The were Japanese

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

motorboats developed during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. They were part of the wider Japanese Special Attack Units program.

History

Towards the end of 1943, in response to unfavorable progress in the war, the Japanese high command heard suggestions for various suicide craft. These suggestions were initially rejected as "defeatist" but later deemed necessary. For the naval department this meant '' kamikaze'' planes, '' kaiten'' submarines, '' fukuryu'' suicide divers or human

naval mine A naval mine is a self-contained explosive weapon placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Similar to anti-personnel mine, anti-personnel and other land mines, and unlike purpose launched naval depth charges, they are ...

s, and ''shinyo'' suicide boats.

Characteristics

These fast motorboats were driven by one man, to speeds of around . They were typically equipped with a bow-mounted charge of up to of

explosive An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An ex ...

s that could be detonated by either impact or from a manual switch in the driver's area. These attack boats also carried two anti-ship rockets mounted on launchers located on either side of the boat behind the driver. The similar ''Maru-Ni'', which were used by the

Imperial Japanese Army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...

, were equipped with two depth charges, and were not actually suicide boats, as the idea was to drop the depth charges and then turn around before the explosion took place. Although the chances of the boat and crew surviving the wave from the explosion might seem slim, a small number of crewmen successfully escaped. The depth charges used were known as the ''Experimental Manufacture Use 120 kg Depth Charge'', and were armed by a delayed-action pull igniter. The program began in March 1944. The first vessels were tested on 27 May, after which it was decided that the original steel hull design would be replaced by a wooden hull due to the Japanese steel shortage. On 1 August, 150 students, on average 17 years old, elected to begin training for the ''Shinyo''. 6,197 ''Shinyo'' boats were produced for the

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, Potsdam Declaration, when it was dissolved followin ...

and 3,000 ''Maru-ni'' for the

.Japanese Suicide Weapons
/ref> Around 400 boats were transported to Okinawa and Formosa, and the rest were stored on the coast of Japan for the ultimate defense against the expected invasion of the Home islands. The main operative use took place during the Philippines Campaign of 1944–45.

Operational results

*January 10, 1945: Sinking of American ships USS ''LCI(G)-365'' (Landing Craft Infantry – Gunboat), USS ''LCI(M)-974'' (Landing Craft Infantry – Mortar) and crippling of USS ''War Hawk'' (an auxiliary transport) in

Lingayen Gulf Lingayen Gulf is a large gulf on northwestern Luzon in the Philippines, stretching . It is framed by the provinces of Pangasinan and La Union and sits between the Zambales Mountains and the Cordillera Central (Luzon), Cordillera Central. The Agno ...

Luzon Luzon ( , ) is the largest and most populous List of islands in the Philippines, island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the List of islands of the Philippines, Philippine archipelago, it is the economic and political ce ...

, Philippines. *January 31, 1945: Sinking of ( Submarine chaser) off Nasugbu in Luzon, Philippines. *February 16, 1945: Sinking of USS ''LCS(L)-7'' ( Landing Craft Support – Large), ''LCS(L)-26'', and ''LCS(L)-49'' off Mariveles, Corregidor Channel, Luzon. *April 4, 1945: Sinking of USS ''LCI(G)-82'' ( Landing Craft Infantry – Gunboat) and (Landing Ship Medium) off Okinawa. *April 9, 1945: Damaging of . *April 27, 1945: Crippling of in Buckner Bay, Okinawa. *May 4, 1945: Damaging of in the north end of Buckner Bay, Okinawa.

References

Bibliography

External links