Aircraft were not the only means that Japan used to devastate its adversaries
during Kamikaze attacks. Little is known about the Shin’yō motorboats,
high-speed and light “Kamikaze” wooden boats designed to impact enemy combat ships
to deliver their explosive payloads while taking the life of the pilots with them.
Manned by children and young men, the Kamikaze vessels were part of a much larger
self-annihilation attack strategy conducted by the Japanese Empire. The desperate scheme sought to
turn the tides of the war in favor of the Japanese even when their Empire crumbled before them.
PC-1129, a US submarine chaser, would soon discover how lethal
and terrifying the Shin’yō motorboats could be.
On January 31, the US vessel was called to provide urgent support to other submarine chasers,
destroyer escorts, and destroyers targeted by a swarm of Shin'yō boats,
each carrying a payload of over 660 pounds of explosive material.
As the PC-1129 arrived at the scene, the small wooden boats began to rush the ship
at maximum speed. The US Marines immediately fired at the incoming enemy crafts,
but their excessive speed made them a difficult target.
However, the US personnel managed to destroy most of the Shin'yō motorboats
through skill and courage. Just as the crew released a sigh of relief,
they realized one of the Kamikaze boats had slipped through their defenses.
The next thing the sailors saw was a flashing light and a devastating tremor.
The fight for survival was far from over…
Desperate Times Call For Desperate Measures
One of the most iconic yet revolting aspects of the Japanese Empire during World War 2
was its use of Kamikaze suicide bombers to obliterate Allied fleets.
Young pilots would be cruelly sacrificed and coerced to crash
their aircraft into enemy ships to fulfill the orders of the Japanese high command.
Contrary to popular belief, Kamikaze tactics were not used by the Japanese Empire at the
beginning of World War 2. When the Japanese Navy conducted its infamous attack on Pearl Harbor,
there existed no official suicide attack program amid the Japanese forces.
Nevertheless, due to misguided adoration for their leaders and a strong sense of
military honor, many Japanese fighter pilots would crash their aircraft into enemy assets
if their plane became damaged or if they believed defeat was imminent.
However, as the war progressed into its final years, the results the
Japanese expected from their bellicose expansion were nowhere to be found,
and they realized only drastic measures could save their nation from utter defeat.
In 1944, the Japanese situation was dire; not only were American forces drawing closer by the minute
to the Japanese main island, but their resources had been running dangerously low. Considering a
surrender unimaginable, the nation’s high command established the Japanese Special Attack Units.
The specialized task force was designed to cause the most significant damage to enemy forces while
using the least amount of resources possible. The idea was to use cheap and fast self-annihilation
vehicles to deliver enormous explosive payloads right into the assets of their enemies.
The procedures were not limited to aircraft crashes; the Special Attack Units used several
different delivery vehicles to accomplish their goals, ranging from high-speed boats
to submarines, manned torpedoes, self-contained diving suits, and of course, Kamikaze aircraft.
The Japanese Empire used its colossal propaganda machinery to compel the
population into realizing they had to stop the incoming invasion no matter the cost,
as their entire culture and way of life were in the line.
The young were indoctrinated into believing that there was no greater honor than to give
up their own lives to ensure the Empire’s success. To persuade them even further,
the young men that joined the Special Attack Units were highly revered.
They ascended the ranks faster than usual and were assured that their family would
receive generous compensations once their sacrifice had been carried out.
Out of all the different delivery vehicles that the Special Attack Units employed,
the Shin’yō motorboats were the easiest to operate. Hence,
they didn’t require pilots with vast years of experience to man them.
The Japanese Navy thus recruited boys from 14 to 16 years of age
to pilot the Shin’yō motorboats, gave them a hasty training, and sent them on their way.
Japan had discovered early in the war how helpful and practical “Kamikaze” strikes
could be during grim situations. As the end of the war drew closer,
the Empire of the Rising Sun would need all the help they could get.
Simple and Lethal
The idea behind the Shin’yō boats was to create a fast boat loaded with explosives
as cheaply as possible. After all, their purpose was to be destroyed.
To spare expenses, the boats would be constructed of cheap plywood. Still, some early units were
made from steel, but as Japan’s steel shortage intensified, the materials had to change.
For the engines, Japan would use their enemies’ assets against them. In 1941,
after the US declared war on Japan, the Japanese military hurried to seize assets from many of
the US manufacturers working on the island. One of these manufacturers was Chevrolet.
During the years before the war, the Chevrolet factory had produced over 100,000 cars in Japan.
Once the conflict broke out, the spare engines were repurposed for war,
turning US technology against them.
The 6-cylinder engines fitted into the Shinyo boats were the same motors you would find
under the hood of a Chevy truck of the era.
The lightness of the wooden hull and the powerful 6-cylinder engine made the Shinyo
a lightning-fast boat. Reports indicate that some Kamikaze boats were able to
reach speeds of up to 35 miles per hour, a remarkable water speed in the 1940s.
The ship’s distribution was simple but effective for its intended purpose;
the engine was attached to its stern, followed by a small 1-man cockpit.
In addition, the entire front of the boat was devoted to storing the explosive materials,
which often consisted of up to 700 pounds of explosives or two depth charges.
The explosives were strategically set up to detonate either on impact
or by the press of a button installed in the pilot’s cockpit.
Combat Service
Due to their high accessibility and cheap materials,
hundreds of Shin’yō boats were produced by the final months of the war.
Thankfully, only a few dozen were actually detonated, as the Japanese leaders decided
to save the majority of them for the eventual Allied invasion of the central Japanese Islands.
Little did Japan know that the dropping of nuclear
bombs on top of Hiroshima and Nagasaki would make the invasion unnecessary.
Still, during the occasions that the boats were actually deployed into combat, they shocked
the world with the amount of devastation and suffering they could unleash in a short time.
US Navy officer Hubert Turner was one of the survivors of a terrifying Shin’yō boat attack.
While serving aboard the destroyer USS Hutchins on April 27 in a bay off of Okinawa Island,
the vessel became one of 21 Allied ships either damaged or sunk by suicide boats.
Turner’s son would recall his father’s stories about that dreadful night:
(QUOTE) “The ship was at anchor. The suicide boat came up, and the best they could tell,
it dropped depth charges. Whatever it was, it did major damage on the hull,”
The blast destroyed the ship’s engines, which unleashed a chained explosion that
wounded many mariners, including his father. Fortunately, no one perished,
but Turner would recall the daunting blast for the rest of his life: (QUOTE): “He said it blew
all the water out from under the ship. All of a sudden, the boat just dropped down in the water.
He said you looked out and all you could see were walls of water all around the sides of the ship,
then it popped back up on the surface and there were fish all over the deck.”
Realizing such a small boat could deliver so much
destruction was part of what made the Japanese tactics so effective,
not only at incapacitating enemy assets but also at striking terror amid the Allies.
The Submarine Chaser PC-1129 was one of the unfortunate ships to become a victim
of the Kamikaze vessels. As it heeded an emergency call for reinforcements,
the ship was soon assaulted by over 20 Shin’yō motorboats.
The American Navy was well aware of the suicide operations being carried out by Japanese forces,
so when the sailors saw the small wooden boats approach,
they hurriedly attempted to neutralize them before they managed to reach the hull.
Still, one of the small vessels hit the ship, immediately breaching her armor
and making an enormous hole on her side. The damage was devastating;
besides the perforation, the ship’s propellers and steering were utterly destroyed.
Several US sailors were instantly propelled into the sea by the force of the blast,
and many others became trapped by the fires below the deck. The PC-1129’s
fuel reserve tanks became compromised, and diesel began to spread in all directions.
The submarine chaser started to sink in a matter of minutes
as fires broke out everywhere caused by a massive diesel leakage.
Knowing there were many other Shin’yō boats in the area, the Captain gave the
order to abandon the ship immediately. The team then conducted an exemplary operation
to withdraw from the danger zone in a strenuous and courageous effort.
At the end of the day, the PC-1129 crew suffered two casualties
in addition to over 100 injured sailors. As for the ship, on January 31, 1945,
at 11:00pm, she sank stern-first and was scratched off the Navy list a month later.
During their short career, Shin’yō motorboats managed to sink six US ships and cripple three
others. The devastating attacks left hundreds of injuries and casualties,
proving the Japanese to be a valuable investment.
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