Kaiten

Kaiten on the deck of a carrier submarine

"Kaiten" in the museum. 2008

Kaiten (t. Kaiten , 回 天 , lit. "changing fate") - the name of several types of torpedoes controlled by suicide bombers ( teisintai ). Used by the Japanese Imperial Navy to defeat the enemy at the end of World War II .

The first torpedo- kaiten projects included a pilot bailout mechanism. However, due to the fact that the bailout in the immediate vicinity of the target during the explosion practically did not leave the pilot a chance to survive, and due to the fact that there was not a single known case when the kaiten pilot tried to use the rescue tool, later torpedo modifications did not have ejection mechanisms. The pilot just fit into the wheelhouse, the hatch in it pulled up. The pilot searched for the target using a periscope at shallow depths. After reaching the target and aiming, the pilot switched the torpedo into attack mode: the periscope was retracted, the depth increased and the full speed was switched on. In the event of a miss, the pilot could not leave the torpedo and died from a lack of oxygen; subsequently, the self-destruction mechanism was added to the design.

Type 1

Type 2

Torpedo "Kaiten" proved to be an ineffective weapon. Preparation for launch was lengthy and rather noisy. Since the kaitens were designed for a small maximum immersion depth and were attached to the outside of the boat, the permissible immersion depth of the boat itself decreased accordingly, and the vulnerability to anti-submarine means increased. Accuracy and reliability during long range launches were unsatisfactory. The Japanese submarine commanders understood this. I-58 , which sank the cruiser Indianapolis (three days after he delivered the atomic bomb " Kid " to Tinian, later dropped on Hiroshima ), attacked with conventional torpedoes, despite the presence of four "Kaitens" and contrary to the requests of their pilots. The largest ship sunk by the Kaitens was the Mississinea American tanker.