Kamikaze damage on warships

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longreach
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Kamikaze damage on warships

Post by longreach »

hi everyone.Could anyone please tell me of any other ships that took multiple kamakazi hits?i know that the HMAS AUSTRILIA,(british county class heavy cruiser--Kent sub-class)took 5 hits(aircraft) in 7 days and still managed to sail at the head of a convoy at a speed of 25knts back for repairs.(TOUGH SHIP!!!).thanks

i would like to know as my father served on the AUSTRALIA,,,45--47 then back again in 49---1950.
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Re: Kamakazi damage on warships

Post by Tiornu »

Among the more famous kamikaze-resistant ships were the destroyer USS Laffey (14 April 1945: five kamikazes and four bombs) and the destroyer-minelayer Aaron Ward (30 April 1945: approx four planes and two bombs).
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Post by longreach »

thanks trionu,i did some checking last night,and found out I was wrong about the number of hits the Australia took it was 6 aircraft in 7 days.

I think she was lucky to survive,,,but a destroyer taking multiple hits,and surviving is amazing.

and just to make things tough for eveyone,,,,,, :lol:
Could anyone tell me WHAT was the first allied ship hit by kamakazi aircraft..I have found about 11 ships that claim to have be the first to be hit. MY father belived it was a US ship that was the first hit,but couldnt tell me which one.

thanks everyone.
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Post by Tiornu »

Any ship that was not hit on 25 Oct 45 cannot be the first. I believe the first were some escort carriers off Samar. St Lo may have been the first ship sunk, but I doubt she was the first one hit.
longreach
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Post by longreach »

thanks trionu. it's surprising how many ships that claim to be the first! :shock: .

I dont know if I would like to claim MY ship as being the first.(I would prefer not being hit in the first place).

do you know were i could find out about german tech that ended up in Japanese hands?

I know the japs had a copy of the Me 262 jet ,but never used in operations.im interested in just how much the germans and japanese traded or shared technology. so any help finding out would be welcome.
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Post by Tiornu »

There's a poorly written but informative book called Reluctant Allies that discusses some of the interactions of German and Japanese naval personnel. I don't know if it'll address your interests specifically. I don't know diddly-do about jets.
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Post by lwd »

Part of the problem in determining who was first hit by a "kamikaze" is defineing just what one was. Is it a suicde attack by an individual or deliberatly orchistrated by a military HQ. Or is it an attack by a plane specifically designed for such work or by planes from a unit given that designation. All of the above may change the defintion. Note that one of the torpedo bombers that managed a hit on Yorktown at Midway was on a one way trip as the pilot knew he didn't have enough fuel to reach the US CVs and return. Does this count?
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Post by longreach »

thanks Tiornu,i'll see if i can get my hands on that book.

and thanks lwd,you always throw a good twist in,,,i was thinking of offical japanese kamakazi attacks.
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Post by Bgile »

Kamikaze had a specific meaning. There were some US pilots who crashed crippled planes into Japanese ships, and I'm sure they wouldn't have considered themselves to be Kamikazes.
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Post by lwd »

The problem is it has several specific meanings and has been missused beyond that. So in a question like this it behoves one to make ones querries as detailed as possible to prevent misunderstandings.
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Re: Kamikaze damage on warships

Post by CONDOR »

How about the COMFORT? You can research her history. A hospital ship which I beleive to have been the first hospital ship hit by kamikzes off Okinawa while taking abord battle casualties. She was painted white, had her lights on and the Red Crosses prominently displayed but that seemed to create a TARGET. Number of doctors nursess and already injured patients were killed. Comfort was re-named The State of Maine, and became a training ship for Maine Maritime Academy, which is when I trained on her.
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Re: Kamikaze damage on warships

Post by tommy303 »

If the pilot of the suicide plane which hit the Comfort was typical of many Kamikaze pilots by that time of the war, it is doubtful if he knew what the markings on the ship meant or even knew or cared anything at all about the non-combatant nature of hospital ships, although laws of war do not seem to have always deterred the Japanese from targeting medical personnel.

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Post by RF »

longreach wrote: do you know were i could find out about german tech that ended up in Japanese hands?

I know the japs had a copy of the Me 262 jet ,but never used in operations.im interested in just how much the germans and japanese traded or shared technology. so any help finding out would be welcome.
The Japanese were given, via U-boat, copies of the blueprints for the ME-262 (the copies deteriorated badly during the four month voyage and the Japanese found them next to useless as a result) plus various engine componants.

A rough copy of the ME-262 called ''Orange Blossom'' was test flown the day before Japan surrendered. There is a thread on that on this website, but I can't recall where as it is over a year old.

The actual amount of German tech was limited and largely confined to radar and componant parts, plus the gift of a submarine. The Japanese derived practically no benefit from the technology because it was so small scale and too late in WW2 to be followed up. And late in WW2 Japanese resources and logistics were so degraded there was little means to do follow up work.
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Post by RF »

Bgile wrote:Kamikaze had a specific meaning. There were some US pilots who crashed crippled planes into Japanese ships, and I'm sure they wouldn't have considered themselves to be Kamikazes.
Kamikaze mean't ''Divine Wind'', named after a typhoon that destroyed the invasion fleet of Kublai Khan I think in 1281.

The idea was that the enemy fleet, on approaching the Japanese coastline would be destroyed by concentrated mass attack by Kamikaze. The intended level of attack wasn't achieved as the Japs didn't have enough planes/pilots for the task. The important point is that single plane attacks weren't intended as Kamikaze, pilots were expected to give their lives routinely for the Emporer. For example, in the film ''Tora, Tora, Tora'' the PH attack scenes included showing one Japanese pilot, his plane hit by AA fire, look around at ground targets and then deliberately dived his plane into an aircraft hangar. This pilot knew he wasn't going to make it back to his CV, but in giving his life would not be regarded as kamikaze.
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Post by Kyler »

RF wrote:
Bgile wrote:Kamikaze had a specific meaning. There were some US pilots who crashed crippled planes into Japanese ships, and I'm sure they wouldn't have considered themselves to be Kamikazes.
Kamikaze mean't ''Divine Wind'', named after a typhoon that destroyed the invasion fleet of Kublai Khan I think in 1281.

The idea was that the enemy fleet, on approaching the Japanese coastline would be destroyed by concentrated mass attack by Kamikaze. The intended level of attack wasn't achieved as the Japs didn't have enough planes/pilots for the task. The important point is that single plane attacks weren't intended as Kamikaze, pilots were expected to give their lives routinely for the Emporer. For example, in the film ''Tora, Tora, Tora'' the PH attack scenes included showing one Japanese pilot, his plane hit by AA fire, look around at ground targets and then deliberately dived his plane into an aircraft hangar. This pilot knew he wasn't going to make it back to his CV, but in giving his life would not be regarded as kamikaze.
Kamikaze's were specifally trained men (normally young) that were to crash their aircraft, the had very little other formal flight training. This is one reason why the faired so poorly against USN fighters late in the war. A pilot who himself was injured or his plane damaged that crashed the aircraft on a target was not a kamikaze. Kamikaze squadrons were normally escorted by regular pilots that would lead them to targets.
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