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    Japan Became So Desperate at the End of WWII That Its Military Trained Kamikaze Frogmen

    By Rosemary Giles,

    15 hours ago

    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=34DSvL_0vXyv7Bc00

    As World War II neared its end, both the Allied and Axis powers developed increasingly complex strategies to finish the conflict. For instance, the Americans planned Operation Downfall, an ambitious campaign to invade the Japanese mainland. In response, the Japanese implemented inventive defenses, including kamikaze frogmen and manned torpedoes .

    Operation Downfall

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    US President Franklin Roosevelt, Gen. Douglas MacArthur, Adm. Chester Nimitz and Adm. William Leahy at a meeting in Hawaii, 1944. (Photo Credit: Unknown Author / US Navy / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain)

    Operation Downfall was the American plan to invade and conquer Japan. It was set to unfold in two phases: Operations Olympic and Coronet. If executed, it would have been a larger amphibious invasion than D-Day .

    The operation was scheduled to begin in November 1945, following the end of the war in Europe. The first phase, Olympic, would begin with a massive amphibious assault on the Japanese island of Kyūshū, which would then serve as a staging ground for future troops during Coronet. This second phase, planned for around March 1946, would target Tokyo Bay with an even larger force.

    However, the planned invasion was never carried out, as Japan surrendered following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This spared both sides the catastrophic casualties that such an invasion would have entailed.

    Training kamikaze frogmen

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    Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan, 1942. (Photo Credit: CORBIS Historical / Getty Images)

    Anticipating an impending Allied invasion, the Japanese developed the Fukuryu tactic as a defensive measure. Meaning "crouching dragon," this strategy involved kamikaze frogmen launching surprise assaults on enemy vessels from below the water.

    Captain Kiichi Shintani of the Yokosuka Naval Base Anti-Submarine School in Japan first proposed this idea in 1944 . Faced with a shortage of personnel and resources that made traditional defenses ineffective, he adapted tactics from past battles like Peleliu .

    These operatives would hide underwater at key points along Japan's coastline, carrying out stealthy explosive attacks under the cover of darkness to ambush enemy forces. This approach reduced their visibility and decreased the chances of being spotted or facing counterattacks.

    Fukuryu attacks

    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0h9NsA_0vXyv7Bc00
    Fukuryu diver in his underwater suit, with a mine on a bamboo spear. (Photo Credit: Meckneck / Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 4.0)

    These kamikaze frogmen would emerge from their underwater hideouts in diving suits, armed with 16-foot bamboo spears fitted with Type-5 attack mines. Each contained 33 pounds of explosives and was designed to detonate when pushed against the hull of an overhead ship.

    Multiple explosives were placed around these underwater hideouts for easy access by the frogmen. Due to the mission's nature, those trained for this task weren't expected to survive, if they were successful. They faced not only a one-way journey, but also endless, lonely hours awaiting the enemy's arrival.

    Training the kamikaze frogmen

    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3hMAuj_0vXyv7Bc00
    Two Italian frogmen, 1941-42. (Photo Credit: ullstein bild / Getty Images)

    Extensive preparations were made to train 6,000 kamikaze frogmen , which required specialized equipment . Each man was to be equipped with a diving suit, including a jacket, pants, shoes and helmet, along with oxygen supplies and liquid sustenance to last about 10 hours underwater. They would also carry 20 pounds of lead to counteract buoyancy at depths ranging from 16 to 23 feet.

    In addition to outfitting the operatives, there was a need to create subterranean hideouts where they could wait for enemy vessels. The initial plan involved constructing large concrete structures above ground that would later be submerged in their designated positions, although this plan was never carried out. An alternative idea considered underwater steel foxholes, but this was quickly discarded due to concerns about interference with nearby explosives.

    Despite the meticulous planning by the Japanese to deploy their kamikaze frogmen, the strategy ultimately went unused.

    A failed initiative

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    Fukuryu diver, 1946. (Photo Credit: Unknown Author / US Navy / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain)

    The 71st Arashi were trained at Yokosuka, while the 81st Arashi would undergo training at Kure. Another unit was in the works at Sasebo. However, there were only two battalions fully trained by the time the Japanese surrendered, both with the 71st. The total equaled about 1,200 of the proposed 6,000 frogmen.

    Training wasn't the only thing falling behind, as production also proved difficult. Only 1,000 diving suits were ready at the time of surrender, and none of the real mines were constructed, only dummy ones.

    Even though the F ukuryu were never used in combat, many still died during the training. Most of these fatalities were caused by issues with the breathing apparatuses in the diving suits. They were rudimentary, so each diver had to inhale through their nose and out through their mouth into a tank, which would turn the carbon monoxide back into oxygen.

    If they mixed the two up, they'd inhale caustic lye and faint while underwater. If any seawater got into the tanks, a mixture was created that, when inhaled, would burn the lungs.

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    Other divers died when they got tangled in plant life on the ocean floor and were unable to free themselves. Ultimately, no enemy combatants were ever killed in Fukuryu attacks, yet so many trainees were that "they couldn't keep up with cremation."

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    Comments / 6
    Add a Comment
    Gee Wally Gator
    1h ago
    Look at every single Imperalistic government from the beginning of recorded history thru today....not a one has survived!
    TTOM
    2h ago
    Good ones died during training
    View all comments
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