At the end of World War II, the secret weapon that Japan thought could "return Japan" was nothing more than a joke.

"Huitian" reverses the situation and changes destiny!

As the Japanese army retreats on all major battlefields, the disintegration of their so-called "empire" is inevitable. However, driven by that fanatical militaristic mentality, the Japanese will not be able to defeat the United States even in the face of the United States. With heavy troops pressing down on the situation, they were still thinking about countermeasures and planned to fight to the end with the determination of "all in pieces". It was during this period that the Japanese came up with many "inhuman" fighting methods in order to save the defeat.

In the final months of World War II, the desperate Japanese turned their attention to another new type of suicide weapon, although until then they had been using aircraft as carriers of suicide attacks. , but judging from the record, the effect is not satisfactory. After long-term use, the Americans have found a countermeasure, and finding new suicide weapons has become the last resort to save the defeat. The battle turns from the sky to the water

The suicide submarine is a new type of weapon tried by the Japanese. The Japanese named it "Kaiten", and some people called it "Kaiten", but many people It is believed that the "Kaitian" submarine is actually a manned torpedo.

Kamikaze members

Although this weapon plan was proposed at the beginning of the war, it was rejected, but by 1944 In 2000, the development of the war situation became more and more unfavorable to Japan. The Japanese army did nothing on the frontal battlefield and was pressed by the US military step by step. It was about to invade the main island of Japan. It was only at this time that people decided to use this weapon.

This underwater suicide weapon program was proposed by the Japanese special forces. Before that, they had been using various types of suicide aircraft to launch attacks. The initial effect was good, but as the pilots flying the aircraft There are fewer and fewer, the US military has more and more response measures, and the effect of air raids is no longer so obvious, so they turn their attention to the water. These people believe that kamikaze aircraft are the most successful aerial suicide weapons, and " "Kaitian" submarines will dominate the water. "Kaitian" torpedo submarine

"Kaitian" is considered by the Japanese to mean "reversing fate" or "changing the world". It is the secret of Japan's improvement based on the Navy's Type 93 torpedo in 1939. A mine-type submarine developed was not sent to the battlefield to perform missions in the early days of the war. However, as the war progressed, any measure that could save the empire was feasible, and suicide submarines were certainly no exception.

"Kaitian" submarine

This modified torpedo submarine can carry a pilot and is specially equipped with a course control device and related measuring instruments. The torpedo's warhead is equipped with 1,300 kilograms of explosives, the total weight of the submarine is 8.3 tons, the length is 14.7 meters, the diameter is about 1 meter, the warhead is manually detonated, the maximum range is 23 kilometers, the cruising speed is 22 kilometers/hour, the maximum diving depth is about 80 meters, until Japan is defeated So far, about 400 suicide submarines of this kind have been produced in a row, and more than 100 of them have performed suicide missions.

Six models of this kind of submarine have been developed. When the first few types of submarines were designed, exits were specially reserved for the pilots to escape. However, in actual use, the first batch of submarines The pilots performed their missions with the determination to die (the early pilots were similar to Navy aircraft carrier pilots, skilled and obsessively recognized the war launched by Japan), and no one escaped, so the design of subsequent models was The escape exit settings are completely cancelled. The driver will be welded to death inside after entering the cockpit. Regardless of whether the mission is successful or not, the person will definitely not survive. Moreover, this submarine is also equipped with a self-destruction device.

The desperate wishful thinking of the mothership carrying the Kaiten submarine

The Japanese idea is that when Kamikaze fighter jets launch attacks in the air, they must pass through layers of protection. Escort fighter jets, anti-aircraft firepower nets, etc., there are very few aircraft that can actually reach the target, but underwater attacks are different. This attack method is very concealed and difficult to detect.

Kaitian in the test

Moreover, the accuracy of manned "torpedoes" is much higher than that of unmanned torpedoes. This kind of submarine is also equipped with a periscope and direction control device. , explosive detonating devices, etc., can launch attacks at the best time, and the damage to the enemy will be very large. Of course, these are just the "wishful thinking" of the Japanese. Training and sorties

The plan is approved, equipment production begins, and personnel training is also carried out at the same time. The final fate of those who participate in this kind of submarine driving training is only one, and that is to perform a mission with no return. mission, most of the pilots who come for training are men between 17 and 28 years old (it is unknown whether they are voluntary). At the naval base, they receive preliminary training, test detonating devices on the shoals, and practice on the mother ship. Break away from the course and practice how to avoid underwater obstacles, how to rush to a target more accurately without being detected, and learn how to quickly maneuver a submarine using only the periscope and instrument readings.

Suicide submarine on the mother ship

After these trainings are completed, the training submarine begins to conduct actual operations. However, these trainings are not very safe. During the entire training period, there are approximately Dozens of trainees lost their lives due to operational errors or accidents. After a simple test, the trained drivers were sent to perform suicide attack missions.

When the Cayton performs a mission, it is usually carried by the mothership to the vicinity of the target, and then released to launch an attack. A submarine mothership can carry approximately six small Cayton submarines.

Before launching an attack, the "Kaitian" submarine must first surface to observe the target position, and then dive underwater again to start the attack. The driver has two opportunities to use it. This is mainly because the submarine fuel limit, and if both attempts fail, the self-destruct device will be used. A negligible record

In theory, the success rate of the "Kaitian" should be much higher than that of unmanned torpedoes, but the actual use effect was not very good. During the entire war, the "Kaitian" submarine was only successfully sunk. Several ships, including the USS Mississippi and the USS Qianshan, killed no more than 200 people. This is the data from the United States after the war, but the Japanese did not say this when they reported it. This weapon was full of confidence. After detecting the explosion, it believed that the enemy ship had been sunk, and then the mothership fled.

A US warship sunk by a suicide attack

The sinking of the "Qianshan" in July 1945 was perhaps the most successful suicide mission of the "Kaitian" submarine. This is an American destroyer that specializes in providing escort missions for supply ships and troop ships. At that time, it encountered a fake mine and changed its course to avoid it. Unexpectedly, it encountered several "Kaitian" submarines on standby nearby. The submarine The Yama didn't know the specific role of these submarines at the time, and wanted to disperse them by impact, but the submarines immediately detonated explosives. The attack caused the destroyer's boiler to explode, and the huge power tore the warship in half. .

Qianshan Destroyer

After the successful sneak attack, the Japanese sent more submarines in the following days, but they did not achieve any decent results until a month Later, they damaged the USS Earl Johnson destroyer again. It ended hastily

Compared with its achievements, its own losses were astonishingly high. According to statistics, a total of 106 Cayton pilots died in the mission, and nearly 1,000 others (including the commander) , logistics, maintenance, support personnel, etc.) died after the submarine carrier on the mission was sunk. This kind of battle loss ratio is really unparalleled.

No weapon can change Japan's fate of defeat

Compared with its small achievements, the number of construction and wartime losses, this is a complete failure of the weapon , by mid-July 1945, one month before Japan's defeat and surrender, all submarines were ordered to withdraw. Japanese(6)torpedo(4)submarine(3)