daveb@uunet.UU.NET (David Collier-Brown) (03/27/89)
From: geaclib!daveb@uunet.UU.NET (David Collier-Brown) This is a sidebar to the discussion of the Yamato et all... > From: uw-beaver!ssc-vax!wanttaja (Ronald J Wanttaja) > Yamato's orders were to beach itself and act as a shore battery. This was > considered to be the nautical equivalent of the "banzai" charge, and was > apparently quite supported by the crew. > > [mod.note: That makes sense. In "The End of the Imperial Japanese Navy" > (W.W. Norton & Co, 1962, New York), Masanori Ito emphasizes that the Navy, > while willing to sacrifice themselves for the cause, did not order ships > on suicide missions; some way out, even if remote, was always provided: > "It was a basic tenet of the Japanese Navy to avoid any operation > which offered no chance of survival. ... This tradition was not violated > until the adoption of the Kamikazi Special Attack Force (suicide pilots) It probably should be repeated that the acceptance of "suicide" missions as such was suspiciously soon after the Japanese Naval command noted the rate of loss of aircraft attacking U.S. military ships was approaching 100%. It makes perfect sense to expect a fighting force to accept that an attack on a particular kind ot target was tantamount to suicide. It reflects strongly to their credit that they accepted the fact and planned to fly their aircraft into their targets instead of depending on (mildly inaccurate) bombsights. It should not be taken (as it often seems to be) as a criticism of the professionalism and humanity of Japanese pilots. [moderator: if this is off-topic, feel free to drop it] [mod.note: I don't see anything wrong with giving credit where credit is due. If, however, anyone is ready to fire off a flame for this "enemy worship", keep it to email. -Bill ] --dave c-b -- David Collier-Brown. | yunexus!lethe!dave Interleaf Canada Inc. | 1550 Enterprise Rd. | He's so smart he's dumb. Mississauga, Ontario | --Joyce C-B