and the equipment they gave out was one that was not a pity.

Philosophy of the suicide bomber

Among the reasons why the soldiers agreed to sacrifice themselves in the name of common purpose, were the following:

In Japan at that time, Shintoism dominated, which encouraged passing away in a noble way. Allegedly, after the death of kamikaze were ranked among the sacred deities.

Victory or death - this is how Japanese soldiers traditionally treated war. Any shame, including defeat in battle, in their opinion, should be washed away with blood. They simply could not recognize and accept their own powerlessness. Even among the commanders-in-chief there were no those who cold-bloodedly sent people to their deaths, while remaining safe. An example of solidarity for his soldiers was Vice Admiral Tagijiro Onishi, who made himself hara-kiri shortly after the surrender.

There were survivors among the kamikaze

For the most part, kamikaze were originally doomed to death, but everywhere there are exceptions. There were cases when the pilot did not find a worthy point of attack and returned safely to his base unharmed, or after the attack was picked up at sea. However, these were isolated cases. The name of one of the lucky ones is known - non-commissioned officer Yamamura, who managed to escape death three times. The first time he was shot down, he was picked up and rescued by local fishermen. Two months later, rain and poor visibility prevented the flight. And for the third time, it was possible to survive due to a malfunction in the suspension mechanism of the projectile aircraft. The war was over, and there was no longer any need to sacrifice one's life in the name of the fatherland.

Another kamikaze survivor, Mr. Hayashi, lived to be 93 years old, and his last request was to scatter his ashes in the sea near the southern islands of Okinawa, where his associates died. As long as he spoke, his war would never end. He was one of the first volunteers to be called, and until his last breath he blamed himself for not being with those who were sent with him to the last battle.

The American Corsair fighter shoots down the Japanese Betty bomber, from which the Oka control bomb has already separated

The lightweight and durable design of the Zero made it possible to fill the aircraft with additional cargo - explosives.

At the beginning of the war, the Zero terrified American fighter pilots, and then became a formidable kamikaze weapon.

Before the plane was handed over to the kamikaze pilot, as a rule, weapons and the most valuable instruments were removed from it.

Kamikaze differed from other Japanese pilots in silk overalls and white headbands with the image of the rising sun.

October 19, 1944. Luzon Island, the main Japanese aviation base in the Philippines. The meeting of the commanders of the fighter units is held by Vice Admiral Onishi ...

Two days in the new position was enough for the vice admiral to understand that neither he nor the people subordinate to him would be able to perform the functions that were assigned to them. What Onishi had taken command of was pompously called the First Air Fleet, but in reality it was only three dozen battle-worn Zero fighters and a few Betty bombers. In order to prevent the American invasion of the Philippines, a huge Japanese fleet was concentrated here, which included two super battleships - Yamato and Musashi. Onisi planes were supposed to cover this fleet from the air - but the multiple superiority of the enemy in air forces made this impossible.

Onishi told his subordinates what they understood even without him - the Japanese fleet was on the verge of disaster, the best ships in a few days would be launched to the bottom by torpedo bombers and dive bombers from American aircraft carriers. It is impossible to sink aircraft carriers with fighter planes, even if you arm them with bombs. Zeros don't have bomb sights, and their pilots don't have the skills to do so. However, there was one suicidal way out in the full sense of the word - fighters equipped with bombs would crash into enemy ships! Onisi's subordinates agreed with the Vice Admiral that they had no other way to finish off the American aircraft carriers. A few days later, the Divine Wind Special Attack Squadron, Kamikaze Tokubetsu Kogekitai, was formed.

Self-sacrifice as a tactic

Now the word "kamikaze" has become a household word, as they call any suicide bombers, and in a figurative sense - and just people who do not care about their own safety. But the real kamikaze were not terrorists, but soldiers - Japanese pilots of the Second World War, who voluntarily decided to give their lives for their homeland. Of course, in war, anyone risks their life, and some even deliberately sacrifice it. Often, commanders also give orders, the executors of which have no chance of staying alive. But kamikaze is the only example in the history of mankind when suicide bombers were assigned to a special branch of the armed forces and were specially trained to fulfill their mission. When the headquarters developed tactics for them, and the design bureaus designed special equipment ...

After Vice Admiral Onishi came up with the idea of using kamikaze, self-sacrifice ceased to be an initiative of individual pilots and received the status of an official military doctrine. Meanwhile, Onishi just figured out how to more effectively use the tactics of combating American ships that Japanese pilots had already used de facto. By 1944, the state of aviation in the Land of the Rising Sun was deplorable. There were not enough planes, gasoline, but above all, qualified pilots. While schools in the United States were preparing hundreds and hundreds of new pilots, there was no effective reserve training system in Japan. If an American who succeeded in air battles was immediately withdrawn from the front and appointed as an instructor (therefore, by the way, American aces do not shine with a large number of downed aircraft), then the Japanese, as a rule, fought until his death. Therefore, after a couple of years, almost nothing was left of the personnel pilots who started the war. A vicious circle - inexperienced pilots acted less and less efficiently and died faster. The prophecy of Admiral Yamamoto, who had died by that time, came true: back in 1941, one of the organizers of the attack on Pearl Harbor warned that his country was not ready for a long war.

Under these conditions, the first examples appeared of how poorly trained Japanese pilots, who could not get a bomb from an American ship, simply crashed into the enemy. A plane diving onto the deck is difficult to stop - even if anti-aircraft guns inflict a lot of damage on it, it will achieve its goal.

Death is not an end in itself

Four air formations were soon formed - Asahi, Shikishima, Yamazakura and Yamato. Only volunteers were accepted there, because the death in an air sortie for pilots was an indispensable condition for the successful completion of a combat mission. And by the time Japan surrendered, almost half of the remaining naval pilots in the ranks had been transferred to kamikaze detachments.

It is well known that the word "kamikaze" means "Divine Wind" - a hurricane that destroyed the enemy fleet in the 13th century. It would seem, what does the Middle Ages have to do with it? However, unlike technology, everything was in order with the "ideological support" of the Japanese military. The "divine wind" was believed to have been sent then by the goddess Amaterasu, patroness of Japan's security. She sent it at a time when nothing could prevent the conquest of her country by the 300,000-strong Mongol-Chinese army of Khan Kublai. And now, when the war approached the very borders of the empire, the country was supposed to be saved by the “Divine Wind” - this time embodied not in a natural phenomenon, but in young guys who want to give their lives for the fatherland. The kamikaze was seen as the only force capable of stopping the American offensive literally on the outskirts of the Japanese islands.

Kamikaze formations might seem elite in terms of the outward attributes of their activities, but not in terms of their level of training. The combat pilot who got into the detachment did not need additional training. And kamikaze-novices were prepared even worse than ordinary pilots. They were not taught bombing or shooting, which made it possible to drastically reduce the preparation time. According to the army leadership of Japan, only mass training of kamikaze could stop the American offensive.

You can read a lot of strange information about kamikaze - for example, that they were not taught how to land. Meanwhile, it is completely clear that if the pilot is not taught to land, then the first and last for him will be by no means a combat, but the very first training flight! Contrary to popular belief, a rather rare occurrence on kamikaze aircraft was landing gear dropped after takeoff, which made it impossible to land. Most often, suicide pilots were provided with an ordinary worn-out Zero fighter, or even a dive bomber or bomber loaded with explosives - and no one was involved in altering the chassis. If the pilot did not find a worthy target during the departure, he had to return to the military base and wait for the next assignment from the leadership. Therefore, several kamikazes who made combat sorties have survived to this day ...

The first kamikaze raids produced the effect they were designed for - the crews of the American ships were very frightened. However, it quickly became clear that crashing into an enemy ship is not so easy - at least for a low-skilled pilot. And they certainly didn’t know how to dodge American kamikaze fighters. Therefore, when they saw the low combat effectiveness of the suicide bombers, the Americans calmed down somewhat, while the Japanese command, on the contrary, was puzzled. Meanwhile, such an aircraft had already been invented for the kamikaze, which, according to the plan of its creators, would be difficult to shoot down by fighters. Moreover, the author of the idea, Mitsuo Ota, “punched through” the project even before the first squads of suicide pilots were created (which once again shows that the idea of a kamikaze was in the air at that moment). What was built according to this project at Yokosuka was more likely not an airplane, but a one-of-a-kind man-controlled bomb ...

Cruise missile with pilot

The tiny MXY-7 "Oka" (Japanese for "Cherry Blossom") resembled a German glide bomb invented at the end of the war. However, it was a completely original development. The planning bomb was controlled by radio from the carrier aircraft - and the jet engines installed on it made it possible for the bomb to maneuver and keep up with the aircraft that launched it. The Oka was controlled by the kamikaze sitting in it, and jet boosters served to accelerate the bomb plane to a speed of almost 1000 km / h on the way to the target. It was believed that at this speed, the Oki would be invulnerable to both anti-aircraft fire and fighters.

But, of course, the main goal of the kamikaze was the American aircraft carriers. A guided cruise missile carrying a ton of explosives was supposed to, if not sink an aircraft carrier, then at least severely damage it and disable it for a long time. The Oka was suspended under the Betty twin-engine bomber, which was supposed to get as close as possible to the American squadron. At a distance of no more than 30 km, the kamikaze transferred from the bomber to the Oka, the guided bomb separated from the carrier and began to slowly plan in the right direction. Three solid rocket boosters worked for only ten seconds, so they had to be turned on in close proximity to the target.

The very first combat use of bombing aircraft was a real massacre. But the victims were by no means the crews of American ships, but Japanese pilots. The need to fly up to the target quite close made the carrier bombers very vulnerable - they entered the zone of action of carrier-based fighters of aircraft carriers and immediately went down. And the perfect radars that the Americans had at that time made it possible to detect an approaching enemy formation, whether it be a kamikaze group, bomb carriers, conventional bombers or torpedo bombers. In addition, as it turned out, the cruise missile accelerated under the action of accelerators did not maneuver well and did not aim very accurately at the target.

Thus, kamikazes could not save Japan from defeat in the war - and yet there were enough volunteers who wanted to enroll in a special-purpose air unit until the moment of surrender. Moreover, it was not only about exalted youths who did not sniff gunpowder, but also about pilots who had time to make war. Firstly, the Japanese naval pilot somehow got used to the idea of his own death. In the American naval aviation, an effective system for searching for downed pilots at sea with the help of seaplanes and submarines was debugged (this is how, in particular, the airborne gunner of the Avenger torpedo bomber George W. Bush, the future US president, was saved). And the downed Japanese pilot most often drowned in the sea along with his plane ...

Secondly, the Shintoism that dominated Japan gave rise to a special attitude towards death. This religious and philosophical system gave the suicide pilots the hope, after completing the task, to join the host of numerous deities. Thirdly, the further, the more

the defeat of Japan seemed inevitable, and Japanese military traditions did not recognize surrender.

Portal for the student. Self-training