Kamikaze Attacks of World War II: A Complete History of Japanese Suicide Strikes on American Ships, by Aircraft and Other Means

385 Pages·2010·15.46 MB·English

by  Robin L. Rielly

Kamikaze Attacks
of World War II
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Kamikaze Attacks
of World War II
A Complete History of Japanese
Suicide Strikes on American Ships,
by Aircraft and Other Means
R L. R
OBIN IELLY
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Jefferson, North Carolina, and London
LIBRARYOFCONGRESSCATALOGUING-IN-PUBLICATIONDATA
Rielly, Robin L.
Kamikaze attacks of World War II : a complete history of Japanese suicide
strikes on American ships, by aircraft and other means / Robin L. Rielly.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-7864-4654-4
illustrated case binding : 50# alkaline paper
¡. Japan. Kaigun. Kamikaze Tokubetsu Kogekitai. 2. World War, 1939–1945—
Aerial operations, Japanese. 3. Kamikaze pilots—History. 4. World War,
1939–1945—Campaigns—Pacific Area. 5. World War, 1939–1945—
Naval operations, American. 6. Warships—United States—
History—20th century. I. Title.
D792.J3R523 2010 940.54'4952—dc22 2010021494
British Library cataloguing data are available
©2010 Robin L. Rielly. All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying
or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publisher.
On the cover: Photograph of an attack on the
U.S.S. White Plainsby a Japanese A6M Zero on October 25, 1944
(National Archives and Records Administration)
Manufactured in the United States of America
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Box 6¡¡, Je›erson, North Carolina 28640
www.mcfarlandpub.com
To Madeline Rose Booth
This page intentionally left blank
Table of Contents
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Part One—The Genesis of the Kamikazes,
Their Organization, and Disposition
1. The Development of the Samurai Class and Its Ethos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2. Kamikaze Traditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
3. Special Attack Aircraft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
4. Development of the Tokko-tai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
5. Tactics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
6. Kamikazes on Land and Sea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Part Two—The Kamikaze Chronicles:
A Detailed Account of the Attacks
7. Prelude to Mayhem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
8. The December Kamikazes, 1944 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
9. Lingayen Gulf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
10. Taiwan, Iwo Jima, and Ulithi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
11. Okinawa and the Ten GoCampaign . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
12. The Invasion of Okinawa, Week One . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
13. The Onslaught Continues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
14. “...We Cleaned Up the Bodies...” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
15. A Miserable May . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
16. The War Winds Down . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288
17. Ketsu Go: Defending the Homeland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301
vii
viii Table of Contents
Appendix I: U.S. Navy and Merchant Marine Ships Damaged
or Sunk by Kamikaze Attacks, 1942–1945 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317
Appendix II: Ship Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325
Appendix III: American and Japanese Aircraft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334
Chapter Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369
Preface
For the past fifteen years or so I have focused my research efforts on American naval his-
tory in the World War II era. This research began with an interest in the ship on which
my father served during that war. I thought it would be my first and last effort in the area but
as time went on, one research project seemed to lead to another. I completed books on the
LCS(L) ships, then the radar picket ships at Okinawa and, in this work, the kamikaze expe-
rience.
Over the years there have been a number of books published on the kamikazes. Vir-
tually all focus on specific incidents, campaigns, or ships and their experiences as they encoun-
tered the Tokko-tai fliers or kamikazes. To this point no one has attempted a complete
accounting of the more than 400 incidents of kamikaze attacks on American ships in World
War II.
Some of the books written to date were by eyewitnesses to the carnage suffered by
the United States Navy ships that were attacked by the kamikazes in the Philippines and
at Okinawa. Still others were by former members of the Japanese naval and army air wings
whose fate assigned them to the special attack corps. Ultimately, they survived to tell of
their training and experience. A few former Japanese naval officers have written about the
kamikazes and sought to rationalize their participation in the organization that sent others,
much junior, to their deaths. In addition, there are works that seek to sensationalize the
kamikaze phenomenon. To my knowledge, no work exists that documents the numerous
attacks that took place against the American ships that served in the Pacific theater of oper-
ations. With that in mind, I have undertaken an examination of the kamikaze attacks during
the Second World War.
As the reader will note, there are a number of photos in this work from the National
Archives and Records Administration in College Park, Maryland. I have spent many hours
of research there and have had excellent help from Rutha Beamon, Theresa Roy, Sharon Cully,
and Holly Reed in the still photo section. Barry Zerbe in the textual reference branch
has always been able to find materials hidden in the vast collection that have aided in my
research.
Numerous veterans of the war have generously consented to interviews and have aided
substantially in my understanding of the events. Their eyewitness accounts have been most
helpful. For their time and eyewitness testimony I am indebted to Dr. Donald L. Ball, John
L. Barkley, Frank Barnby, Ray Baumler, Earl Blanton, Dean Bell, William E. Bletso, Robert
Blyth, Harold H. Burgess, William R. Christman, George E. Davis, Mel Dean, W. A. Dworzak,
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