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.

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Other websites

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  • 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.