The Kamikaze Force

The Kamikaze, officially Tokubetsu Kogekitai, were suicide attack units formed by young conscripts and volunteers from the Empire of Japan against allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of the Second World War. They were first designed to destroy warships more effectively than conventional attacks. However, did the Kamikaze force really reverse the situation? The answer is negative. In fact, the Kamikaze force was a desperate last resort of the Japanese government, not only did not bring the presumed advantages for the Japanese navy, but actually accelerated their defeat. The Kamikaze were established by the Japanese admiral Takijiro Onishi with the purpose of helping the Japanese navy from continual defeats. However, due to the limited

However, there were less than 100 planes available for the Pacific area and many of them were outdated, pilots were not well-trained. Therefore, Onishi thought the most efficient use of these limited resources was to organize the Kamikaze attack unit: "each plane brought 250 kilograms of explosives, and dive hit enemy carriers, this is the only way to stall the US navy and bring more time for the Japanese Empire" Pilots were taught the very basic of operating a plane and about four weeks they will be sent to the battlefield. Onishi 's idea perfectly solved the shortage of solders in the pacific area and he also won support from lots of enthusiastic Japanese pilots. But due to the short training time, many pilots were unable to fully operate a plane " The majority of kamikaze pilots received just enough flight training to be able to take off and fly straight and level. For such untrained pilots to attempt a steep dive would most likely have resulted in a loss of control." (1) In many cases, the plane exploded in the air or crashed into the ocean before it hit enemy vessels. As the probability to destroy a enemy naval target and