Kaiten

submarine class

The Kaiten (Japanese: 回天, translated "Change the World" or "Reverse Destiny") was a torpedo that was changed to become a suicide weapon, and used by the Navy of the Empire of Japan in the last months of the Second World War. It was basically a torpedo with a pilot, and it could be thrown from a submarine or a ship.

Designs for a Japanese Kaiten type 1.
Designs for a Japanese Kaiten type 2.

The Kaiten was not very effective. Out of more or less 100 attacks made with them, only two enemy ships were sunk.

Related pages change

Other websites change

  • Kaiten Memorial Museum Archived 2012-02-24 at the Wayback Machine
  • Kamikaze Submarine Archived 2006-10-05 at the Wayback Machine
  • USS Bowfin Submarine Museum & Park Archived 2006-10-03 at the Wayback Machine
  • US Navy Historical Center Archived 2006-10-19 at the Wayback Machine
  • Pictorial account of types 1 and 2 kaitens
  • The Kaiten Mark II at the New Jersey Naval Museum in Hackensack, NJ Archived 2007-02-04 at the Wayback Machine
  • Humantorpedo 回天 Kaiten (Japanese)
  • Sheftall, M.G. (2005). Blossoms in the Wind: Human Legacies of the Kamikaze. NAL Caliber. pp. 480pp. ISBN 0-451-21487-0.