Posted on 06/09/2015 5:02:19 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
The lack of a feedback loop was a problem with the kamikaze tactics. There were no “veteran” kamikaze pilots. You could make “rookie of the year” but that was about it.
The kamikazes had something of a dilemma. If they tried mass attacks, the large groups of planes would be easier to see on radar from a greater distance, and the American fighter would be vectored in to start the turkey shoot well before they got to the fleet. Another issue is that the anti-aircraft fire of the day was probably more effective against a massed group than an individual plane.
And by the nature of the “Special Attack Corps,” the pilots had very little flight experience. So it was not like they practiced any sort of formation flying to stay in a massed group. Nor would they be able to make coordinated attacks based on sequential timing.
So I think the Japanese probably made the best decision; send a mass of planes out to make individual independent attack runs at about the same time from different directions. The CAP is dispersed, and the AA fire control officers have divided attention. One plane that gets all the attention from the AA batteries might sacrifice themselves to let a lurker make a successful run from another quarter.
Makes sense. Thanks.
Is "zig zag," racist?
5.56mm
Why are you worrying? The Japs are finished. Everyone knows this.
Actually, the Navy knew there were Japanese subs on patrol in the Philippine Sea, but there were no escorts available for the Indianapolis. And per the testimony of a veteran U.S. sub skipper (Donc Donaho, I believe) at the Court Martial of Captain McVay, with modern torpedoes and fire control techniques, zig zagging was not effective in avoiding a torpedo attack anyway.
Lt. Ozawa cannot be present tonight; accepting the award on his behalf . . .
“Today, you will take your kamikaze airplane high into the sky, over the Yankee aircraft carrier, then take the kamikaze plane down, crashing on the deck, killing yourself and all aboard. Before we have the ceremonial sake toast, are there any questions? Yes, you in the back.”
“Honorable general-san: Are you out of your ******* mind?”
Thanks to Cheech and Chong.
No old bold pilots.
It would appear that General Kenny is stating the current population is 73,000,000 and when it was a closed society living on domestic production the law required a population of 30,000,000. So he is making a point of what happens as they stop the imports.
Just caught me attention that there was a law regarding population. Also the Chinese had similar laws in the 60’s, a cultural thing? It has happened in the past and could very easily happen in the future even here.
“A heavy cruiser sighted on the 7th leaving Batavia has been sunk by TRENCHANT British submarine...”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_of_8_June_1945
The Action of 8 June 1945, sometimes called the Sinking of the Ashigara was a naval action that resulted in the sinking of the heavy cruiser Ashigara of the Imperial Japanese Navy by the British Royal Navy submarine HMS Trenchant. Ashigara—which was being escorted by the destroyer Kamikaze—was being used to transport troops from Indonesia for the defence of Singapore and the sinking resulted in a huge loss of life.
Kamikaze was patrolling the area and soon a cautious Hezlet spotted the masts of Ashigara nearly 6 mi (5.2 nmi; 9.7 km) away through the periscope at around 11:48. It soon became clear to Hezlet that he could not reach a firing position closer to Ashigara than 4,000 yd (3,700 m), the limit of his torpedoes’ range.
At such a distance, Hezlet had to make precise estimable calculations before his chance of an attack disappeared. After 21 minutes, Trenchant fired a full bow salvo of eight torpedoes at about 12:12 at a range of 4,000 yd (3,700 m) aimed individually from a quarter of length ahead to a quarter of a length astern. Because of the shoreline to port Ashigara could only alter toward Trenchant and that meant running into the torpedoes. After three minutes five torpedoes struck the Ashigara.
The sinking of Ashigara earned Hezlet a bar to his DSO and the U.S. Legion of Merit. HMS Trenchant flew the Jolly Roger as a tribute to her success when she reached her base at Trincomalee. Tactically it was one of the most brilliant submarine attacks of the war in terms of range.
No, but ziggin and zaggin is.
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/06/05/pittsburgh-transit-agency-removing-bus-decals-that-look-like-racist-slur
He seemed ambivalent if not reluctant to do it but felt he would be shamed if he didn't. He even thought about backing out. He seemed very relieved to be picked up by an American ship and made a prisoner. He did not fit the usual picture of a fanatic anxious to die for the Emperor.
Had they been better pilots we would never know about his story. It reminded me of another story Toland told of a Japanese infantryman who eventually became disillusioned and was one of the few to get off Leyte.
Little secret was the Kamikazes were actually causing serious damage and perhaps changing the dynamic in the Pacific.
Aside from Russian sergeants machine-gunning retreating Russian soldiers, shame or something related to it has always been a leading battlefield motivator. It is ever thus.
Re the New Guinea rescue (page 6) - I read a free Kindle book about that a year or so ago. They ended up using the ‘snatch’ technique to pull the gliders out after they had been loaded. The glider hit some trees on the way out.
They considered trying a helicopter, but my recollection is that they had neither the range nor the altitude to get over the mountains.
I’m going to take a drive to see a B17 - B24 and a P51 tomorrow morning of the Collings Foundation. My brother was a Bombardier on a B17 over Europe
I confess that until reading these daily threads I did not appreciate just how much damage and how many casualties the kamikazes caused. This was a very hard fought battle and it’s crazy to think the Navy sustained more deaths than the Army, although if you figure in Marine deaths there were still more deaths from the land war. I just didn’t realize how bad the kamikazes were.
Kamikaze attacks sent more ships limping back to drydock for repairs then replacements could be found. The Kamikaze damaged ships above the waterline which means they weren’t sunk just put out of action-for months. They also killed a bunch of sailors.
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