Were the Kamikaze's effective? By this I mean, "Did

>>32224534
Yes, because they had bombs attached to them. That's why the planes in 9/11 were also effective because they had bombs attached to them.

>>32224534

Yes they were, and especially the case for Japan, since it had no fuel to train pilots to proficiency hitting bombs and torpedo.

Something like 11% of Kamikaze hit their targets, while in the last naval battle where Japan used conventional tactics, they landed one bomb hit in exchange for 500-600 aircraft.

USN air defense had gotten so good in a pitched battle that a conventional attack on large combatants was suicide.

>>32224718
>>32224738
>>32224534

No. The Kamikazes were a senseless waste of men, materiel, and strategic resources in the name of a suicidal ideology. If anything, they only speeded Japanese defeat.

literally like an exocet but piloted by a brave/crazy little slant

Mildly useful against transports and destroyers.

>>32224534
Yes. By that point in the war, American AA fire was so overpowering that Jap pilots literally got shellshock from it. Conventional raids were no longer a possibility. Further, Japan was dealing with rookie pilots who could not accurately deliver a bomb or torpedo. Kamikaze tactics were the best weapon they could use in this situation.

>>32224534
Not against anything but transports and support ships. Most warships were too heavily armored to seriously damage.

>>32225160
I'd disagree. Against heavy cruisers and battleships, sure. Light cruisers, MAYBE. But against destroyers, definitely. Fleet carriers, while they won't be sunk by them, will have their flight deck messed up, putting them out of play for a while for repairs. CVEs, the same is true.

File: lex.webm (3MB, 640x360px) Image search: [Google]

3MB, 640x360px

>>32224534

Pretty good as a physiological weapon.

>>32225160

There is some pretty gory footage of a ship after being hit, though I think it was a destroyer.

File: IMG_2563.jpg (212KB, 1161x460px)

212KB, 1161x460px

>>32224534
I got it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHkMJZUB7Y0

>>32224534
Hard to really say if they were militarily effective.

Kamikazes sank a total of 47 ships.

Of those, 20 were completely defenseless vs. aircraft (cargo ships, landing craft). An additional 11 most likely would have sunk even without being struck by a kamikaze (including all 3 escort carriers sunk).

Kamikazes sank or played a role in the sinking of only 23 combatant craft, the rest were either totally defenseless or lightly-armed support craft. Of the combatant craft sank, 9 were PT boats and generally a waste of a kamikaze considering how small and comparatively fragile they were.

But yes, they sank a fair amount of ships. The question is, would they have done worse, the same, or better if they'd put the time and materiel into training pilots. Since they didn't, we can only guess.

File: USS Columbia Kamikaze.jpg (162KB, 622x878px) Image search: [Google]

162KB, 622x878px

They gave Japan's Navy and Air Force one last hurrah.
It was a waste of lives and aircraft but so would have been putting them against the Americans in a conventional way. Japan wasn't going to surrender and the Kamikaze was the best the could do at the time.
Didn't require that much training, older planes could still cause damage (Provided they made it through the layered American defense.)
Overall the Kamikaze didn't change much but frighten American sailors and give Roosevelt, and later Truman, more reason to see the Atomic Bomb as a better option than invasion.

I just cannot fathom doing something like that.
I could see fighting to the bitter end if I believe I was defending my family, but to purposely use my self as a weapon and know I was going to die is another thing entirely.
It's equally terrifying and fascinating.

>>32225491
kek

>>32225603
>The question is, would they have done worse, the same, or better if they'd put the time and materiel into training pilots.
They didn't have material to train pilots. The entire reason they attacked America is because the US fucked them out of their oil supply.

>>32226037
More accurately that their aggression caused the US and a number of Euros to pull the plug on their sale of oil to Japan

>>32226037
>You piss me off by bullying my friends
>I stop selling you commodities and tell you that I'm not going to sell you commodities until you stop bullying my friends.
It seems to me that Japan had a choice. The could have stopped bullying my friends instead of picking a fight with a nation possessing 40 times their industrial capacity.

>>32225453
never change, /k/

>>32225814
aloha snackbar

>>32225404
Mother FUCKERS

Should've nuked them a dozen more times

>>32225404
>Pretty good as a *psychological weapon.
Seeing as almost all weapons are physiological...