1. The first organized Kamikaze attacks were conducted on October 25, 1944. Before that individual pilots had sometimes crashed damaged aircraft onto American ships, but suicide attacks by specially trained and organized “Special Attack” groups did not occur until the war had turned very badly for the Japanese.
2. The Japanese resorted to organized suicide attacks when the United States captured islands within bomber range of Japan and the Japanese Navy was almost completely destroyed.
3. The Japanese hoped that mass suicide attacks against U.S. Navy ships would discourage Americans and compel the U.S. government to negotiate a peace settlement that would avert a U.S. invasion of Japan and allow Japan to keep some of its war gains.
4. Inaccurate, wildly exaggerated claims of success following the initial kamikaze attacks led Japanese military leaders to continue and expand the use of the tactic.
5. Japanese Kamikaze pilots were not all volunteers. While the earliest kamikaze pilots were experienced airmen who did volunteer, once the supply of pilots was exhausted Japan resorted to coercion and eventually to drafting university students and assigning them to suicide units.
6. Kamikaze attacks were coordinated and well-planned. Special Attack Units were formed and pilots were trained specifically to crash-dive onto Allied ships. Mass kamikaze attacks were essential elements of Japanese plans for the defense of Okinawa and mainland Japan.
7. Kamikaze attacks were five times more likely to result in damage to a U.S. ship than conventional air attacks.
8. Mass suicide attacks were a surprise to many American military planners, although some analysts and planners had foreseen the tactic.
9. Kamikaze attacks were launched from airfields ashore. No kamikaze missions were flown from Japanese aircraft carriers.
10. Kamikaze pilots were permitted to return to their base if they were unable to locate a suitable target.
11. Most of the damage caused by Kamikaze attacks was the result of the bombs the aircraft carried, not from the crash of the actual aircraft.
12. The Japanese developed and continually refined detailed tactics for suicide attacks. Designated observer planes often accompanied suicide attackers to report the results of the attacks to Japanese planners.
13. In addition to suicide crashes by conventional aircraft, the Japanese employed suicide attacks by rocket planes (Ohka), small boats, manned torpedoes, and large warships.
14. The Japanese held more than 10,000 aircraft in reserve for suicide attacks during the expected invasion of Japan.

September 28, 2017