The Nazi V-2 rocket became infamous during the latter part of World War Two in Europe; however, there was a different weapon commonly used by Japan against the Allies. Here, Daniel Boustead explains the importance of Japanese Kamikaze suicide attacks – and compares their military impact to that of the Nazi V-2 rocket.
A Kamikaze suicide dive against the USS Essex on November 25, 1944.
During World War II the Nazi V-2 Rocket achieved fame and infamy in its operational launchings against allied targets in Europe from 1944 to 1945. The Nazi V-2 rocket also served as a predecessor for the Saturn V Rocket that brought man to the moon in 1969. The V-2 rocket also influenced the U.S. Missile program. However, the V-2 Rocket’s impact during World War II was much less than the Japanese suicide ‘weapons’ which were made by the Japanese Kamikaze units. Japanese Kamikaze planes were more effective than the German V-2 Rocket.
Kamikaze plane sinkings
The regular Kamikaze piston engine aircraft sunk 46 ships from October 25th, 1944 to July 29th, 1945 - and 3 out of those 46 ships sunk were aircraft carriers (the most important target the Japanese wanted to destroy) ([1]).
The Japanese Model 11 Ohka “Cherry Blossom” suicide rocket plane sunk the American destroyer Mannert L. Abele off the coast Okinawa on April 12th, 1945([2]).
The Japanese Kaiten Type 1 suicide torpedo sunk the American fleet oiler Mississinewa (AD-39) off the coast of Ulithi on November 20th, 1944 after it was launched from Japanese submarine I-47([3]). The Japanese Kaiten Type 1 suicide torpedo sunk the large landing craft infantry LCI(L)-600 at Ulithi on January 12th, 1945 ([4]). On July 24th, 1945 the American destroyer escort Underhill was sunk by a Japanese submarine which fired the Type 1 Kaiten suicide torpedo at the vessel and made a direct hit sinking it in the Philippine Sea area([5]). A total of 3 American ships were sunk by Japanese Kamikaze Kaiten Type 1 suicide torpedoes during World War II.
The Japanese Shinyo suicide motorboats sunk between the dates of January 9th and January 10th, 1945 the American landing craft infantry-mortar LCI (M)-974 in the Lingayen Gulf in the Philippines([6]). On January 31st, 1945 Japanese Shinyo suicide motorboats sunk the American sub-chaser PC-1129 in the Philippines (6). On February 16th, 1945 Japanese suicide Shinyo motorboats sunk the American Large Landing Craft Support, MK LCS (L) 3-26, LCS (L) (3)-7, and LCS (3)-49 in the port of Mariveles in the Philippines (6). On the dates of April 3rd to April 4th, 1945 Japanese Shinyo Suicide motorboats sunk the American landing craft infantry-gunboat LCI (G)-82 off the coast of Okinawa([7]). A total of six American ships were sunk by the Japanese Shinyo suicide motorboats during World War II.
A grand total of 56 American Ships were sunk by Japanese Suicide Weapons during World War II: 46 American ships sunk by regular Kamikaze piston engine aircrafts, 1 by the Japanese Okha model 11 Okha “Cherry Blossom”, 3 by the Japanese Kaiten type 1 suicide torpedoes, and 6 by the Japanese Shinyo suicide motorboats).
Impact of Kamikaze suicide weapons
The Japanese Kamikaze suicide weapons not only killed people and caused valuable equipment to be lost, but also created psychological fear in the American military who faced them. This combination made the Japanese Kamikaze weapons very effective. In contrast the German V-2 Rocket was designed principally to be a terror weapon against civilians and thus had very little effect against military targets([8]). The Kamikaze weapons, then, had some advantages which the German V-2 Rocket lacked in military terms.
The Japanese Kamikaze suicide piston engine aircraft, the Japanese Model 11 Ohka Cherry Blossom suicide rocket planes, and Shinyo suicide motorboats had increased accuracy because humans were inside them. The German V-2 rocket lacked this and was guided to its target using a combination of radio control transmitter a control receiver, and a gyroscope([9]). The Japanese Kaiten Type 1 suicide torpedo had a 3,400 lbs. warhead and its fuel was a kerosene and oxygen mixture, which meant that it would not leave a white trail of water behind it, making it hard to spot after it was fired ([10]).
In contrast while the V-2 rocket and the Kaiten Type 1 suicide torpedo were invulnerable after being launched, the Kaiten Type 1 suicide torpedo was more destructive than the German V-2 rocket. The reason is that the German V-2 rocket warhead was filled with 1,650 pounds of the explosive Amatol([11]). The fact that Japanese Kaiten Type 1 suicide torpedo carried a 3,400 lbs. warhead made a far more destructive weapon than the German V-2 rocket. According to the series Nazi Mega Weapons: German Engineering in WW II: Axis Weapon - The Kamikaze, historian Tosh Minhora stated: “The Kaiten was intended to sink a very large battleship - just with one shot it packed a large punch!”([12]). Also, the fact that the Kaiten Type 1 suicide torpedo had human guidance improved its accuracy over the V-2 rocket’s complicated guidance system. The Kaiten Type 1 suicide torpedo was probably the strongest Kamikaze suicide weapon.
The combination of Japanese Kamikaze weapons, the fanatical and diehard Japanese refusal to surrender, (that the allies witnessed fighting the Japanese in the Pacific and Asian Theatre), and little to almost no opposition to war at home in Japan or by ethnic Japanese in their occupied territories, forced the Allies to enact three drastic measures. The Americans used atomic bombs on Hiroshima on August 6th, 1945 and then again on Nagasaki on August 9th, 1945. Thirdly the Soviets’ launched Operation August Storm which retook the Japanese occupied colonies of Manchuria, Kuril Islands, and Sakhalin Islands. It was only after these three events that the Japanese capitulated to the Allies on August 15th, 1945 and signed a peace treaty aboard the American Battleship U.S.S. Missouri. In contrast, “while the V-2 Rocket resulted in the Allies having to divert manpower from other necessary military operations to civil defense, aerial reconnaissance, and bombing of the flying bomb sites - England was not terrorized into surrender and the flow of military supplies to Antwerp, Belgium and Liege, Belgium was barely affected”(8).
The V-2 rocket achieved infamy and brought about destruction in Europe from 1944 to 1945, and it would serve as the model of the rocket that put a man on the moon in 1969. However, the German V-2 rocket did not have the strategic and tactical impact that the Japanese Kamikaze weapons had. These unconventional Japanese weapons were clearly superior in destructive power and military effectiveness.
Do you think the Japanese Kamikaze weapons were more effective than the Nazi V-2 rockets? Let us know below.
[1] Gordan, Bill. “47 Ships Sunk by Kamikaze Aircraft”. Kamikaze Images. Accessed August 28th, 2020.https://wgordon.web/wesleyan/edu/kamikaze/background/ships-sunk/index.htm
[2] Grunden, Walter E. Secret Weapons & World War II: Japan in the Shadow of Big Science. Lawrence: Kansas. University Press of Kansas. 2005. 152.
[3] Boyd, Carl and Yoshida, Akihiko. The Japanese Submarine Force and World War II. Annapolis: Maryland. Bluejacket Books: Naval Institute Press. 1995 and 2002. 169.
[4] “NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive- USS LCI(L)-600”. August 28th, 2020. https://www.navsource.org/archives/10/15/150600.htm
[5] Frank, Richard B. Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire. New York: New York. Random House. 1999. 159.
[6] Hackett, Bob and Kingsepp, Sander. SHINYO!: Explosive Motorboats based in the Philippines 1944-1945. Last Modified. 2009-2011. Nihon Kaigun. Accessed August 28th, 2020. http://www.combindedfleet.com/PhilippinesEMB.htm
[7] Hackett, Bob and Kingsepp, Sander. SHINYO!: Explosive Motorboats based at Okinawa 1944-1945. Last Modified 2009-2011. Nihon Kaigun. Accessed August 29th, 2020.
[8] Kennedy, Gregory P. Germany’s V-2 Rocket. Atglen: Pennsylvania. Schiffer Military History. 2006. 79.
[9] Kennedy, Gregory P. Germany’s V-2 Rocket. Atlgen: Pennsylvania. Schiffer Military History. 2006. 51-53.
[10] Boyd, Carl and Yoshida, Akihiko. The Japanese Submarine Force and World War II. Annapolis: Maryland. BlueJacket Books Naval Institute Press. 1995 and 2002. 39
[11] Kennedy, Gregory P. Germany’s V-2 Rocket. Atglen: Pennsylvania: Schiffer Military History. 2006. 48.
[12] Minohara, Tosh. “Axis Weapon-The Kamikaze”. Nazi Mega Weapons: German Engineering in WWII. PBS. 2014-2015.
Bibliography
Boyd, Carl and Yoshida, Akihiko. The Japanese Submarine Force and World War II. Annapolis: Maryland. Bluejacket Books: Naval Institute Press. 1995 and 2002.
Frank, Richard B. Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire. New York: New York. Random house, 1999.
Gordon, Bill. “47 Ships Sunk by Kamikaze Aircraft”. Last Modified 2007. Accessed August 28th, 2020. https://wgordon.web.wesleyan.edu/kamikaze/background/ships-sunk/index.htm
Gruden, Walter E. Secret Weapons & World War II: Japan in the Shadow of Big Science. Lawrence: Kansas. University Press of Kansas. 2005
Hackett, Bob and Kingsepp, Sander. SHINYO!: Explosive Motorboats based in the Philippines 1944-1945”. Last Modified 2009-2011. Nihon Kaigun. Accessed August 28th, 2020. http://www.combindedfleet.com/PhilippinesEMB.htm
Hackett, Bob and Kingsepp, Sander. SHINYO!:” Explosive Motorboats based on Okinawa 1944-1945”. Accessed August 28th, 2020. http://www.combindedfleet.com/OkinawaEMB.htm
Kennedy, Gregory P. Germany’s V-2 Rocket. Atglen: Pennsylvania. Schiffer Military History. 2006.
Minohara, Tosh. “Axis Weapon: The Kamikaze”. Nazi Mega Weapons: German Engineering in WWII. PBS. 2014-2015.
“USS LCI9(L)-600”. NavSource Online. Last Updated August 23rd, 2019. Accessed on August 28th, 2020.https://www.navsource.org/archives/10/15/150600.htm
