It would have been quite effective against carriers if it could get close enough. At this point in the war, kamikaze was a most efficient method of causing the most damage with the fewest numbers of planes. They called them stupid, but if you're old enough to have spoken to sailors or GI's who experienced an attack by them, you would know that it was a terrifying experience and killed a lot of our men, and damaged ships out of all proportion to the attackers' numbers. My uncle was aboard a destroyer somewhere in the Okinawa area, and they were hit by 3 suicide planes, killing half the crew.
Kamikaze pilots watching their country prosper after the Allied victory. Japan would have been assuming that they were going to be treated the same way they treated everyone else at the time
13:34 When attacking one of the destroyers, I forget which, the Ohka's warhead actually went clean through the ship, out the other side, and detonated in the water, leaving the ship mostly okay, just with a big hold on both sides.
G'day, The official Imperial Japanese name was "Okha..." (Cherry Blossom...). But the early US Naval encounters with them, Led some Anonymous US Naval Servicemen, on hearing About the term "Okha..." for the Manned Kamikaze Rocket-boosted Glide Bomb..., To say... " It's not much of a Cherry Blossom, The Okha Bomb Seems plain wrong ; That thing is Bakka, The plumb Crazy Bomb...!" Or, Words, to that Effect....(!). Such is life, Have a good one, Stay safe. ;-p Ciao !
If your cultural philosophy condones suicide, then it's not an idiot weapon at all; it makes perfect sense to improve the chances of that suicide having a significant effect. The real tactical failing was that effective fighter escort could not be provided to get it into launch range.
Uh, many of the surviving pilots from the kamikaze program (and the final letters from many who did not survive) stated that they did not want to die and felt pressured or forced to participate. Therefore it was stupid. The military creche was throwing everything away that it could to avoid an unconditional surrender that would leave them open to prosecution for war crimes... that included an attempt to overthrow the emperor himself after the first atomic bomb landed. You are committing the cardinal fallacy of presuming the entire country shared the same values as its leadership. The weapon was wildly ineffective and the whole kamikaze program itself was too. Those materials and men would have been better used doing literally anything else. It would never have worked, even if they had a wonder plane to get the bombers in range. The bombers themselves would have had to launch far back enough to avoid point defense screening that the okay would have to be lucky to spot a target. The same flaw existed with the logically much more effective suicide torpedoes. They got lost or hit by point defenses.
Warfare is a numbers game. The cherry blossom was a force multiplier. One aircraft might send a capital ship into drydock, or sink it. How much did 1 cherry blossom cost compared to a fleet xarrier, cruiser, or battleship?
@@josephvisnovsky1462 stupid when the success rate resulted in one possible sunk small ship in its entire life. Force multipliers only work when the force gets to be used. These categorically failed. How do you people not understand that. Coercing your population to kill themselves just to avoid war crimes prosecution is not glorious sacrifice. These were ineffective and never, ever would be. A nuclear weapon that thr is couldn't ever transport out of New Mexico would have been equally useless but still a "force multiplier" by that argument.
@@colinmartin9797 Where did I say every kamikaze wanted to do it? Where did I say the whole nation was of a single motivation? I said their culture condoned suicide, so any measure that can make suicide more effective is logical. You need to work on your reading comprehension before you start taking a pissy attitude with everyone.
The US already had TV guided remote aircraft that conducted ground attack missions and suicide drone strikes in WW2 that worked waaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy better
The intention was to make a cheap piloted bomb that was easily replaced, but in reality almost all of them were shot down along with their parent aircraft, achieving nothing but costing Japan valuable bombers and their crews that could _not_ be replaced. Idiot Bomb indeed !
When you look at the fact that said bombers were shot down a long way away, what was the chance of said planes flying closer and doing conventional bombing missions?
The term Baka was given by Gajin. The Nippon name is Ohka . That means Cherry blossoms. Beautiful but passing My Uncle flew for the Emperor. He survived . Because He had a job/misson. My Mom was home. Nagasaki. She got The Cancer 50 years old. He lived to be 90…
...how interesting!...how sad for your family...how tragic for your amazing people...I so wish you, your children, your nation continued peace and more prosperity yet!...
A kamikaze plane can fail to find a target and return to base. Many did this. The Oka was strictly one way making it less effective than a generic old Zero with a bomb attached.
Kamikaze concept wasn't that bad on paper. Air domination of allied forces were to big to even think that any conventional air raid angist warships has any chance of success. Still i think that this last effort should go into other places than that thing
They would probably have been better off designing it to be towed from the get go with a small piston engine in the nose & just enough fuel to keep it in the air for 100 miles or so. You lose 'boom' of course since your warhead has to be lightened but a least the tow plane crews would have been grateful!
Imagine if they had put 2 Argu As 014 pulsejets in them. It could run on very bad fuel, and give a far better range at a high speed. The engines were cheap to make, and not realy a big los to loose. On the V1 it gave a speed of 400 mph with 1 engine, the Orca a bit bigger and heavier, would have done fine with 2.
Neither its design nor its construction were the Okha's biggest problems. On April 15, 1945, over twenty kamikazes (not Okhas) ganged up on the USS Laffey (DD-729) in the most ferocious kamikaze attack on record. Laffey survived the attack, earning the monicker "The Ship That Would Not Die," but that's not my point. The Laffey was a destroyer. Why did all these poor doomed kamikaze boys waste their remaining lifetimes on such a low-value target? Because they didn't know any better. They were all rookies. By that point in the war, Imperial Japan was pretty much all out of veteran pilots who would have known to pick a battleship or carrier. And this was the Okha's biggest problem. Kids were all who were left to fly it.
Yeah that wouldn't have worked either. Those engines would be heard fifty miles away so no stealth, lol. Also effective radar screening and long range 5 inch AA fire means they would have still been shot down by the dd's in the hundreds. If Japan wanted to work on anything, an extreme performance interceptor for the b29's would have been the far more useful focus of resources.
@@colinmartin9797 I don´t agree with you. It would be next to imposible to catch for a fighter, and for the AA, unlike the V1, with a pilot aboard, it could change course and altitude, making it very hard to hit. The V1 was only shot down by AA because it flew in a straight line, and at the same altitude.
"Dude, your plane is a great big rocket-powered BOMB! How d'you bail out of it?" "I don't." (Beat. (Crickets chirp, a tumbleweed rolls by. (Some passing crows call us idiots.) " ... wut."
The B-29's target is civilians, while the target of the human missile is a warship. Did you know that there are more crew members of downed B-29s than deaths in kamikaze?
The young pilots (if you can call them that) believed they were dying for their deity (the Japanese believed Emperor Hirohito was the physical manifestation of their god). Add to that a fanatical ideology, an emotional attachment (prostitute), rice wine the night before, and it’s no surprise they could get young impressionable men to fly their Ohka’s. There’s an all white painted Ohka at my local aviation museum (Yorkshire Air Museum), the north of England. Along with a restored De Havilland Mosquito💚, a Shorts Stirling, and I believe a replica BF-109G💚, to name a few. Which amounts too a “grand day out” for the aviation enthusiasts.
I imagine it got its name when a GI said to his Japanese translator "wow that's a really dumb plane. How do you say dumb in Japanese?" "Baka" "Baka bomb! Perfect it rolls off the tongue"
Almost the exact way it happened... but it was not a GI. The inteligence folks that decided for BAKA, because it was a dumb idea. They were the same that "named' the Japanese planes as Betty of Francis.
Supposedly they were also used against B-29s. It would have been interesting had they been able to prevent the nuclear bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
@@mbpaintballaNah, there wouldn't have been a ground invasion, Japan were already in the process of surrendering behind the scenes before even the first bomb fell, the ruling class was just very slow to act on anything and they wanted to surrender with the condition that the Emporer could remain in place.
@@scottthewaterwarriorThe “surrender negotiations” were supported by two out of the ten members of the Japanese Cabinet - and were conditional on Japan holding on to the land they had occupied in China. Basically smoke and mirrors. The other eight members of the Japanese cabinet were backing a plan to use a mass banzai attack on the invasion forces as a negotiating strategy. So the Japanese were planning on causing mass casualties during an actual invasion. The use of nuclear weapons eliminated that strategy. (Six atomic bombs were to be detonated on each of the invasion beaches a half hour before the invasion fleet went in).
Two Ohka’s were launched against B-29’s but didn’t have the altitude capability to reach the B-29. These were the ground launched version with longer wings and bigger rocket engines. Machine cannon equipped versions were also built.
It was a manned V-1 (Which the Germans also had). It was better than the pigeon guided bomb. Modern missiles are nothing more than unmanned kamikaze aircraft.
There's some evidence the project wasn't intended to be a kamikaze weapon from its start. Imperial Japan still conducted technical trade missions with Germany during the war, shipping and receiving high value material and blueprints by submarine. They had received the documents for the Henschel HS293 before the Ohka project was started, so the possibility of a stand off weapon was known. Apparently the decision was made to make an improvement in the form of a new project rather than make a direct copy of the HS293. The Japanese probably felt the limitations of the HS293 were unsatisfactory (particularly range). We DO know that in parallel development with the Okha, an infrared seeker project was ongoing, for the use on multiple weapons. I've seen the postwar US technical report on this IR seeker, and the basic design is similar to early US IR seekers, and I would not be surprised if they were based on it. Anyway, tests were made of the IR seeker head attached to gravity bombs by Japan late in the war, and while it did function, it was not satisfactory. It was at this point, with no guidance system available for the MXY-7, the design was changed to add a cockpit and controls to fulfill it's role as a suicide weapon. That's the gist. So, it wasn't a "stupid weapon", it was just a desperate attempt to salvage an unfinished design of what would have been a fantastically useful weapon.
The kamikaze name and concept lives on with kamikaze drones. Suicide drones feels weird because there's no suicidal human pilot in it unless somebody demanded AI to be given human rights. And jihad drones...now, you're just asking to be cancelled.
So its like a V1, but you replace the gyro with a pilot and the starting ramp with a bomber. Coincidentally there was a manned V1 prototype. And that wierd mistle project that reverse the roles by have the smaller plane aim a bigger converted (stuffed with explosives) bomber into a target. I wonder if italy also had projects like that!
The kamikaze concept came about because Japan had run out of trained pilots so had no hope of getting past the Allied fighter cover using conventional attacks. It’s reprehensible morally, but it’s tactically and strategically the SANER option than getting your inexperienced pilots killed anyways for even less damage.
If they had made the model 22 into a parasite fighter or interceptor I think it would have been a real winner. Take out the warhead and replace with extra fuel and a cannon or rockets, and add the landing skid off the trainer, and you have a super maneuverable, lightweight, easy to produce fighter aircraft with (probably) a ridiculous top speed. Add several solid rocket motors that can be turned on for a momentary boost and it's even faster. Think about how ridiculously lightweight this aircraft is without the warhead, and that even with the warhead the model 22 has a near 300mph speed in level flight. Now reduce the weight significantly by removing the warhead and adding fuel for increased range. Think about the fact that it could have been carried under a bomber in a bomber formation with a pilot riding inside, ready to release the plane at a moment's notice. I think it could have been a great design, just not the way they built it. If it had been built as the model 22 from the beginning and as a fighter I think it could have potentially been one of the highest performance fighters in the Pacific theater. The design was quite good I think, the use as a manned cruise missile was stupid.
As for the identification of a kamikaze aircraft - what is left after a 400kt impact into an armored deck would barely be identifiable as an aircraft let alone a specific type. There was a photo doing the rounds of a kamikaze that slammed into the side of a British cruiser - all that was left was a black burn in the outline of the aircraft on the belt armour. It washed off by the next day.
A ship. One. One kill in 70+ deployments, each ending with the weapon, its operator, and often even its carrier lost *every time* is a stupid weapon indeed.
mine would be the Bachem Ba 349 Natter... Same desperate concepts! they would have more success with the ohka if it was lighter, hence more range, hence more chances of getting delivered... The germans had some succes with radio-guided bombs
For metric users like myself. The basic frame of 970 lbs works out as just under 440 kilos. 4718lbs is 2140 kilos. The 2600lbs warhead works out as 1179 kilos Speeds are 288 mph = 463.4 Km/h 403 mph = 648.6 Km/h 620 m[h = 997.8 Km/h I could imagine them being of use if they were used against bombers as short range interceptors (No bomb but carrying guns or rockets and a longer range).
It’s an interesting & frankly frightening idea from the standpoint of an allied ship crew. However it wasn’t a great idea, if it had been produced earlier in the war and given time to mature it might have helped Japan although I don’t know what feedback loop the imperial Japanese navy would use to improve the solution as the pilots were all dead after their first flight in combat.
Apparently, there were also suicide boats and suicide divers, which I'd argue would probably be more successful. The boats wouldn't be visible until they were quite close, and the divers couldn't be seen at all by anyone on the surface.
Geez mate I own a book written in the 70's and even it says the Baka nickname "which was not very appropriate" .......... Kamikaze makes way more sense when you're losing your airforce for no discernable results ......... At least they could hit something , unlike the suicidal daylight "precision" bombing the US was doing on a daily basis when they weren't grounded by casualties 😅
Excellent content; great research and visuals. I hope you will consider a more natural narration style, though, as the "Cronkite-esque" or news-anchor-style affectation made it very difficult to listen to.
I have a question, what was the deal with The "Liz", it seems like a much more modern designed bomber, then The Betty, but I rarely if ever hear about it in documentaries, was it just to complicated/expensive to build in large numbers? Or more of a prototype?
Das muss so furchtbar für den Piloten gewesen sein, es fehlen einem die Worte. Noch furchtbares war es , das al diese Einsätze, Selbstmorde nichts gebracht haben - alle letztlich umsonst geopfert!!!
While simplistic, after the V2 it is technically the second precision guided munition ever made. It was more a failure of how it was implemented. Even though the Japanese had effective radar, they seem not to have appreciated the capability of US radar combined with a radar picket. The Japanese potentially could have used them before the picket system was fully developed. If they had initially targeted the picket ships instead of trying to get past them, they could have made it too costly to continue. Instead the pickets were more of a secondary target if they knew they couldn't get to the capital ships. Far more devastating would have been a combined tactic of a first wave to cripple the pickets with a follow up wave to penetrate the now blind perimeter into the fleet. Thankfully their mindset of fixation on the carriers held sway.
In the context of the military situation of the time, the aircraft was not stupid. It was just one more weapon among many. It was designed for a specific purpose and it fulfilled the needs of that purpose. They needed a weapon of desperation, and they made one. The only flaw it had was the delivery system, a slow, unprotected Betty bomber. Realistically, at that point in the war all military operations conducted by the Japanese might be considered to be "stupid," but, within their mindset, none of this was stupid. They were indoctrinated to believe that ultimate victory must be eventually theirs, no matter how many set backs they were suffering, no matter how much pain it cost. You must remember that they, like the nazis, were in a state of total denial. Never mind the reality - they did not see themselves as losing.
Regarding the “contested” hit by an Ohka - there is no denial that the USS West Virginia was hit by a suicide plane, the issue is was it an Ohka or a regular kamakazi aircraft. Ditto the three other support vessels hit by suicide attacks around the same time. I certainly don’t know.
I wouldn't count it as the dumbest plane--that would probably go to the Me-163, which combined an insane design with an impractical concept and a fuel source that tended to result in the plane blowing itself up at any time (including before it even took off).
Look. Those pilots knew they'd be killed in the air sooner or later anyway. A suicide mission gave them the best chance of not dying in vain. Under those circumstances, most of us would have made the same choice. In fact, it was an American that did the same that gave them the idea! Look it up.
I've seen a similarly small plane but cockpit in line with the wings, fuel tank up front, powered by a similar motorjet to the model 22, except with a 2 stroke McCulloch TC6150J (120HP) flat 6 turbocharged and intercooled engine powering the compressor, and also a V-tail like a Beechcraft Bonanza rather than the T Tail of the original . Retractable landing gear that folds up into the wings and a tailwheel. The compressor and combustion chamber are approximately the same design as the model 22. The fuel pump for the jet is driven off the shaft between the engine and compressor. Same diagonal air intakes. Slightly longer in the rear and shorter up front with a slightly wider wingspan. Clearly inspired by the Model 22 but with many alterations. It is quite fast and maneuverable, don't know about range. It has a very unique sound kind of like a jet with afterburner on with the exhaust of the 2 stroke also audible. Not sure who built it or when it was built but it occasionally shows up at the local small airfield and I've seen it fly over the house doing at least 250mph at low altitude.
Eh ... The thing that was stupid - was attacking the United States, Britain and The Netherlands. That's what was stupid. Read John Toland's _The Rising Sun_ to see how that came about. Towards the end of the war - just getting in a Japanese Aircraft to engage the Americans - was largely Suicidal - so - they may as well try and get a hit. The problem here - was that American Technology simply out paced Japanese Technology. They were able to make a Man Guided Rocket Plane - but we had Radar that could mostly detect their aircraft coming in. They were trying everything they could - and none of it was going to work well enough to stop us. The Americans had enough Radar Sets that they could put one on pretty much all of their destroyers - and then post these destroyers out away from the fleet as Radar Pickets to detect incoming Japanese Raids. Then they'd vector their Interceptors in and shoot these raids to pieces. The basic idea - was NOT that bad. It just wasn't quite good enough. As said - if they had figured out a way to get a little bit more range out of these things they _might_ have worked. The thing is - if you compare 23 miles to the ranges at which they were able to attack American Fleets earlier in the war - it would have been fine. The problem for these things - was the Radar Pickets - stationed far enough out to pick up their raids and vector Interceptors to them before the Bombers could Launch. You notice - that most of the ships hit by Kamikazes were Radar Pickets. They'd take one out - and we'd send out another to take it's place. We had enough destroyers - to do that. They couldn't use those bombers for much else. They'd just get shot down before they got anywhere near enough to ram a ship or drop iron bombs on it. A Stand Off Weapon like this - was about the only way they could make these bombers effective. They just couldn't quite make it work. Look at the Germans V-1's. Those had plenty of range - and the first experimental ones - were flown by pilots. These were launched from Rails on land. If these Ohka's had been more like the V-1's - they might have worked better. The Germans Built Hundreds of V-1's and bombarded London with them. They were just unmanned - so they couldn't hit a ship. The thing is - if they had increased the range of the Ohka - the Americans could have just put the Radar Pickets farther out. So - they'd need a lot more range and the ability to launch hundreds of them - which they weren't able to do. It wasn't 1942 any more. The Americans learned a LOT during all those Carrier Battles and had developed a sophisticated Air Defense system to detect enemy raids and vector Interceptors to intercept them. This isn't just technology - it's the systems and procedures to USE it. Hell - the Americans picked up the Japanese Raid on Pearl Harbor - but - they didn't know what they were doing - so it didn't matter. By 1945 - the Americans KNEW what they were doing. Desperate people do desperate things. Look at the _CSS Hunley_ the first submarine to sink a ship. It killed ALL it's crews. It would kill a crew in training - they'd recover it - and put another crew in there for it to kill. The Confederates weren't stupid here and neither were the Japanese. They were just desperate. Thank God for all concerned - that after Nagasaki - Hirohito - asked his people to stand down - to "Endure the Un-endurable" - and because their Emperor asked them to - they did. Make no mistake - they were ready to fight to the death as they had time and again on all those Islands. Millions of people would have died - but unlike Hitler - Hirohito cared whether his people died of not. Hitler felt that the German People had let HIM down and deserved to die. He said so. .
