Kamikazes

Dave Griffey at Daffey Thoughts notes the advent of the only weapon that made the US Navy really sweat during the war in the Pacific.

Over at The American Catholic, Don McCleary does his usual quality unpacking of the more famous anniversary associated with today.   The Battle of Agincourt is known for many reasons, not the least being its immortalization in Shakespeare’s Henry V.  

But it also marks the first day in which Japan unleashed its last desperate measure against the American advance in the Pacific War.  It was on this day, in the Philippine Sea, that the dreaded kamikazes first arrived over the US Fleet.  Though they failed to stop the US, they did tremendous damage – far more than the remnants of the Japanese fleet – and struck terror into the hearts of US seamen and US citizens hearing of the attacks back home.

I’ve said that by the time I entered high school, WWII was ancient history.  In fact, pretty much anything before about 1970 was treated as ancient days of yore, with the 70s being a decade of nostalgic memories and bad taste.*  WWII, except for the decade anniversaries (1981, 91, etc), was largely the domain of old white haired guys musing about the good old days. 

The real war of wars of my youth was Vietnam.  It was in the late 70s and through the 1980s that we spent most of our time grappling with this first loss in American history and what it might mean for the future of the Cold War.  But WWII?  Again, that was the stuff Archie Bunker prattling on about, not serious veterans remembering the true horrors of war.  Most of WWII was, after all, brought to us in vivid B&W, while movies like Apocalypse Now, The Deer Hunter and Platoon brought Vietnam home in all the gory detail of post-70s realism. 

So it was quite a wake up when, in my college days, I came to realize kamikazes were more than the punch line they usually were reserved for in pop culture.  When you heard them referenced at all, it was in connection with some joke or witticism.  It wasn’t until studying the war in college that I came to realize how horrifying they were both for US servicemen and their loved ones on the home front.  

Nonetheless, I had no idea that the first attacks coincided with the anniversary of Agincourt.  Given the famous speech Shakespeare ascribes to Henry V, I wonder if the decision to launch on this day was not known and intentional.  Certainly the events of the war suggested it was coincidence.  But the day being so precise, it makes me wonder.  Future reading will be in order. 

*My sons have maintained this is why a ‘Back to the Future’ 2025 would not work.  Just how much real difference is there between 1995 and 2025, compared to 1985 and 1955?  Like it or not, they maintain progress has more or less stagnated over the last few decades, compared to the leaps and bounds changes that happened from the 1780s all the way through the 1970s.  When I think on things, I believe they are more right than we might want to admit. 

The last flight of kamikaze commander Yukio Seki, and his handiwork: the sinking of the USS St. Lo. Surigao Strait, October 25, 1944

The Kamikazes sank 47 ships:

• three escort carriers: USS St. Lo, USS Ommaney Bay, and USS Bismarck Sea
• 14 destroyers, including the last ship to be sunk, USS Callaghan (DD-792) on 29 July 1945, off Okinawa
• three high-speed transport ships
• five Landing Ship, Tank
• four Landing Ship Medium
• three Landing Ship Medium (Rocket)
• one auxiliary tanker
• three Victory ships
• three Liberty ships
• two high-speed minesweepers
• one Auk class minesweeper
• one submarine chaser
• two PT boats
• two Landing Craft Support

They damaged hundreds of others.  Seven thousand American sailors and Marines died and 3800 Kamikaze pilots perished.  The Kamikazes were never going to win the War for Japan, but they did make  winning the War more painful for the US.