Special attack force

Japan's Special Attack Forces (AKA kamikazes) did a fair amount of damage in the later stages of the Pacific War. However, their attacks seem to be somewhat haphazard and scattered. I know they had to get through the CAP and AA guns but I still get the impression that once they flew to the area where the American Fleet was, it was every pilot for himself! What I will ask here is: do you think that the SAFs could have done significantly more damage if they had better organization, coordination and tactics? If so, how do you think they could have done better?

 

The simplistic answer is...Of course. A realistic answer would be a flat out no.

Realistically, Japan's problems were many...Lack of fuel, lack of trained pilots, lack of aircraft/high-performance aircraft in great numbers, etc.

The lack of fuel, was probably Japan's largest problem with her aircraft, as it would touch on several of her other problems. A lack of fuel prevented adequate training of pilots(although this only became a factor later in the war, about the same time as the kamikazes). The lack of fuel also hindered Japan from being able to move transfer aircraft from the home islands to where the islands where they were needed.

The other most pervasive problem facing the air forces of Japan was the lack of pilot training. The lack of pilot training precluded the use of better tactics and hindered pilot coordination, as well as pilot navigation. One factor here was the lack of fuel available, which limited flight training. Another factor was the overwhelming need to get pilots into combat as quickly as possible to meet the demands from several fronts. As a result, Japanese pilots of 44-45 had very little stick time before they were sent into combat - this can be readily seen in the Marianas "Turkey Shoot." A third factor was, that by 1944, the high-performance aircraft were finally beginning to enter service. These new, more powerful, aircraft were far more demanding of a pilot's skills than the previous aircraft had been. Thus, the new pilots were hard pressed to make optimal use of their individual aircraft, let alone being able to fly and fight in formation. Again, this is readily seen in the Marianas Turkey Shoot.

Japan also lacked the necessary numbers of aircraft to continually expand against the Americans. That is why you see a high number of Kamikaze sorties during the early part of the Philippines invasion, those numbers fall of greatly during the invasion of Iwo Jima, and the rise precipitously during the invasion of Okinawa. After that, Japan began hoarding their aircraft in anticipation of an all out effort against the expected American invasion of the home islands. Further, Japan used all available types of aircraft in her kamikaze effort, modern types, outdated types, floatplanes, biplanes, etc. The bottom of the barrel was the Nakajima Ki-115 Tsurugi, an aircraft designed expressly for kamikaze attacks. This was an aircraft meant to be easily and quickly produced, which, in this case, meant that it's performance was very poor - both in the air and on the ground.

 

The normal procedure was for a group to be lead by a experienced pilot since trainees barely knew how to handle their planes. If the leader was killed early then it would be difficult for the group to find their target.

 

I think most of us are familiar with the lack of training of Japanese pilots after 1943 and the lack of fuel. However, it seems to me that they were coming into the attack in very small groups if not singles. It seems to me that groups of 10 to 20 following leaders who would pick a target and all go for it. This would disperse the AA fire and allow at least a few to hit the target ship in a very short space of time. Also, Japan was also drafting regular pilots into the SAFs and they would have been good leaders that could pick out a carrier and all the rest would follow him down. Perhaps they'd need one or two other capable pilots to take over if the main leader was killed. The guides that led them in were usually bomber pilots in Bettys that turned around when the US fleet was sighted. There also was often regular fighter planes accompanying the Kamikazes whose job it was to "entertain" the CAP as much as possible. So I think that with a little more coordination and tactical thinking could have resulted in better results for the Japanese. I just have a sense of too many pilots doing there own thing and throwing themselves at the first American ship they saw!

 

CAP and AAA would usually disperse any attack group, correct? isn't that one of the reasons they would not be able to attack in groups? to disperse the AAA, wouldn't groups have to not only come in from different directions, but also at the correct time, and the individual planes be spread out enough so AAA fire could not easily range in on the group?? ...but as Takao stated, this was way above their capabilities...
plus the fog of war is at play......there was not much coordination of US dive and torpedo bombers at Midway, or of the initial attacks.....it's not like Microsoft Combat Flight Sim....many factors to take into account...the ships are not exactly where the attackers thought they would be, and the ships are weaving, zigzaging, etc...or, the attackers navigation was not perfect, causing time wasted getting into position to attack.....individual planes get damaged by AAA and the pilot goes for the closest ship....

 

The hole idea behind the Kamikazes was to send barely trained pilots with obsolete planes against the enemy. Japan did not have enough time, enough fuel and perhaps even not enough will to maximize the effect of the attacks by training.

I am not sure, but I guess that the Kamikaze Commanders were fully aware that the real damage inflicted by these pilots was limited, after all it was just a normal bomb. More important was the message for the enemy: If you try to invade Japan, we will fight and die.

 

You all are correct, up to a point.

Yes, the SAF pilots were poorly trained. However, the could fly the planes. The hardest part of flying is the take offs and landings. Between take off and landing it's fairly easy to fly a plane. They probably had enough training so that they took off and landed once or twice. They got off the ground on their last mission and landing wasn't a consideration. Therefore they had enough skill to hit a ship! All the planes they used were faster and more maneuverable than any ship they were after. The couldn't have aimed a bomb or torpedo correctly, but they could aim their plane!

Yes, The CAP took a hellava toll on these pilots. That's why they often had regular fighters go along to, as I say, "entertain" the CAP so more can get through. However, in the confusion of those encounters many Kamikazes just picked out any old ship, destroyer, what not and dove on it. As individuals they AA Could easily converge on one or two isolated aircraft.

My thinking was since some of those attacks contained hundreds of planes, put them in groups of around 20, all identified by say a certain paint scheme. These would be led by 2-3 experienced pilots who could pick out a worthwhile target, such as a carrier and point the whole group at it. All the other groups would be close by picking their targets. This concentration would be easy to intercept but if they had escort fighters then the CAP wouldn't be able to get them all. Perhaps only half, perhaps even less, much less, then you have 10 or more planes attacking one ship. That ship and its escorts could be counted on to take, at most, half of those. So let's say five Kamikazes it a carrier in the space of 5 seconds. Chances are that if it isn't sunk then it would have been pretty much taken out of the war.

What I'm trying to say here is that what was needed for the Japanese was to achieve a ruthless concentration of force. Perhaps they needed to hear Guderian say, "Boot em, don't splatter em."

 

they were ''concentrated'' at the Marianas Turkey Shoot, no? CAP shot down many, many planes...granted, they were not kamakazeing....but US air and radar proved vastly superior....
did they have enough skill to significantly damage the ship, that is moving and blasting away?

 

I'm sorry harolds, but you are not correct at all.

You really need to read some of the books written about the Kamikaze or by the Kamikaze pilots themselves. First, taking off was not as easy as one would surmise. A fully loaded aircraft needed a longer takeoff roll to gain enough airspeed to get airborne. Pulling up to soon, usually resulted in the aircraft stalling and crashing - more than a few experienced pilot's learned this to their detriment.

Yes, flying an aircraft from point-to-point can be fairly "easy"...In the calm hum-drum days of peacetime. However, these are times of war, and the enemy can set upon you at any time and from any direction. So you have to have your wits about at all time. Not only that, to reach your target successfully, you will more than likely have to be able to out fly your opposition.

You are forget one salient fact here...Crashing the plane is landing it...So, "landing" and aircraft is most definitely a consideration.. Further, if the untrained pilot could not have aimed a bomb or torpedo correctly, how do you come to the conclusion that the untrained pilot is capable of aiming his aircraft...After all, the pilot has become the bomb...That you say he is incapable of aiming. As such, landing/crashing, is probably the hardest part of the Kamikaze's duty. Not only will his plane become harder to control as it's speed builds up in the dive, but also the nose will keep wanting to rise as speed builds up and additional lift is generated by the increasing speed over the plane's wings. Further, the pilot also has to track, what is more often than not, a warship maneuvering at high speed.

http://www.warbirdforum.com/training.htm

Usually, the formation leader led the Kamikaze flight until the wakes of the American ships were sighted, at that point it became catch as catch can.

Confusion in air combat is always present .Both Japanese and American pilots often had a hard time properly identifying their targets...Destroyers become cruisers, cruisers become battleships, tankers become aircraft carriers, etc., and these were made by the trained aviators.

Kamikazes usually went after the largest ship they saw, and those that were damaged and on fire also tended to attract more than their fair share. At Okinawa, the destroyer/s on radar picket stations were usually accompanied by a small "fleet" of attendant landing craft support ships(LSMs, LSM(R)s, LCIs, LCS(L)s, etc. As such, the destroyer unwittingly became the largest ship of her "fleet."

AA can easily converge on an isolated aircraft, but you neglect that there were often several different isolated aircraft coming in from various points of the compass. Thus, the effect is to divide the AA fire, not concentrate it. It should also be mentioned that what was "one or two isolated aircraft", usually had been a good sized formation until American CAP made their appearance.

I don't see 2 or 3 experienced pilots maintaining much control over a green 20 plane formation once contact is made with the American CAP, and any control they might have after the CAP engages would probably disintegrate when the American task force's picket destroyer open up with gunfire.

The problem with escorting fighters is that there will be more American aircraft coming. So while accompanying Japanese fighters might take some of the heat off the Kamikazes, there will still be more piling on as various other CAP formations are vectored to intercept and the ready fighters are launched.

Further, by focusing on one ship, you allow the rest to focus their gunfire on the incoming attack.

Finally, your being quite generous in your tally, the only US carrier to gather that many Kamikazes was USS Saratoga, and her escort consisted of 3 destroyers. Despite heavy damage and loss of life, she was still able to recover her aircraft on the undamaged after portion of her flight deck.

Guderian was a general...Not an admiral...and had no knowledge concerning the appropriate way for aircraft to attack a defended target. Against a well-defended target, the best choice of attack is for the formation to attack a target from many points of the compass at once - This forces the enemy to divide his AA fire and gives the fighter controllers many targets to deal with. By concentrating you airborne force, you allow the enemy to concentrate his defense.

Of course, such an attack would require trained pilots...

 

landing is 'long', slow and at a stationary airfield with no one shooting at you...there's time for making corrections.......crashing into a moving ship at great speed is probably harder....if you meant that Takao, sorry for repeating it

 

Landing aboard a carrier is nothing but a controlled crash.

 

Well, this answer make take longer than I have time right now so I may have to do this in parts.

First, control: Yes, it's going to be a problem. That's why there had to be a simple system of keeping the planes together and all going for the same target. Since there would be multiple groups there could be multiple approaches. Some groups may get massacred but others could well have hit the AA zone untouched. There are all sorts of variations in altitude, direction, and even decoy raiders that could have been tried.

Re. Flying: My guess is that neither of you are a pilot. Landing (and carrier landings ARE landings, even though hard-in both connotations) is quite difficult for the beginner. You have to fly on the edge of a stall while calculating decent rate, speed, direction and wind drift. Assuming the pilot is determined to die and not flinch, flying into a large ship is easy by comparison. The Japanese pilots who made it through showed that it could be done. Of course there were problems! The two quotes given above show that the pilots had at least some experience with these problems. The real problem was getting enough of the attackers through the CAP defenses in order to overwhelm the AA gunners with numbers. All the old combat footage I've seen has shown the attackers coming in at about a 45 degree dive. Assuming they didn't get an incapacitating hit, it's quite within reason to dive at full speed.

Guderian: The principles of war are the same on land, sea or air. Dividing the AA fire is all well and good, but they also needed mass to punch through the AA fire.

 

Keeping all 20+ Kamikazes of one group focused one one target is going to be hard enough, let alone coordinating several groups coming in along several directions.

Yes, it could be done. No one is arguing that it couldn't. The problem, however, is that, more often than not, the Kamikaze pilots missed their targets. So, it appears that flying into a ship is harder than you presume.

At Okinawa and the Philippines, it was easier, as the Japanese could use the various islands to mask their approach. Out on the open ocean, single attacks would probably be better than large groups, as the singles would be harder to detect via radar. Of course, they can always fly low over the ocean to help mask their approach.

Still, it is going to be that much harder to get a group through that is composed of mostly green pilots.

Except that the Japanese did not have the "mass" to keep up continuous group Kamikaze attacks. That is why there was a drop off at Iwo. Further, after Okinawa, the Japanese decided to hold back the bulk of their kamikaze aircraft for the expected invasion of the Home Islands.

 

I am not a pilot......but does it not seem logical, that a long, slow glide onto a stationary, 'large', target with no one shooting at you, is much easier done than a speedy dive or glide into a smaller, moving target with CAP and AAA firing at you?? key points are stationary v moving ..... large v small.....shooting v no shooting......just mathematically it is much harder to crash into the ship, no? especially if they are not attacking directly from the rear
http://thefairjilt.com/2014/11/05/kamikaze-attacks-by-the-numbers-a-statistical-analysis-of-japans-wartime-strategy/
other factors mentioned here are weather and decline in aircraft maintenance and parts

 

My impression is that some if not most of the major success of the special attack planes was that by coming in in ones or twos occasionally they weren't recognized until too late as hostile. Large groups of them simply couldn't do that. Now a series of coordinated strikes might have rolled back the radar pickets but I'm not sure how many times it would take to get the timing right.

 

Why they missed: I don't think that flying into a ship is all that hard. What had to have been hard was the last 2-3 seconds of the attack. The attacker knows he's going to die and is trying to over-ride every preservation instinct in him. Takao, your second quote brings this into focus. Flying into a ship is very doable but the human mind recoils against dying-even among Japanese. It's late here so more later.

 

We can go round and round arguing why Kamikazes missed - I game if you are. But, the fact that will remain is that the Kamikazes mostly missed their intended target.

 

As I understand your posts Takao, you're saying that what the Kamikazes did historically got the best possible results. No different type of tactics, training or psychological preparation that would have increased their effectiveness was possible? I don't believe that's necessarily true. I've offered one possible alternative which I think could have resulted in better effectiveness. How do you come up with the idea that no improvement was possible?

 

The problem as I see it is that more training would have increased the p(h) but it would also have consumed more vital resources. Some of the earlier "special attack" missions used well trained pilots at least to some extent (Sakai even went on one from what I recall) it would be interesting to see if they had a better success rate although the US learned as well and later missions ran into very much improved defences.

 

There's a couple of analogous situations in WW2.

The first being the human wave attacks launched by the Soviets, which were essentially suicide missions. Soviet generals initially underestimated the number of men it would take to overwhelm German infantry positions. Their attacks eventually worked after their generals figured out just how to organize them. The basic lesson learned that given enough attackers you can overwhelm a defense. However, it helped if you could have some way to decrease the effectiveness of the defense.

The other situation was with Germany's Luftwaffe in 1944-45. They too ran into the problem of limited fuel and had to try and balance training with combat operations. I've always felt that if they had spent more fuel on training and picked their battles more wisely, they would have actually ended up destroying more American bombers-and maybe British ones too. The Japanese had one advantage: most of their pilots were only going to fly one operational mission

So perhaps finding ways to limit the defense's capabilities and a little extra flight time, used judiciously could have paid dividends. That and building up pilot numbers so as to make sure some get through.