Kamikaze

[Mighty_Emperor]

I was watching two documentaries on the Discovery Channel which were on one after the other:

Killer Tanks: "Fighting the Iron Fist"

Air Wars: "Kamikaze: The Divine Wind"

and they both touched on Kamikazes and as it is an interesting topic which touches on areas of extreme human behaviour and other add things I thought I'd start a thread.

Kamikaze means Divine Wind and refers to a divine wind which saved Japan from the Chinese/Mongol fleet in 1281. Here is an account:

On August 15, 1281, KAMEYAMA-JOKO, the retired father of Emperor GO-UDA, appeared before AMATERASU "The Divine Goddess of the Sun" in ISE asking her intervention on behalf of Japan.

900 Korean ships with 10,000 infantry and 17,000 sailors had ferried 15,000 Chinese and Mongol troops to rendezvous at IKI Island with the 3,500 ship Chinese "Yang-tze" task-force of 60,000 navy carrying 100,000 soldiers to conquer the Land of the Gods.

Six and half years before, the 150 ship first invasion had thrashed against the coast in a storming November night to the loss of 13,000 lives.

This was summer - the well-planned, long awaited summer.

A sea of angry boats and garish streamers imposed hideous clarity to the excited echoes of drums and horn, - filtering over the flat, naked water.

The Japanese had prepared six and half years. HOJO TOKIMUNE's coordinated national muster stood ready but outnumbered on its fifteen foot, 25 mile wall protecting HAKATA from the waves and this vast spectacle painted across everyone's eyes.

Moving effortlessly from the horizon, a small black dot appeared in the cloudless sky. - Searching a station just above the throng, it stretched dark fingers without wait.

A huge and deafening still swallowed their noisy clamor as the ocean and its ships began to leap in eerie silence.

Then the leaves started rattling...

Foretelling the deep growl that shook trees before its violent thunder hit with howling rage. Flags were pulled from standards. And warriors clung for the moaning earth - just to watch.

Careening ships were pitched on crags or dragged away. Swamped wrecks rolled over, and over each other in the boiling sea; - grinding their vessels to splinter wood.

The sight made men drunk, some sat numb.

That day, the Hand of God labored for the Japanese just as it had for Moses at the Red Sea.

AMATERASU allowed three lives to return the news to Kublai-Khan.

http://www.sho-shin.com/sai.htm

[edit: For more information see this thread on the finding of Kublai-Khan's fleet:

http://www.forteantimes.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5371 ]

There are obviously the well known Kamikaze pilots (which seem to have arisen from desperation at the American air superority and the lack of Japanese aircraft) but the first documentary also featured a couple of related things:

In SE Asia a japanese soldier jumped into a British/American tank armed onyl with a sword and killed the commander and the driver(?) and was only killed after 6 shots from the loader.

Soon after they started using human kamikazes to throw themselves under tanks to kill them - I've found a mention of them calling them Nikaku but the name used was longer and appeared to translate as something like "Human Combat Tank Destruction Squads".

There was also the Kaiten - kamikaze minisubs:

http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-fornv/japan/japtp-ss/kaiten.htm

Interesting links:

Kamikaze - 'Divine Wind' in Japanese

Divine Wind and Ancient Heroes: Reconstructing the Kamikaze Ideology - this is excellent.

Who Became Kamikaze Pilots, and How Did They Feel Towards Their Suicide Mission?

Japanese Suicide Attacks at Sea.

Wikipedia: Suicide Bombing

Wikipedia: Kamikaze

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However, this has been used throughout history and up until the modern day (911, Tamil Tigers, Palestian suicide bombers, etc.) so throw in any other resources, thoughts, etc.

[edit: Adding a link correcting typos]

Emps

 

[Anonymous]

also suicide frogmen.. to be used in defence of Japan. housed in under water bunkers they were suposed to thrust a pole with a stand off crage at the tip onto the bottom of landing craft... even trying to use the crude breathing gear coudl be described as seeking death.... also as u say katen and suicide high speed boats... plans for v1 based suicide bombs and "baka" (crazy) bombs which were beech/ship launched jet/rockets with wings... Uk had a few if not suicidal jolly dangeriouse things.. electric canoes... manned torpedoes!...(the Italians has some sucess with them).. WW2 german were Mistle (Mistletoe) attacks on Remargen Bridge (a ju 118 with a Me109 attached to its back remotely piloted bythe top fighter, most "swung" so violently on take off due to thier props all turning the same way they turned over)... Rusia had its "punishment squadrons" who signed a contract to bring down planes each sortie.. some with ramming attacks or chewing the tails off withhtier propellers..

 

[Jerry_B]

WW2 german were Mistle (Mistletoe) attacks on Remargen Bridge (a ju 118 with a Me109 attached to its back remotely piloted bythe top fighter, most "swung" so violently on take off due to thier props all turning the same way they turned over)... Rusia had its "punishment squadrons" who signed a contract to bring down planes each sortie.. some with ramming attacks or chewing the tails off withhtier propellers..

Mistels weren't technically suicide aircraft - however, several German 'Sturmgruppe' units were formed, in which fighter aircraft would be used to ram American bombers if the situation presented itself (after said fighters had expended their ammunition). It's not clear whether the intent was suicidal - survivors of such units tend to not think that this was the case. WRT the 'punishment squadrons' this is AFAIK a myth. Ramming attacks, called 'tarans' were carried out by several combat pilots by their own volition early in the Soviet war with Germany. Some actually survived such attacks and made others in later missions. A definite suicide attack (done out of desperation rather than anything planned) by Soviet pilots was the 'fire taran', where an aircraft was flown into ground targets. This usually occured after an aircraft was critically damaged. Some pilots were posthumously decorated for tarans, although after a while such attacks fell from favour.