What was a kamikaze World War 2?

Answer 1

It was an honor issue. Sort of like 'If we're going down, you're goin' down with us.' ---------------------- Also, the Japanese Emperor had such a fanatical devotion of his soldiers that they would rather die than fail him. The kamikazes weren't really started during WWII, the idea had been going on throughout Japanese history. It was an honor to die for the Emperor.

Answer 2

They sank more USN ships and killed/wounded more US Sailors in one battle than at any other time during WWII. Very effective, but too late to effect the war.

It they'd done it earlier in the war, things might've been different. Remember, the only difference between the kamikaze of the second world war & todays cruise missiles is that they're computer flown. Another words the kamikaze was a WWII cruise missile, only manned.

Answer 3

A Kamikaze attack was the deliberate crashing of an explosive laden Japanese plane into a Warship. The word Kamikaze is loosely translated "Divine Wind". A "Divine Wind" was the miracle which had saved the Japanese from a defeat by the Moguls. The Moguls had sent a huge fleet to invade and concur Japan. The Japanese were outnumbered and ill-prepared for the Mogul invasion However, providence intervened, a huge Typhoon(Kamikaze..Divine Wind" )blew in and destroyed the fleet. The Japanese Government was looking for the same type of miracle which had saved Japan from a similar situation. Dr.B

Answer 4

The Kamikazes were the greatest threat to the US Navy during WW2, and caused more men and ship losses during one battle than any other US Naval battle in history. There were several reasons for this: 1. This was the first time that AIRPLANES had been used as guided missiles. A manned guided system. The Airplane being the bomb. 2. Okinawa was a target enriched area; concentrated US Navy ships in one region. 3. Unlike normal attacking airplanes which unload their ordinance and then try to escape (fly away), the Kamikaze had to be destroyed in the air. A crashing (shot down) airplane can still REACH it's target; unless it's exploded (destroyed) in the air. Translation: If 500 aircraft are shot down during a normal air to ground battle and they are not Kamikazes, then the ordinance they carried may not ever reach their targets or the targets may have been missed due to the anti-aircraft fire. Conventional attacking airplanes will score "hits" based upon luck, determination, and skill of the attacking airmen and defending ground crews. If 500 Kamikazes are shot down by ground crews, they have to hit the surface of the earth somewhere. The plane may be crashing, but the pilot may still be alive, and able to GUIDE the crashing airplane onto it's target. Consequently, shot down Kamikazes can still HIT SHIPS. The odds of Kamikazes striking an enemy warship go up drastically compared to conventional air attacks. Nearly 400 US/Allied Naval Craft were struck by Kamikazes during the Battle of Okinawa in 1945.

Answer 5

From the Battle of Leyte Gulf in October 1944, to the Battle of Okinawa in April -June of 1945; Japan's ARMY and NAVY expended approximately 2800 Kamikazes. For the planned invasion of the Empire's home islands, Japan prepared over 7,000 more Kamikazes for operations.

Answer 6

Kamikaze means Divine Wind suicide missions against the US fleet.

Japanese versions

In 1943, an Argus pulse jet engine was shipped to Japan by German submarine. The Aeronautical Institute of Tokyo Imperial University and the Kawanishi Aircraft Company conducted a joint study of the feasibility of mounting a similar engine on a piloted plane. The resulting design was based on the Fieseler Fi-103 Reichenberg (Fi 103R, a piloted V-1), and was named Baika("plum blossom").

Baika never left the design stage but technical drawings and notes suggest that two versions were under consideration: an air-launch version with the engine mounted under the fuselage, and a ground-launch version that could take off without a ramp.

Intelligence reports of the new Baika weapon are rumored to be the source of the name given to the Yokosuka MXY-7, a rocket-propelled suicide aircraft better known as the "BakaBomb". However, as baka means "fool" or "idiot" in Japanese, and the MXY-7 was officially designated the "Ohka", the true origin is unknown.[citation needed] The MXY-7 was usually carried by the G4M2e version of the Mitsubishi G4M "Betty" naval bomber, then the pilot lit the solid-fuel rockets and guided his flying bomb into a ship.

Another Japanese Fi 103 version was the Mizuno Shinryu, a proposed rocket-powered kamikaze aircraft design which was not built.

Answer 7

Japanese pilots who took on suicide missions to dive into US ships.

Answer 8

There were 2800 Kamikaze pilots killed