Japanese fighter pilots sometimes resorted to kamikaze tactics. Did Any Kamikaze Pilots Survive? 2022-11-02

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The term "kamikaze" is derived from the Japanese word for "divine wind" and refers to a suicide attack tactic used by Japanese fighter pilots during World War II. The kamikaze tactic was first used by the Japanese in the Battle of Leyte Gulf in October 1944 and was employed on a large scale during the latter stages of the war.

Japanese fighter pilots who resorted to kamikaze tactics believed that they were sacrificing their lives for their country and that their deaths would ultimately serve a higher purpose. They were often motivated by a sense of duty and loyalty to their emperor and their fellow soldiers.

The kamikaze tactic was seen as a desperate measure by the Japanese, who were facing overwhelming odds and had few other options left to turn the tide of the war in their favor. The tactic was also seen as a way for Japanese pilots to redeem themselves for any perceived failures or shortcomings in battle.

The kamikaze tactic was controversial, even within Japan, and was not widely supported by the general population. Many Japanese pilots who were assigned to carry out kamikaze missions were deeply conflicted about their orders and some even refused to carry them out.

Despite the controversy surrounding the kamikaze tactic, it did have some military success. Japanese kamikaze pilots were responsible for sinking or damaging several Allied ships, including several aircraft carriers. However, the tactic ultimately proved to be futile as it did not change the outcome of the war and resulted in the deaths of thousands of Japanese pilots.

In the end, the kamikaze tactic was a tragic and desperate measure that resulted in the loss of countless lives. It is a reminder of the terrible cost of war and the human capacity for self-sacrifice in the face of overwhelming adversity.

Japanese fighter pilots sometimes resorted to kamikaze tactics?

japanese fighter pilots sometimes resorted to kamikaze tactics

Approximately 45 ships were sunk, the bulk of which were destroyers. Thus I'm wondering, given the resources spent on arming and training kamikaze pilots did those pilots prove cost effective, as opposed to training traditional pilots? Why did kamikaze pilots wear? Other times, apparently it included being launched from a catapult a little stranger, but just as terrifying. Their last few days and hours were fittingly somber. When the volunteers arrived for duty in the corps, there were twice as many persons as aircraft available. I dislike the use of indoctrination in these discussions because it seems like it's solely a top-down stamping of a belief into people.

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How Did The Japanese Army Convince Their Pilots To Carry Out The Kamikaze Attacks? : history

japanese fighter pilots sometimes resorted to kamikaze tactics

One example of this may have occurred on 7 December 1941 during the Akagi's bridge but missed. And that's not just some lazy speculation. And a third wrote to his fiancee, begging her to marry him in the next life, and the next, and in every one after that. But in truth, they had to create their own painful fortune: In 1944, Captain Motoharu Okamura proposed crashing bomb-laden planes into Allied aircraft carriers and destroyers to turn the tide of the war, an echo of the samurai tradition of death before surrender. One pilot wrote about the way the rain fell, the soft sound of the radio, everything he was still hearing because the rain had delayed his mission. In it, Heidegger explained that while death represented the end of human existence, it also defined the life that came before it. Every Japanese is capable of becoming a member of the Special Attack Corps.

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world war two

japanese fighter pilots sometimes resorted to kamikaze tactics

So what tactics were specifically used to convince the volunteers? Sadly though, those assumptions haven't really gone away. This will also enable you to concentrate your attention on eradicating the enemy with unwavering determination, meanwhile reinforcing your excellence in flight skills. Some of picket ships reported biplanes attacking them. He realized that there was nothing to celebrate, and he was just scared. Kamikaze could not win the war, nor even win a battle. Eight kamikaze hits on five British carriers resulted in only 20 deaths while a combined total of 15 bomb hits, most of 500 kg 1,100 lb weight or greater, and one torpedo hit on four carriers caused 193 fatal casualties earlier in the war — striking proof of the protective value of the armoured flight deck. Entering a smokestack was also said to be "effective".

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WWII Veteran Befriends Japanese Kamikaze Pilot

japanese fighter pilots sometimes resorted to kamikaze tactics

For example, Hiryū "Peggy" medium bombers, based on Formosa, undertook kamikaze attacks on Allied forces off Okinawa, while a pair of Toryu "Nick" heavy fighters caused enough damage for the destroyer Dickerson to be scuttled. The photo gallery of the pilots who perished is equally moving: hundreds of proud, stern faces peer out from black and white pictures. Three years later, he flew the final WWII combat mission in Japan on an attack on airfields near Tokyo. . London: Routledge, Taylor and Francis UK.

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The Untold Truth Of Japan's Kamikaze Pilots

japanese fighter pilots sometimes resorted to kamikaze tactics

For American journalists and commentators, the kamikaze pilots prove the exact opposite: that the enemy is inhuman, savage, and fundamentally Other, a fearful and bestial monster. Warships of all types were damaged including 12 aircraft carriers, 15 battleships, and 16 light and escort carriers. Japan should have avoided direct war with the US, as a question of national survival. And it wasn't sustainable sorry, pardon that so-overused word in the long term as Japan lacked the industrial capacity to build many places. Retrieved 2 June 2021. Colin Kelly, still considered by some to be the first American suicide pilot, crashed according to legend on the smokestack of a Japanese cruiser on the 10 December 1941. These facts about kamikaze pilots are only part of the story, however.

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Why did the Japanese resort to the kamikaze?

japanese fighter pilots sometimes resorted to kamikaze tactics

Yes, they were extremely effective in the end. I sound like a religious nut, I am an atheist and I am just saying it is a matter of perspective. . It was claimed by the Japanese forces at the time that there were many volunteers for the suicidal forces. The Tsurugi was a simple, easily built propeller aircraft with a wooden airframe that used engines from existing stocks.

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Were kamikaze tactics fundamentally Japanese?

japanese fighter pilots sometimes resorted to kamikaze tactics

ItalianPhilosophers4Monica Yes you are right, surely isn't cost effective, but IMO, crashing yourself against an enemy ship can be a powerful psychological move. Naval War College Analysis, p. By 26 October day's end, 55 kamikazes from the Special Attack Force had also damaged three large escort carriers: Sangamon, Santee, and Suwannee which had taken a kamikaze strike forward of its aft elevator the day before ; and three smaller escorts: USS White Plains, Kalinin Bay, and Kitkun Bay. Why did Japanese kamikaze pilots wear helmets? In a 2004 book, World War II, the historians Willmott, Cross, and Messenger stated that more than 70 U. They viewed themselves as the last defense. Very quickly, kamikaze pilots were used as propaganda tools.

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Inside the Mind of a Kamikaze Pilot

japanese fighter pilots sometimes resorted to kamikaze tactics

But what it truly represents is nothing but the application of a system for the recruitment of minds that has been visible in a number of conflicts, the cult of sacrifice and fallen soldiers already identified by George Mosse in the case of World War I. According to the United States Strategic Bombing Survey, from October 1944 until the end of the war, 2,550 Kamikaze missions were flown with only 475 or 18. . A stigma had emerged about them, and the "Special Attack Syndrome" seemed to imply that they couldn't return to normal lives. It is true that the glorification of sacrifice was a central tenant of wartime education and ideology, and was aimed at transforming a generation of young men into perfect soldiers. The use of big groups peer pressured everyone into volunteering, and even when three choices were given, most of the men knew there was only one "right" answer. They managed to hit targets around 14% of the time, sinking 34 Navy ships and damaging 368 others.

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Were Japanese Kamikaze Pilots Given Drugs?

japanese fighter pilots sometimes resorted to kamikaze tactics

According to a wartime Japanese propaganda announcement, the missions sank 81 ships and damaged 195, and according to a Japanese tally, kamikaze attacks accounted for up to 80% of the U. Most of the rest came from grenades and mortars and sapping and the like. Is it a war crime to shoot parachutes? Kamikaze attacks thus appear to be successful. A less literal translation Kitkun Bay. Some kamikazes were still able to hit their targets even after their aircraft had been crippled. We tried to live with 120 per cent intensity, rather than waiting for death.

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