The WW2 word 'kamikaze', of Japanese derivation but as well known, if not better known by the Allies in the Pacific fighting the Japanese. A British word for toilet is Khazi, which is understood to have come from the toilet habits of a race in northern India called the Khasi people, and was used by the British Army as a derogatory expression. As I write, I can't help associating it with the 'arzy' in the Japanese word and with 'nazi' in the German word - sorry about that!

  Over the years kamikaze became synonymous with suicide pilots driving their aircraft pre-loaded with high explosives directly at ships in a suicide mission. It wasn't the case, for a kamikaze suicide mission defined a person steering a weapon of destruction at a target knowing the mission would be achieved against a desired target and that the "guiders" sacrifice would bring eternal blessings upon his family. I remember well the one/two men underwater chariot's used by the Japanese and the Italians (in the main) which after the war were put on shown at various naval establishment. They were manned by frogmen in wet-suits who would very bravely, take their chariot's into harbour's (Alexandria in Egypt was a good example, and used by the Italian Navy to attack units of the British Mediterranean Fleet riding at anchor) where they would manoeuvre their craft under a ship, unship their explosives attached to the chariot, and either attached them to the ships hull (limpet mines) or lower the charge to the seabed below the ship. The object was to severely damage the hull of the vessel but also to make their escape. As such, the chariot, and for that matter a midget submarine (remember HMS XE3's attack on a Japanese cruisers moored in the Singapore Straits which resulted in a successful mission, the award of two Victoria Crosses, and the escape of the perpetrators ?) were not suicide missions: midget submarines also attacked the German battleship Tirpitz in similar fashion, some escaping, some killed and some taken as POW's, and some being awarded the Victoria Cross.

  The kamikaze zero (a type of Japanese fighter aircraft) did untold damage to allied shipping and its fortunes are proverbial, but a much less well know kamikaze weapon, fortunately not widely deployed, and to my uncertain knowledge sunk only two warships, one a US Navy tanker and one a US Navy escort vessel could have been the ultimate naval stealth weapon.

  It was literally a high speed, mega explosive payload torpedo, with a one man crew inside the torpedo steering it to its target; the ultimate torpedo. They were carried into battle (up to four of them) two forward and two aft sitting on the casing of a fleet submarine, or on a ship or launched from shore. It was in service for the last nine months of the Pacific War. It was called the KAITEN, and was like the kamikaze aircraft a desperate last ditch weapon design to stave off defeat. Clearly it didn't work for approximately nine months later Japan was utterly defeated.

Kaiten Type 1

  This is the Kaiten Type 1. I have cropped the picture to get rid of the bit of armour at the back of the plinth which you can still see at the top of the picture. The tiny superstructure down aft (it has white bits on it) which carries a periscope is a part of the weapon shown with the periscope raised - See picture Kaiten 2 below. Apart from the raised superstructure the Kaiten was a pure aero dynamic shape with everything, including the kamikaze helmsman locked inside, just feet from a massive warhead of 3420 lbs of high explosives. Over 425 were built across various models (Mk's) but only 300 of the only type actually used, the Type1 (based around a type 93 torpedo which was surface vessel launched) were built. As a measure of efficiency and potency, of these 300 only 100 were sent on operations and only two ships were sunk. The Type 1, was the only Kaiten ever used in anger. It was dogged from beginning to end with water leaks, something the Jap's never cured.

  Again a Type 1. Note how the torpedo was cut in two and the welded-in section which houses the one man pilot seat and controls and the periscope housing which he could easily reach to check his bearing and nearness of the intended target. (See picture below).

  The specifications were:-

Total weight: 8.3 t (9.1 short tons) Length: 14.75 m (48 ft 5 in) Diameter:: 1 m (3 ft 3 in) Warhead 1,550 kg (3,420 lb) Detonation mechanism: Contact, Manual electric fuze Engine: Type 93 torpedo engine. Wet heater Double action Reciprocating 2 cylinder 410 kW (550 hp) Propellant: Kerosene and oxygen Maximum range: 78 km (42 nmi) Cruising speed: 22 km/h (12 kn) Maximum speed: 56 km/h (30 kn) Maximum operating depth: 80 m (260 ft) Number built: approx. 330 produced

  American losses credited to Kaiten attacks came to a total of 187 officers and men. The losses of Kaiten crews and support staff were much higher. In total 106 Kaiten pilots lost their lives (including 15 killed in training accidents and two suicides after the war). In addition to the pilots, 846 men died when eight Japanese submarines carrying Kaiten were sunk, and 156 maintenance and support personnel were also killed. A Japanese total of 1108. Compare that with the kamikaze aircraft with the following scores.

  Approximately 2,800 Kamikaze attackers sank 34 Navy ships, damaged 368 others, killed 4,900 sailors, and wounded over 4,800. Despite radar detection and cuning, airborne interception, attrition, and massive anti-aircraft barrages, 14 percent of Kamikazes survived to score a hit on a ship; nearly 8.5 percent of all ships hit by Kamikazes sank.

  Japanese kamikaze losses were Navy 2,525 and Air Force 1,387 a total of 3912.