A Brief History
On April 9, 1937, a Japanese aircraft made the first ever flight by a Japanese built airplane to London, England, when the Mitsubishi Ki-15 Karigane nick named “Kamikaze” made the nearly 4 day flight. Not to be confused with the World War II Japanese suicide airplane missions dubbed Kamikaze (Divine Wind), this flight was purely peaceful in purpose, though it should have given a wake up call to British and American war planners that the Japanese aircraft industry had indeed entered the world stage as cutting edge in technology.
Digging Deeper
The Kamikaze, piloted by Masaaki Iinuma and navigated by Kenji Tsukagoshi, had a single Nakajima radial engine producing 640 horsepower and could reach a top speed of 298 mph. Built as a mail plane and light bomber, the fixed undercarriage belied the speed capability of the plane. About 500 of the planes were built starting in 1937, and they saw action in China that same year, actually faster than the Chinese fighters they originally faced.
The record breaking flight was not non-stop, as the normal range of the Ki-15 was about 1500 miles, decent range for its day, but requiring many stops along the way from Tokyo to London, including stops in Vietnam, India, Athens, Rome and Paris among other stops. The elapsed time from start to finish spanned a bit more than 94 hours, although actual flying time was 51 hours, 19 minutes and 23 seconds giving an average speed of 101 miles per hour for the nearly 10,000 miles traveled (including stops). Airspeed was nearly 200 mph, a record at that time for that distance. The Kamikaze used the occasion of the Coronation of King George VI of the United Kingdom as a reason for the flight. The Coronation was filmed from the Kamikaze overflying the ceremonies.
The Kamikaze arrived safely back in Japan after its historic flight, along with its crew. Unfortunately, pilot Iinuma died in December 1941 when he was flying in combat near Cambodia, which was then part of French Indochina, and navigator Kenji Tsukagoshi died in 1943, lost over the Indian Ocean to unknown causes on a flight from Singapore to Germany.
Later during World War II when Japan went to war against the United States and the United Kingdom, the Allies were stunned to find out the quality and capabilities of Japanese aircraft. The flight of the Kamikaze should have given a clue as to the technological prowess of Japanese aircraft designers. Late in the Pacific War, starting in October of 1944, when the Japanese became desperate to stop the American advance across the Pacific, the Japanese resorted to suicide airplane attacks which they called “Kamikaze” in honor of the “Divine Wind” typhoon that had saved their country from a Mongol invasion fleet in 1274. About 3800 Japanese Kamikaze pilots died, killing about 7000 Allied sailors. Most Kamikaze missions were flown by regular fighter and bomber aircraft loaded with bombs, but special rocket propelled flying bombs called MXY-7 Ohka (Cherry blossom) were built and carried within range of American ships by bombers. Almost impossible to stop once launched, the Ohkas were most often destroyed while still attached to the laden bombers outside of the range in which they could be launched. American sailors dubbed the Ohka the “Baka bomb” meaning idiot or fool. Perhaps, but those pilots were brave, dedicated fools! The Kamikaze pilots had a 19% success rate of hitting an Allied ship and sank between 47 and 57 ships with the suicide tactics (depending on source). Although 3 escort aircraft carriers were sunk, no full-sized fleet carriers in either the US Navy or Royal Navy were destroyed, though some were damaged.
Question for students (and subscribers): Was the Japanese suicide Kamikaze plan worth the cost in Japanese planes and lives? Please give us your opinion in the comments section below this article.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Newdick, Thomas. Japanese Aircraft of World War II: 1937-1945 (Technical Guides). Amber Books, 2017.
Zaloga and Palmer. Kamikaze: Japanese Special Attack Weapons 1944–45. Osprey Publishing; 1st edition, 2011.
The featured image in this article, a photograph of Japanese Military’s Air-Scout in World War II from http://www.ijnafpics.com/jbwg4m1.htm, is in the public domain in Japan because its copyright has expired according to Article 23 of the 1899 Copyright Act of Japan (English translation) and Article 2 of Supplemental Provisions of Copyright Act of 1970. This is when the photograph meets one of the following conditions:
- It was published before January 1, 1957.
- It was photographed before January 1, 1947.
It is also in the public domain in the United States because its copyright in Japan expired by 1970 and was not restored by the Uruguay Round Agreements Act.
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