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90-531: These initial Atomic Demolition Munitions required large teams of trained soldiers and still weighed hundreds of pounds. The United States of America's nuclear weapons developers were encouraging of the military's desire for tactical nuclear weapons. The president of one of these nuclear weapons development companies, James McRae of Sandia Corporation , was among those propelling the further development of tactical nuclear weapons, asserting: "greater emphasis should be placed on small atomic weapons". The development of

180-461: A Mitsubishi Ki-51 of the 6th Flying Brigade, Imperial Japanese Army Air Force . The attack killed 30 personnel, including the cruiser's captain, Emile Dechaineux , and wounded 64, including the Australian force commander, Commodore John Collins . The Australian official history of the war claimed that this was the first kamikaze attack on an Allied ship. Other sources disagree because it

270-455: A kamikaze hits a Limey carrier it's just a case of 'Sweepers, man your brooms'." Twin-engine aircraft were occasionally used in kamikaze attacks. For example, Mitsubishi Ki-67 Hiryū ("Peggy") medium bombers, based on Formosa, undertook kamikaze attacks on Allied forces off Okinawa, while a pair of Kawasaki Ki-45 Toryu ("Nick") heavy fighters caused enough damage for the destroyer USS  Dickerson to be scuttled. The last ship in

360-494: A kamikaze in the Tao'an area. The personnel were unharmed, as they managed to evade the raid. On 19 August, nine aircraft raided the tanks of the 21st Guards Tank Brigade. Seven were shot down, but two planes broke through; one tank was destroyed and the other damaged. About the raid, the author of the book Tanker on a foreign vehicle D. Loza recalls six Japanese aircraft attacked the convoy, which damaged one Sherman tank and destroyed

450-429: A kamikaze , as were the carrier HMS  Victorious and the battleship HMS  Howe . The British were able to clear the flight deck and resume flight operations in just hours, while their American counterparts took a few days or even months, as observed by a US Navy liaison officer on HMS  Indefatigable who commented: "When a kamikaze hits a US carrier it means six months of repair at Pearl Harbor . When

540-497: A kamikaze . In the middle of August the Japanese military planned to dispatch a group of 30 kamikaze pilots from Japan to Korea to attack Soviet warships, but the Japanese leadership decided to surrender and the operation was cancelled. Kamikazes also operated against Red Army ground units. On August 10, three kamikazes attacked a tank column of the 20th Guards Tank Brigade. The paratroopers succeeded in shooting down two of

630-782: A B.S. in electrical engineering. He received a doctorate from the California Institute of Technology in 1937 and subsequently joined Bell Telephone Laboratories , working on technology for microwave and radio transmitters. In 1942, he joined the U.S. Army Signal Corps where he worked as a commissioned officer, eventually serving as deputy director of the "Engineering Staff of the Signal Corps Engineering Laboratories". McRae returned to Bell Labs in 1946 where he held several director positions before being appointed as vice president of systems development in 1951. In 1953, he served as president of

720-568: A Green Light Team member, trained for an operation in which his team parachuted from a cargo plane behind enemy lines with the approximate 58-pound (26 kg) nuclear device attached to them. Even one Green Light Team member, Bill Flavin, recalled the Green Light Team he commanded was trained to ski down a mountain with the SADM: "It skied down the mountain; you did not". Along with all the pre-mission training, field training and technique

810-574: A Japanese Ki-45 flown by Lieutenant Yoshira Tsiohara attacked a tanker in the port of Vladivostok. The plane was shot down and the pilot was killed. He was found to have orders to attack the largest tanker in Vladivostok, and if he failed, to ram the biggest house in the city. On the same day, the Soviet minesweeper KT-152 was sunk during the Battle of Shumshu . It is believed to have been attacked by

900-496: 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 armored flight deck. The resilience of well-armored vessels was shown on 4 May, just after 11:30, when there was a wave of suicide attacks against the British Pacific Fleet. One Japanese aircraft made

990-547: A medical vehicle. Japanese commanders ordered weapons depots to be secured and the propellers of aircraft on airfields to be removed to stop these sorties. Supposedly, the kamikazes carried out more than 50 suicide attacks against the Soviet Red Army in August 1945. That is the number of aircraft the Japanese attributed to "other losses". Overall, the kamikaze airstrikes proved ineffective and had little or no effect on

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1080-500: A mother aircraft, should be developed. The First Naval Air Technical Bureau ( Kugisho ) in Yokosuka refined Ohta's idea. Yokosuka MXY-7 Ohka rocket-powered aircraft , launched from bombers, were first deployed in kamikaze attacks from March 1945. US personnel gave them the derisive nickname " Baka Bombs" ( baka is Japanese for "idiot" or "stupid"). The Nakajima Ki-115 Tsurugi was a simple, easily built propeller aircraft with

1170-849: A part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II , intending to destroy warships more effectively than with conventional air attacks. About 3,800 kamikaze pilots died during the war in attacks that killed more than 7,000 Allied naval personnel, sank several dozen warships, and damaged scores more. Kamikaze aircraft were pilot-guided explosive missiles , purpose-built or converted from conventional aircraft. Pilots would attempt to crash their aircraft into enemy ships in what

1260-749: A quick war and lacked comprehensive programs to replace the losses of ships, pilots, and sailors. The Battle of Midway, the Solomon Islands campaign (1942–1945) and the New Guinea campaign (1942–1945) – notably the Battles of Eastern Solomons (August 1942) and Santa Cruz (October 1942) – decimated the IJNAS veteran aircrews, and replacing their combat experience proved impossible. During 1943–1944, US forces steadily advanced toward Japan. Newer US-made aircraft, especially

1350-555: A record-breaking flight from Tokyo to London in 1937 for the Asahi newspaper group was named Kamikaze . She was a prototype for the Mitsubishi Ki-15 ("Babs"). In Japanese, the formal term used for units carrying out suicide attacks during 1944–1945 is tokubetsu kōgekitai ( 特別攻撃隊 ), which literally means "special attack unit". This is usually abbreviated to tokkōtai (特攻隊). More specifically, air suicide attack units from

1440-631: A result. On 11 March, the U.S. carrier USS  Randolph was hit and moderately damaged at Ulithi Atoll , in the Caroline Islands, by a kamikaze that had flown almost 4,000 km (2,500 mi) from Japan, in a mission called Operation Tan No. 2 . On 20 March, the submarine USS  Devilfish survived a hit from an aircraft just off Japan. Purpose-built kamikazes , opposed to converted fighters and dive-bombers, were also being constructed. Ensign Mitsuo Ohta had suggested that piloted glider bombs , carried within range of targets by

1530-499: A single trained soldier. The United States of America's military leaders and President Dwight D. Eisenhower were concerned about the nuclear weapons cache and large manpower of the Soviet Union. They embraced a "New Look" idea of limited nuclear war. This new idea of limited nuclear warfare included the use of tactical nuclear weapons. Deployment of these tactical nuclear weapons required specially trained soldiers. This led to

1620-410: A steam line) before coming to rest in a fuel tank near the aircraft park, where it started a major fire. Eight personnel were killed and 47 were wounded. One Corsair and ten Grumman Avengers were destroyed. The fires were gradually brought under control, and the crater in the deck was repaired with concrete and steel plate. By 17:00, Corsairs were able to land. On 9 May, Formidable was again damaged by

1710-426: A steep dive from "a great height" at the carrier HMS  Formidable and was engaged by anti-aircraft guns. Although the kamikaze was hit by gunfire, it managed to drop a bomb that detonated on the flight deck, making a crater 3 m (10 ft) long, 0.6 m (2 ft) wide and 0.6 m (2 ft) deep. A long steel splinter speared down through the hangar deck and the main boiler room (where it ruptured

1800-568: A time crisis for the Green Light team members operating the mission. If the team members were instructed to bury the nuclear device, they certainly may have been able to evade the explosion, but radioactive fallout could still cause heavy damage. As a result of the tremendous danger these missions posed, they would likely have been highly scrutinized if known to the general public. Also, if the enemy had caught wind of such plans as well, they could plan and counter accordingly. Due to these reasons,

1890-509: A time when the war was looking increasingly bleak for the Japanese. They had lost several important battles, many of their best pilots had been killed, their aircraft were becoming outdated, and they had lost command of the air. Japan was losing pilots faster than it could train their replacements, and the nation's industrial capacity was diminishing relative to that of the Allies. These factors, along with Japan's unwillingness to surrender, led to

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1980-619: A wooden airframe that used engines from existing stocks. Its non-retractable landing gear was jettisoned shortly after takeoff for a suicide mission, recovered, and reused. Obsolete aircraft such as Yokosuka K5Y biplane trainers were also converted to kamikazes . During 1945, the Japanese military began stockpiling Tsurugi , Yokosuka MXY-7 Ohka, other aircraft and suicide boats for use against Allied forces expected to invade Japan. The invasion never happened, and few were ever used. In early 1945, US Navy aviator Commander John Thach , already famous for developing effective aerial tactics against

2070-425: Is the flowers of yamazakura [mountain cherry blossom ] that are fragrant in the Asahi [rising sun]. A less literal translation is: Asked about the soul of Japan, I would say That it is Like wild cherry blossoms Glowing in the morning sun. Ōnishi, addressing this unit, told them that their nobility of spirit would keep the homeland from ruin even in defeat. Several suicide attacks, carried out during

2160-400: Is usually translated as "divine wind" ( kami is the word for "god", "spirit", or "divinity", and kaze for "wind"). The word originated from Makurakotoba of waka poetry modifying " Ise " and has been used since August 1281 to refer to the major typhoons that dispersed Mongol-Koryo fleets which invaded Japan under Kublai Khan in 1274 and 1281. A Japanese monoplane that made

2250-406: The 40 mm Bofors was preferred, and though their high rate of fire and quick training remained advantageous, they lacked the punch to take down a kamikaze bearing down on the ship they defended. It was found that heavy anti-aircraft guns such as the 5"/38 caliber gun (127 mm) were the most effective as they had sufficient firepower to destroy aircraft at a safe range from the ship, which

2340-720: The Battle of Okinawa . On 6 April 1945, waves of aircraft made hundreds of attacks in Operation Kikusui ("floating chrysanthemums"). At Okinawa, kamikaze attacks focused at first on Allied destroyers on picket duty, and then on the carriers in the middle of the fleet. Suicide attacks by aircraft or boats at Okinawa sank or put out of action at least 30 US warships and at least three US merchant ships , along with some from other Allied forces. The attacks expended 1,465 aircraft. Many warships of all classes were damaged, some severely, but no aircraft carriers, battleships or cruisers were sunk by kamikaze at Okinawa. Most of

2430-841: The Boeing B-29 Superfortress to strike at the Japanese home islands. After the fall of Saipan, the Japanese High Command predicted that the Allies would try to capture the Philippines , strategically important to Tokyo because of the islands' location between the oilfields of Southeast Asia and Japan. Captain Motoharu Okamura , in charge of the Tateyama Base in Tokyo , as well as the 341st Air Group Home, was, according to some sources,

2520-576: The Davy Crockett nuclear device, an atomic weapon with a sub-kiloton energy yield that can be transported on the back of a jeep, served as a precursor to the eventual final product foreseen by the military, the Mk-54 SADM. The Davy Crocket's lightweight Mark-54 composition was encouraging to the further production and advancement of smaller SADMs, such as the W-54 version, which could be carried by

2610-670: The Grumman F6F Hellcat and Vought F4U Corsair , outclassed and soon outnumbered Japan's fighters. Tropical diseases, as well as shortages of spare parts and fuel , made operations more and more difficult for the IJNAS. By the Battle of the Philippine Sea (June 1944), the Japanese had to make do with obsolete aircraft and inexperienced aviators in the fight against better-trained and more experienced US Navy airmen who flew radar -directed combat air patrols . The Japanese lost over 400 carrier-based aircraft and pilots in

2700-524: The Imperial Japanese Navy were officially called shinpū tokubetsu kōgeki tai (神風特別攻撃隊, "divine wind special attack units"). Shinpū is the on-reading ( on'yomi or Chinese-derived pronunciation) of the same characters as the kun-reading ( kun'yomi or Japanese pronunciation) kamikaze in Japanese. During World War II, the pronunciation kamikaze was used only informally in the Japanese press in relation to suicide attacks, but after

2790-741: The Institute of Radio Engineers . In September 1953, he was appointed president of Sandia Corporation ; a position he held until October 1958. He subsequently returned to Madison, New Jersey , where he served as vice president of AT&T until his death on February 2, 1960, at the age of 49. This article about a United States engineer, inventor or industrial designer is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Kamikaze Kamikaze ( 神風 , pronounced [kamiꜜkaze] ; ' divine wind ' or ' spirit wind ' ) , officially Shinpū Tokubetsu Kōgekitai ( 神風特別攻撃隊 , ' Divine Wind Special Attack Unit ' ) , were

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2880-772: The Natural Resources Defense Council were outlined to the public. Many people, along with the American Congress, were skeptical of the concept of tactical nuclear devices being employed by a group of soldiers. At the time of the Atomic Demolition Munitions program's inception in the 1950s, the idea and practicality of this new smaller, tactical warfare was rational. In the Cold War's final few years of conflict and as concepts such as "limited nuclear war" were adapted,

2970-560: The Shinten Special Unit ( Shinten Seiku Tai ) at Narimasu Airfield, Nerima, Tokyo , to defend the Tokyo Metropolitan Area . The unit was equipped with Nakajima Ki-44 Shoki ("Tojo") fighters, whose pilots were instructed to collide with United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) B-29s approaching Japan. Targeting the aircraft proved to be much less successful and practical than attacks against warships, as

3060-409: The attack on Pearl Harbor . First Lieutenant Fusata Iida's aircraft had taken a hit and had started leaking fuel when he apparently used it to make a suicide attack on Naval Air Station Kaneohe . Before taking off, he had told his men that if his aircraft were to become badly damaged he would crash it into a "worthy enemy target". In late February, 1942, Imperial Japanese Headquarters mentioned, for

3150-619: The executive officer , were killed or wounded. This de facto kamikaze strike greatly changed the course of what was to happen during the infamous "Friday the 13th" battle 12 hours later. The carrier battles in 1942, particularly the Battle of Midway, inflicted irreparable damage on the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJNAS), such that they could no longer put together a large number of fleet carriers with well-trained aircrews. Japanese planners had assumed

3240-578: The invasion of Leyte by Japanese pilots from units other than the Special Attack Force, have been described as the first kamikaze attacks. Early on 21 October 1944, a Japanese aircraft deliberately crashed into the foremast of the heavy cruiser HMAS  Australia . This aircraft was possibly either an Aichi D3A dive bomber, from an unidentified unit of the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service, or

3330-491: The kamikazes were unable to turn the tide of the war and stop the Allied invasion. While on paper it may appear that kamikaze and kamikaze -assisted attacks at Okinawa only managed to sink smaller ships like destroyers, the reality is different. Kamikaze raids often included escort fighters and conventional bombers piloted by skilled aviators who were not intended to execute suicide strikes. These coordinated groups, such as

3420-500: The Battle of the Philippine Sea, effectively putting an end to their carriers' potency. Allied aviators called the action the " Great Marianas Turkey Shoot ". On 19 June 1944, aircraft from the carrier Chiyoda approached a US task group. According to some accounts, two made suicide attacks, one of which hit USS  Indiana . The important Japanese base of Saipan fell to the Allied forces on 15 July 1944. Its capture provided adequate forward bases that enabled US air forces using

3510-733: The Daikosan airfield and made a final aerial suicide attack against one of the Soviet armored units that had invaded Manchuria known as the Shinshu Fumetsu Special Attack Corps (Japanese: 神州不滅特別攻撃隊), The last kamikaze attacks were recorded on 20 August 1945. Shortly afterward, the main strength of the Japanese Army began to lay down its arms in surrender per the Emperor 's broadcast . The Soviet–Japanese War, and World War II, had come to an end. At

3600-530: The Green Light Team missions were top secret. The members of the teams could not even discuss their objective with their spouse. The fact that these missions were kept top secret meant that few medals or recognition were ever bestowed upon the Green Light Team members. Former Green Light Team member Robert Deifel retired from military service with six medals, but says he received copious letters from various military personnel and generals commending him and his team members for their accomplishments. Another key reason

3690-412: The Japanese kamikaze pilots. The general thought of many of the members of these Green Light Teams was that these missions were near suicidal. One Green Light Team member, Louis Frank Napoli, said of the missions: "We were kamikaze pilots without the airplanes". Robert Deifel, another Green Light Team member, said of the missions: "There was no room for error... We had to be absolutely perfect". The risk

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3780-528: The Japanese air forces seemed impossible. The 1st Air Fleet commandant, Vice Admiral Takijirō Ōnishi , decided to form a suicide offensive force, the Special Attack Unit. In a meeting on 19 October at Mabalacat Airfield (known to the US military as Clark Air Base) near Manila, Onishi told officers of the 201st Flying Group headquarters: "I don't think there would be any other certain way to carry out

3870-473: The Japanese such as the Thach Weave , developed a defensive strategy against kamikazes called the " big blue blanket " to establish Allied air supremacy well away from the carrier force. This recommended combat air patrols (CAP) that were larger and operated farther from the carriers than before, a line of picket destroyers and destroyer escorts at least 80 km (50 mi) from the main body of

3960-659: The Red Army during the Soviet–Japanese War. Vice Admiral Matome Ugaki , the commander of the IJN 5th Air Fleet based in Kyushu, participated in one of the final kamikaze attacks on American ships on 15 August 1945, hours after Japan's announced surrender. On 19 August 1945, 11 young officers under Second Lieutenant Hitoshi Imada, attached to the 675th Manchuria Detachment, accompanied by two women of their engagement, left

4050-742: The SADMs and Green Light Teams operations were kept highly secretive was also due to the targets and locations of the tactical nuclear weapons. As a counter to the Warsaw Pact forces perceivably outgunning and outmanning the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) during the standstill of the Cold War, President Dwight D. Eisenhower and his generals intended for the Green Light Teams to conduct missions not only in NATO occupied countries, but also in

4140-598: The SADMs or tactical nuclear weapons were in Eastern Europe and parts of the Middle East including Iran and even Korea. Because these targets were all around the world in different locations and terrains, the Green Light Troops were trained to reach their targets by land, air, and sea. These troops were trained to sneak behind enemy lines with the tactical nuclear weapon strapped to their back. This

4230-399: The US flagship, San Francisco , was heavily damaged during a Japanese bombing raid when a large twin-engined Japanese Mitsubishi G4M "Betty" medium bomber, which was in flames from anti-aircraft fire, most likely intentionally crashed into her backup conning tower, destroying almost all of the backup command equipment for the flagship. Most of the officers and men stationed there, including

4320-669: The Warsaw Pact nations. This new form of attack was to be used as a weapon to stop an enemy attack in its tracks or eliminate enemy nuclear devices. In order for such an operation to be successful, especially in the midst of a total nuclear war, this form of retaliation needed to be swift and efficient. That meant that these Atomic Demolition Munitions needed to be quickly accessed and deployed. Hundreds of these tactical nuclear devices were stashed throughout Europe and in NATO's arsenal. The Green Light Team missions were not publicly disclosed until 1984 when military documents and papers from

4410-469: The army's 31st Fighter Squadron on Negros Island decided to launch a suicide attack the following morning. First Lieutenant Takeshi Kosai and a sergeant were selected. Two 100 kg (220 lb) bombs were attached to two fighters, and the pilots took off before dawn, planning to crash into carriers. They never returned, but there is no record of a Kamikaze hitting an Allied ship that day. According to some sources, on 14 October 1944, USS  Reno

4500-417: The attacking aircraft, while the third crashed into a tank. During 12–13 August, 14 Japanese planes, including kamikazes , targeted tanks of the 5th Guards Tank Corps. Soviet fighter aviation, which managed to destroy three enemy aircraft and an anti-aircraft artillery which lost two planes participated in repulsing the air raids. Nine kamikazes crashed without hitting their targets. Damage from these attacks

4590-579: The bomb magazine exploding, sinking the carrier. By 26 October day's end, 55 kamikazes from the Special Attack Force had also damaged three large escort carriers: USS  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 . In total, seven carriers were hit, as well as 40 other ships (five sunk, 23 heavily damaged and 12 moderately damaged). Early successes—such as

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4680-440: The bombers made for much faster, more maneuverable, and smaller targets. The B-29 also had formidable defensive weaponry, so suicide attacks against B-29s demanded considerable piloting skill to be successful, which worked against the very purpose of using expendable pilots. Even encouraging capable pilots to bail out before impact was ineffective because vital personnel were often lost when they mistimed their exits and were killed as

4770-507: The combined number of fatalities suffered on all six Royal Navy armored carriers from all forms of attack during the entire war. Bunker Hill and Franklin were both hit (in Franklin's case, by a dive bomber, not a kamikaze ) while conducting operations with fully fueled and armed aircraft spotted on deck for takeoff, an extremely vulnerable state for any carrier. Eight kamikaze hits on five British carriers resulted in only 20 deaths while

4860-508: The creation of the Green Light Teams. These troops were trained and tested on their leadership, engineering, and psychology as well as their mental stability. The recruits also underwent a thorough background check by DoD before being confirmed into the SADM program. Green Light Team recruits would endure around twelve hours instruction in a classroom each day, while additionally working through concentrated exercises. Robert Deifel, an officer who

4950-402: The device and that it was still detonated on time without disruption. If the two man teams reached the desired target, they would deploy the nuclear code and arm the device. After arming the device a swift retreat would ensue. The tactical nuclear devices were detonated by either mechanical or radio detonators. Since a nuclear exchange across the globe could involve Electromagnetic (EMP) bursts,

5040-460: The devices had backups to the electrical systems. Early models contained a mechanical detonation line merely 330 feet (100 m) long from nuclear device to detonation team. Because of the vast difficulty and extreme danger that came along with handling SADMs, the extreme versions of transportation needed for the tactical nuclear weapon, and the stealth-like, perfect manner in which the missions had to be executed, Green Light Teams are comparable to

5130-581: The first officer to officially propose kamikaze attack tactics. With his superiors, he arranged the first investigations into the plausibility and mechanisms of intentional suicide attacks on 15 June 1944. In August 1944, it was announced by the Domei news agency that a flight instructor named Takeo Tagata was training pilots in Taiwan for suicide missions. One source claims that the first kamikaze mission occurred on 13 September 1944. A group of pilots from

5220-528: The first time, that a "human bomb" or Taiatari , had destroyed a US aircraft carrier. It was explained that the term, which meant "thrust of body," was the practice of Japanese airmen to dive with the full load of bombs on to their target. Another possible example occurred at the Battle of Midway when a damaged American bomber flew at the Akagi 's bridge but missed. During the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal

5310-495: The fleet to provide earlier radar interception and improved coordination between fighter direction officers on carriers. This plan also called for around-the-clock fighter patrols over Allied fleets. A final element included intensive fighter sweeps over Japanese airfields, and bombing Japanese runways, using delayed-action bombs making repairs more difficult. Late in 1944, the British Pacific Fleet (BPF) used

5400-545: The heaviest casualties on US carriers in 1945 (particularly as Bunker Hill was unlucky to get hit with fueled and armed aircraft on deck), the IJN had sacrificed 2,525 kamikaze pilots and the IJAAF 1,387 – without successfully sinking any fleet carriers, cruisers, or battleships. This was far more than the IJN had lost in 1942 when it sank or crippled three US fleet carriers (albeit without inflicting significant casualties). In 1942, when US Navy vessels were scarce,

5490-538: The high-altitude performance of its Supermarine Seafires (the naval version of the Spitfire) on combat air patrol duties. Seafires were involved in countering the kamikaze attacks during the Iwo Jima landings and beyond. The Seafires' best day was 15 August 1945, shooting down eight attacking aircraft with a single loss. Allied pilots were more experienced, better trained and in command of superior aircraft, making

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5580-428: The nuclear device at a distance to where they could ensure their own safety as well as that of the nuclear weapon. The team members could have even been tasked with burying the nuclear device underground, typically to prevent discovery. They were able to bury the device to a depth of 12 feet (3.7 m), though 9 feet (2.7 m) was typically executed. The soldiers had to confirm that an enemy combatant would not locate

5670-495: The operation [to hold the Philippines] than to put a 250 kg bomb on a Zero and let it crash into a US carrier, in order to disable her for a week." Commander Asaichi Tamai asked a group of 23 talented student pilots, all of whom he had trained, to volunteer for the special attack force. All of the pilots raised both of their hands, volunteering to join the operation. Later, Tamai asked Lieutenant Yukio Seki to command

5760-523: The plea for the United States to remove its Atomic Demolition Munitions cache in the area. By 1988, the last approximately 300 SADMs owned by the United States were withdrawn from the NATO arsenal. In 1989, the SADMs weapon and the Green Light Teams were officially retired. By the end of the Cold War, not a single Green Light Team conducted a real mission involving SADMs. James W. McRae James W. McRae (October 25, 1910 – February 2, 1960)

5850-411: The poorly trained kamikaze pilots easy targets. The US Fast Carrier Task Force alone could bring over 1,000 fighter aircraft into play. Allied pilots became adept at destroying enemy aircraft before they struck ships. Allied gunners had begun to develop techniques to negate kamikaze attacks. Light rapid-fire anti-aircraft weapons such as the 20 mm Oerlikon autocannons were still useful though

5940-409: The port catwalk and cartwheeled into the sea. Two others dived at USS  Fanshaw Bay but were destroyed by anti-aircraft fire. The last two, Seki among them, ran at USS  White Plains . Seki however, under heavy fire and trailing smoke, aborted the attack on White Plains and instead banked toward USS  St. Lo , diving into the flight deck, where his bomb caused fires that resulted in

6030-427: The practicality of the weapons were "obsolete", according to President George H.W. Bush. This further led to an increasing number of nuclear devices being relinquished or destroyed by all sides of the war. When NBC Nightly News ran two stories in the 1980s depicting the plan by the United States to operate Special Forces-led missions involving Atomic Demolition Munitions, West Germany's Defense Minister Manfred Worner led

6120-598: The ships lost were destroyers or smaller vessels, especially those on picket duty. The destroyer USS  Laffey earned the nickname "The Ship That Would Not Die" after surviving six kamikaze attacks and four bomb hits during this battle. American carriers, with their wooden flight decks, appeared to suffer more damage from kamikaze hits than the armored-decked carriers of the British Pacific Fleet . American carriers also suffered considerably heavier casualties from kamikaze strikes; for instance, 389 men were killed in one attack on USS  Bunker Hill , greater than

6210-429: The sinking of USS  St. Lo —were followed by an immediate expansion of the program, and over the next few months over 2,000 aircraft made such attacks. When Japan began to suffer intense strategic bombing by Boeing B-29 Superfortresses , the Japanese military attempted to use suicide attacks against this threat. During the northern hemisphere winter of 1944–45, the IJAAF formed the 47th Air Regiment, also known as

6300-515: The special attack force. Seki is said to have closed his eyes, lowered his head, and thought for ten seconds before saying: "Please do appoint me to the post." Seki became the 24th kamikaze pilot to be chosen. He later said: "Japan's future is bleak if it is forced to kill one of its best pilots" and "I am not going on this mission for the Emperor or for the Empire ;... I am going because I

6390-509: The tactical nuclear weapon to travel underwater at depths as deep as 200 feet (61 m). Green Light teams often consisted of three men who trained using actual atomic weapons. Green Light Team member Billy Waugh recalled being launched subsurface from the U.S. nuclear attack submarine USS Grayback while carrying an actual atomic weapon, a W54 SADM. Green Light Teams wore fatigues without military markings or insignia. Captain Tom Davis,

6480-484: The temporary absence of key warships from the combat zone would tie up operational initiatives. By 1945, however, the US Navy was large enough that damaged ships could be detached back home for repair without much hampering the fleet's operational capability. The only US surface losses were escort carriers, destroyers, and smaller ships, all of which lacked the armor protection or capability to sustain heavy damage. Overall,

6570-458: The time of the surrender, the Japanese had more than 9,000 aircraft in the home islands available for kamikaze attacks, and more than 5,000 had already been specially fitted for suicide attack to resist the planned either American or Soviet invasion. As the end of the war approached, the Allies did not suffer more serious significant losses, despite having far more ships and facing a greater intensity of kamikaze attacks. Although causing some of

6660-702: The use of kamikaze tactics as Allied forces advanced towards the Japanese home islands . The tradition of death instead of defeat, capture, and shame was deeply entrenched in Japanese military culture; one of the primary values in the samurai life and the Bushido code was loyalty and honor until death. In addition to kamikazes , the Japanese military also used or made plans for non-aerial Japanese Special Attack Units, including those involving Kairyu (submarines), Kaiten (human torpedoes), Shinyo speedboats, and Fukuryu divers. The Japanese word kamikaze

6750-732: The war to be sunk, the Fletcher -class destroyer USS  Callaghan , was on a radar picket line off Okinawa when she was struck by an obsolete wood-and-fabric Yokosuka K5Y biplane. During the final stage of World War II, the Imperial Japanese Army aviation employed numbers of kamikaze airstrikes against the Red Army during the Soviet–Japanese War in 1945. Between 9 August and 2 September 1945, several airstrikes involving kamikaze pilots were recorded. On 18 August,

6840-654: The war, this usage gained acceptance worldwide and was re-imported into Japan. Before the formation of kamikaze units, pilots had made deliberate crashes as a last resort when their aircraft had suffered severe damage and they did not want to risk being captured or wanted to do as much damage to the enemy as possible, since they were crashing anyway. Such situations occurred in both the Axis and Allied air forces. Axell and Kase see these suicides as "individual, impromptu decisions by men who were mentally prepared to die". One example of this may have occurred on 7 December 1941 during

6930-649: Was an American engineer who served as the third president of Sandia Corporation (a subsidiary of Bell Labs which managed the Sandia Laboratory ). Prior to serving as director, he was vice president of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company . McRae was born on October 25, 1910, in Vancouver , British Columbia , and graduated from the University of British Columbia in 1933 with

7020-473: Was assigned the task of assisting the Japanese ships that would attempt to destroy Allied forces in Leyte Gulf. That unit had only 41 aircraft: 34 Mitsubishi A6M Zero ("Zeke") carrier-based fighters, three Nakajima B6N Tenzan ("Jill") torpedo bombers , one Mitsubishi G4M ("Betty") and two Yokosuka P1Y Ginga ("Frances") land-based bombers, and one additional reconnaissance aircraft. The task facing

7110-554: Was called a "body attack" ( tai-atari ) in aircraft loaded with bombs, torpedoes , and/or other explosives. About 19 percent of kamikaze attacks were successful. The Japanese considered the goal of damaging or sinking large numbers of Allied ships to be a just reason for suicide attacks; kamikaze was more accurate than conventional attacks, and often caused more damage. Some kamikazes hit their targets even after their aircraft had been crippled. The attacks began in October 1944, at

7200-439: Was equally as important to the success of the operation. The team of soldiers was trained in handling nuclear weapons periodically. On the missions, the soldiers were highly trained in the handling and detonation of the tactical nuclear device, as well as its proper destruction in the case of being spotted by enemy soldiers or the mission being aborted. The team of soldiers on the Green Light missions were often instructed to deploy

7290-405: Was extremely prevalent when discussing the possible time frame for when these atomic devices could ignite on a mechanical timer. This timer would become less efficient and more risky the longer the duration of the timer was set. The team members had been informed that the timers could go off up to eight minutes earlier than desired and even thirteen minutes after expected. This would obviously create

7380-425: Was hit by a deliberately crashed Japanese aircraft. Rear Admiral Masafumi Arima , the commander of the 26th Air Flotilla (part of the 11th Air Fleet ), is sometimes credited with inventing the kamikaze tactic. Arima personally led an attack by a Mitsubishi G4M "Betty" twin-engined bomber against a large Essex -class aircraft carrier , USS  Franklin , near Leyte Gulf, on or about 15 October 1944. Arima

7470-405: Was killed and part of an aircraft hit Franklin . The Japanese high command and propagandas seized on Arima's example. He was promoted posthumously to vice admiral and was given official credit for making the first kamikaze attack. On 17 October 1944, Allied forces assaulted Suluan Island, beginning the Battle of Leyte Gulf . The Imperial Japanese Navy's 1st Air Fleet, based at Manila ,

7560-507: Was negligible. On 17 August, the Kwantung Army command ordered its units to surrender, but some of the pilots disobeyed and the Japanese air attacks continued. On 18 August, convoys of the 20th and 21st Armored Brigade were attacked. The kamikazes traded six of their aircraft for a tank and a couple of cars. The kamikazes also flew solo. On 18 August, several ammunition resupply vehicles carrying ammunition for BM-13 were destroyed by

7650-401: Was not a planned attack by a member of the Special Attack Force and was most likely undertaken on the pilot's own initiative. The sinking of the ocean tug USS  Sonoma on 24 October is listed in some sources as the first ship lost to a kamikaze strike, but the attack occurred before the first mission of the Special Attack Force (on 25 October) and the aircraft used, a Mitsubishi G4M ,

7740-597: Was not easy, as the Mark-54 SADMs weighed approximately 58.5 pounds (26.5 kg), was 18 inches (460 mm) in length, and 12 inches (300 mm) in diameter. Some Green Light Teams were missioned such that simple but secret ground truck transport to the target was feasible. Some Green Light Teams were trained to transport their bomb underwater if necessary. These Green Light Troops specialized in scuba and underwater missions. The United States Atomic Energy Commission , or AEC, even produced pressurized encasements for

7830-516: Was not flown by the original four Special Attack Squadrons. On 25 October 1944, during the Battle of Leyte Gulf , the Kamikaze Special Attack Force carried out its first mission. Five A6M Zeros, led by Lieutenant Seki, were escorted to the target by leading Japanese ace Hiroyoshi Nishizawa where they attacked several escort carriers . One Zero attempted to hit the bridge of USS  Kitkun Bay but instead exploded on

7920-557: Was ordered to." The names of the four subunits within the Kamikaze Special Attack Force were Unit Shikishima , Unit Yamato , Unit Asahi and Unit Yamazakura . These names were taken from a patriotic death poem , Shikishima no Yamato-gokoro wo hito towaba, asahi ni niou yamazakura bana by the Japanese classical scholar, Motoori Norinaga . The poem reads: If someone asks about the Yamato spirit [Spirit of Old/True Japan] of Shikishima [a poetic name for Japan] – it

8010-531: Was preferable since even a heavily damaged kamikaze could reach its target. The speedy Ohkas presented a very difficult problem for anti-aircraft fire, since their velocity made fire control extremely difficult. By 1945, large numbers of anti-aircraft shells with radiofrequency proximity fuzes , on average seven times more effective than regular shells, became available, and the US Navy recommended their use against kamikaze attacks. The peak period of kamikaze attack frequency came during April–June 1945 at

8100-432: Was recruited and a member of a Green Light Team, described the tactical training the recruits were subjected to as "very intense". The tactical training often took place throughout the day with a short break followed by more intense tactical training well into the night. Deifel recalls exercises where they were often in the woods in the middle of the night, with the mission to reach the top of a hill. The targets for most of

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