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In October 1944, the Japanese invoked the story of the kamikaze as Allied forces closed in on the home islands. Nearly three years of intense combat had pushed Japan itself closer to being attacked.
- Sacrificial Tactics
- Lessons and Adaptations in The Fleet
- Improvements and Experimentation
- Adaptation and Mitigation
By 1944, the Navy’s air defense system had evolved to address conventional attacks by large groups of enemy planes. During 1942, the greatest challenge had been effective fighter direction, intercepting an incoming attack with the combat air patrol (CAP) in time to break it up and reduce its strength. Despite the Navy’s best efforts, in each of the...
The Navy was quick to recognize the serious nature of the threat. In December 1944, Admiral William F. Halsey Jr., commander of the Third Fleet, wrote, “The Japanese air command . . . has . . . evolved a sound defensive plan against carrier attacks. He has coordinated and centralized his command responsibilities, but decentralized and dispersed his...
On 1 July 1945, the Navy formed TF 69, a special experimental unit under Vice Admiral Willis A. Lee Jr. It was a “fast-reaction outfit” tasked with finding an effective kamikaze defense. The use of a dedicated organization, outside of the operational fleet, to test new tactics and technologies was innovative. TF 69—which became the Operational Deve...
Although kamikaze attacks were unanticipated and extremely deadly, the U.S. Navy was able to overcome the threat. Adaptations in the combat theater began to mitigate specific Japanese tactics and improve the survivability of the fleet. At the same time, an extensive investment in experimentation sought to explore new approaches and evolve the Navy’...
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Apr 22, 2021 · The Japanese had used kamikaze tactics since the Battle of Leyte Gulf, but for the first time, they became a major part of the defense. Between the American landing on 1 April and 25 May, seven major kamikaze attacks were attempted, involving more than 1,500 planes.
- No. The general argument goes something like this: Japan was running out of trained pilots Japan couldn't spare the fuel to properly train more pil...
- Considering the circumstances, definitely yes Before we start, we must understand and define what kamikaze were. In its essence, kamikaze were for...
- I'll go against the general opinion. Yes, they were extremely effective in the end. The Emperor kept his position, and the war crime trials were do...
Japan’s special air attack units (Kamikaze) were initially organized under very particular circumstances and with limited operational objectives in the Philippines late in 1944. 1 In the first stage Admiral Ohnishi certainly did not conceive of either allocating more than 24 planes for such suicide attacks or continuing this type of operation ...
They turned to a new tactic - kamikaze. Although suicide attacks had been used haphazardly before, the kamikaze campaign trained attack squadrons specifically for this purpose, and brought into combat a new aircraft - the Yokosuka MXY-7 Ohka - the only jet-powered suicide aircraft.
During the last phase of the war the Imperial Japanese Navy resorted to a series of desperate measures, including Kamikaze (suicide) actions, which ultimately not only proved futile in repelling the Allies, but encouraged those enemies to use their newly developed atomic bombs to defeat Japan without the anticipated costly battles against so ...
This chapter discusses the ‘Kamikaze’, which refers to all premeditated suicide missions (SMs) conducted by the Japanese military from October 1944 to August 1945. During this period, over 3,000 Japanese army and navy pilots died attempting to crash their planes into Allied ships.
