Many submarines were modified to carry and launch three to
six kaitens. The pilots entered the weapons while submerged through a
connecting hatch. The ideal scenario would be for the mother sub to launch the
weapons 7-8,000 meters from target. He would be on compass heading only and
would risk use of the periscope only to acquire the target about 1-1,500 meters
out.
The few successful contacts resulted in thunderous destruction but the vast majority of missions led to nothing at all. Kaitens must have missed entirely and ran out of power or were sunk by either enemy or mechanical failures. At any rate the successes did not justify the expenditure of lives.
The few successful contacts resulted in thunderous destruction but the vast majority of missions led to nothing at all. Kaitens must have missed entirely and ran out of power or were sunk by either enemy or mechanical failures. At any rate the successes did not justify the expenditure of lives.
Regarding the Kaiten carried by I-58 during the patrol,
which resulted in the loss of the USS Indianapolis, the following details
emerge. I-58 departed Kure on July 16, 1945 and immediately returned to repair
Kaiten periscopes. On July 18, Hashimoto once again departed for his station
east of the Philippines.
At 1400 hours, on July 28, I-58 sighted what Hashimoto
identified as a tanker and destroyer escort. He launched two Kaiten at this
time and claimed two hits. In fact, the cargo ship Wild Hunter, and destroyer
Lowry were the targets. Lowry sustained moderate damage from an explosion; the
submarine was reported to authorities. Apparently, USS Indianapolis was not
informed of this incident (she had departed Guam several hours prior to the
attack) although Captain McVay was informed of IJN submarine activity in the
area east of the Philippines. After the sinking of USS Indianapolis, Hashimoto
proceeded to patrol for targets between Okinawa and Leyte. On the morning of
August 10 Hashimoto launched a Kaiten against destroyer escort Johnnie Hutchins
and a second against four of her sisters. He escaped upon the surface and
claimed to have sunk two destroyers.
In what would prove to be Hashimoto's last Kaiten launch
during the war the USS Oak Hill -- a landing ship, dock -- and destroyer escort
Thomas F. Nickel were sighted late in the afternoon of August 12, some 350
miles southeast of Okinawa. Identifying the vessels as a seaplane carrier and
destroyer escort, Hashimoto launched his last operational Kaiten. At about 1830
hours Oak Hill sighted a periscope close aboard and maneuvered to evade. Nickel
charged in to attack, heard the Kaiten scrape along her port side and watched
the craft explode some 2,500 yards away. Hashimoto recorded the explosion and
subsequent depth charging which the Nickel had commenced when Oak Hill reported
a second periscope in the vicinity. Recording an apparent hit, Hashimoto
returned to Japan immediately thereafter."
My source is "Suicide Squads," by Richard O'Neill
(published in 1981).
#
Movie Deguchi no NaiUmi
Used by the IJN in the final stages of WWII, the Kaiten Type
1 was a Type 93 torpedo modified as a one-man suicide weapon, although
provisions were made for the pilot to escape before impact. In practice,
however, none attempted to escape. With over 400 Kaitens built, only 100 were
ever sent on missions, and out of those 100 missions only two succeeded in
sinking enemy ships. In the end, the unmodified, unmanned Type 93 torpedo used conventionally
was a much more effective weapon.
#
Kaiten details
The Finemolds kit of the Kaiten is a Type 1 Kaiten and the
Kaiten at Pearl Harbor is definitely one of the larger ones which is the Type 2
or 4, I cannot remember. The Kaiten Type 1 is 14.75 metres long and displaces
8.3 Tons and the Kaiten Type 2/4 is 16.5 metres long and displaces either 18.37
or 18.17 tons per Fukui's book. Also the Kaiten Type 1 had a crew of one as in
the plans I have and the Type 2 or 4 had a crew of 2. From the 40 photos I have
of the inside and outside Type 1 there is not a great deal inside to detail, so
I think there is not much point in doing any interior modeling and sealing it
up completely so you cannot see it yourself.
I think there is a bit of confusion here. The midget subs
used to attack Pearl Harbour on Dec. 8 (Japan time) 1941 were NOT Kaiten. They
were top secret midgit subs, the KOHYOTEKI. They were 2-manned midgit subs
capable of carrying and firing two torpedoes. Although their chance of returning
to the mother sub was slim, they were NOT suicide weapons.
KAITEN, on the other hand, was essentially a torpedo manned
by a pilot(s) to ensure their success on hitting their target. They were used
toward the end of the war, and they were indeed suicide weapons. Kaiten was NOT
a submarine.
Fine Molds released both the KOHYOTEKI (midget sub) and
KAITEN(manned torpedo) in 1/72. Perhaps this too contributed to the confusion
here?
There is definitely a Kaiten Type 2 or Kaiten Type 4 at the
museum at Pearl Harbor right now on display as of the last time I visited. I
never said that a Kaiten of any type was used to attack Pearl Harbor in 1941.
The Kaiten type 2 was the type that was being developed in 1944-1945 using the
Type 6 engine which used hydrogen perioxide as an oxide for the fuel. When that
failed, other efforts were made to convert it to other fuels, this was the
Kaiten Type 4 which also was a failure. No Kaiten Type 2 or Type 4 ever reached
operational use as they both were still in developement. I have a copy of the
large U.S. Navy report from 1946 which covers all this history. The Kaiten now
at Pearl Harbor is part of the very long list of submarine material that the
"Naval Technical Mission to Japan" reported as brought back to the
United States in about November of 1945. I have the complete list of all these
items which includes "all" the Kaitens brought to the U.S., plus I
have a 8" x 10" photo of the Kaiten at the Submarine Museum(Bowfin)
at Pearl Harbor.
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