Subject: Kamikaze Attack in 1945

[Bad Water Bill]

About the best naval footage ever shot by a Navy cameraman. The camera was in the gun turret under attack. Those Japanese pilots had to be totally insane.


https://www.dropbox.com/sh/4zkp7hvrgbcd7gd/D-qPNsG9ym#lh:null-Laffey%20Enhanced%20vo%203.wmv

WE SHALL NEVER FORGET
(https://www.dropbox.com/sh/4zkp7hvrgbcd7gd/D-qPNsG9ym#lh:null-Laffey%20Enhanced%20vo%203.wmv)

[lbaize3]

I watched movies like that and PT 109. They are a prime reason I chose to serve in the Navy. I do not know if I could have matched their bravery.... but I tried. God bless all those brave men that fought and served our nation in its time of need.

[Blacksmith]

Good one Bill I passed it along to my sailor grandson.

[bullet maker 57]

That is a pretty intense video.

[Char-Gar]

My first Father-in-Law, now deceased, served aboard the Destroyer Tender Yosemite when it came under Kamikaze attack. Even with a Destroyer screen it took two hits from the planes. Although damaged it was still sea worthy and some time later sailed into Yokahama a few days after the surrender. He told me there were armed Jap soldiers on the docks and that was real spooky. When the gangway was dropped on the dock the first order of business was to disarm the Japs, who did not resist.

[Bad Water Bill]

My shop space on the USS Randolph (CVA 15) took a direct hit.

They still had a part of one plane on display while I served on her in 58-59.

[offshore44]

Thanks for sharing. I served as a hole snipe on DD718, USS Hamner, a sister ship, at a much later date. Good ships. Tough, fast and seaworthy. The Hamner was configured as an outside radar picket. We were usually about 200 or so miles out from the fleet. We had a battle life expectancy of about two and half minutes. If we survived that long, we had done our duty. Old Destroyers in the jet age were pretty expendable.

[jcwit]

Those Japanese pilots had to be totally insane.

No not insane, just totally loyal to their Emperor & cause, just as our troops and military was and always has been.

Thank God we won, the world has been a better place because we did.

[dakotashooter2]

Should have had a BIG shotgun for some of those shots. 18" bore with 50# of 1" shot..............

[6bg6ga]

Thanks for sharing

[1989toddm]

Thanks Bill for sharing. Teamwork makes us strong.

[MrWolf]

Thanks Bill. We need to remember the bravery and sacrifices made...

[LUBEDUDE]

Breathtaking film. Very eye opening about our history and tough battles.

[popper]

"On 15 April 1945, Laffey was assigned to radar picket station 1 about 30 mi (26 nmi; 48 km) north of Okinawa, and joined in repulsing an air attack which downed 13 enemy aircraft that day. The next day, the Japanese launched another air attack with some 50 planes:



At 08:30, four Vals (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aichi_D3A) broke formation and made a dive into Laffey. Two of the Vals were destroyed by 20 mm guns and the other two low angle attacks crashed into the sea. Immediately afterward, one of Laffey '​s gunners destroyed a Judy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yokosuka_D4Y) making a strafing approach on the port beam. Ten seconds later, Laffey  '​s main gun battery hit a second Judy on a bombing approach from the starboard beam. The bomb near-missed, wounding the starboard gunners. The flames were quickly extinguished by the damage control team.
At 08:42, Laffey destroyed another Val approaching the port side. While the bomber didn't completely impact the ship, it made a glancing blow against the deck before crashing into the sea, also spewing some lethal aviation fuel from its damaged engine. Three minutes later, another Val approaching from port crashed into one of the 40 mm mounts of the ship, killing three men, destroying 20 mm guns and two 40 mm guns, and setting the magazine afire. Immediately afterward, another Val made a strafing approach from the stern, impacted the after 5"/38 caliber gun mount, and disintegrated as its bomb detonated the powder magazine, destroying the gun turret and causing a major fire. Another Val making a similar approach from astern also impacted the burning gun mount after being set afire by Laffey '​s gunners. At about the same time, another Val approaching from astern dropped its bomb, jamming Laffey '​s rudder 26° to port and killing several men. Another Val and another Judy approached from port and hit Laffey."

Shows the 5/38 turrets aren't bullet proof. Rather be there than a 3" or 40mm ammo runner on the open deck carrying a clip of 5-10 rounds. No fox hole to jump into or other place to go.

[27judge]

Hey Bill my Brother in law was on your ship during the same period . He was a Radar man. I was in Morocco on a shore base during the same period of time. tks KEN

[DCP]

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.


For our tomorrow
They gave their today

[RED333]

Thanks Much Bill

[Thumbcocker]

Had the Japanese doctrine not been "one ship one plane" things would have been much worse.

[MtGun44]

The Navy really had their hands full, and the picket destroyers suffered
mightily. The aviators were doing everything to stop them, and they
stopped the majority, but a 50 to 100 plane wave always had "leakers"
that the ships had to deal with. VERY brave sailors, God Rest Their
Souls.

One ship, one plane???? They attacked in groups and in waves.

Did you notice that a lot of that footage is videogame simulation, mixed in
with a lot of real footage, too? Helps understand the situation, but I often
wonder if folks realize that a good bit of the footage is "fake".

Bill

[Bad Water Bill]

What president was shot down in the middle of the ocean and lucky enough to be rescued by an American sub?

Yes launched off of a carrier,ditched into the ocean,rescued by a sub that had to avoid Jap ships that were looking for subs all in a single day.

As far as that video is concerned I am OLD enough to remember hundreds of films such as "VICTORY AT SEA"where those same attacks were shown almost every week BUT in black and white only.

Also there were films like that shown in boot camp.

[Frank46]

I served aboard a Midway class carrier and while at Norfolk Va had the chance to go aboard the USS John Paul Jones. What an eye opener. One of the engineering spaces was just below the main deck. An the ladder just followed the curve of the hull. We checked the space out as we were snipes off the carrier. Our enginerooms were 4 decks down and protected by an armored deck. The tin can sailors always have my admiration. Well done USS Laffey. Frank

[Echo]

Bush 41. Youngest aviator in the US Navy.

One of my profs was gunnery officer on the cruiser Nashville. He was one of the 'short' naval academy class that took their final year (academy wise) at sea, in WWII. Whenever the radar showed a high-speed single aircraft coming toward them they knew what he was up to. He said he had the best results against the kamikazes using his main battery. I checked, and found the Nashville was armed with 10(!) 6" rifles (5x2), so he had a he[[ of a broadside! Each gun had 3 shells alongside, one fuzed for 10k yds, one for 5k yds, the last for 2500 yds. His comment was 'Fly through that ellipsoid, you bastard!', which I thought was rather funny...

[Multigunner]

Should have had a BIG shotgun for some of those shots. 18" bore with 50# of 1" shot..............

A two ton shell loaded with flechettes wouldn't have been a bad idea at the time.

The 16" gun could fire a two and a quarter ton "hull buster" with about half the range of the standard shell. Must have been hard on the guns though.
The idea was to blanket a enemy supply convoy and rupture the unarmored hulls of supply ships by concussion.

Two tons of heavy flechettes from each gun would make swiss cheese of entire formations of attacking aircraft.

The SPAD was at one time armed with a 37mm gun. A French pilot prefered to load his gun with musket balls and shred German aircraft.

[WILCO]

Those Japanese pilots had to be totally insane.



They weren't insane Bill. They were evil godless fanatics. Stopped only by a swift & violent American response.

[azrednek]

I worked a few years with a legal Japanese immigrant. His history of WW2 is entirely different especially the politics leading up to the war. For example, if Japan had used highly trained pilots in the Kamikazes earlier in the war. The eventual outcome may have been different.

In desperation, short of trained pilots. Japan chose their best and brightest engineering students. Gave them minimal training and gave them planes barely air worthy. Surprisingly, according to my co-worker there was not a shortage of volunteers.

My co-worker and friend told me the Japanese propaganda about Americans before and during WW2. Painted a picture of Americans as blood thirsty barbarians and cannibals. Their propaganda machine claimed the American cannibals preferred to eat children and babies. The US govt supposedly was ruled by fat, lazy elitists.

[wv109323]

What has always amazed me is the causalities. These numbers are military only.
USSR 9.7 million
Germany 5.5 million
China 3.2 million
Japan 2.1 million
Yugoslavia 446,000
USA 416,000
The US Forces were involved in three theaters Pacific, Europe and Africa and lead the way in most battles. The causality ratio speak of our efficiency in battle and the support of the civilians that contributed to the war effort. God bless them all.

[MtGun44]

Bill,

I have "Victory at Sea", the whole set, and enjoy watching it. Saw some of it on
TV as a kid, but have watched it in the last year.

Bill

[Bad Water Bill]

When I go out tonight I will be wearing a Chicago Bears Stadium jacket.

It originally belonged to a sailor that flew off a carrier as a tail gunner to shoot down the Kamikaze pilots.

Yes he was the reason I joined the Navy and he even drove me to the base to sign up.

When Dick died his wife presented me with his coat because she felt I would enjoy it and his memories more than any of their own children would.

No I am not a Bears fan but wear it proudly in memory of the gunner that risked his life to keep us free.

[Col4570]

The U K and Comonwealth had 383800 Military killed during WW2 and where very gratefull when the USA entered the War having lost so many during the early Days.

[dagger dog]

The "old man" related a story of being on a troop ship that was leaving the Aluetian Islands and being shipped to N. Africa.
Talking to one of the navy crew that had experienced a Kamikaze attack, he related --- "every swinging **** was on the deck throwing frying pans to 40MM Bofors and, he meant every thing, 1911's, '03's, M1 carbines and flyers 38's and everyone was on deck.

Tooting my old mans horn he served in the Pacific and European campaigns, trained for desert warfare at Camp Roberts SoCal Field Artillery , and was shipped to Dutch Harbor for deployment to the Japanese occupied islands, after that was in the Italian, and later occupation army.

[monadnock#5]

http://shop.history.com/detail.php?p=345722

Unless I miss my guess, it is from this series that the CGI scenes were taken from. I think CGI is a great tool. The ability to show facsimiles of the equipment used, utilizing the tactics employed, while a veteran of the battle narrates the story is a wonderful thing.

I have a friend who served in the Navy during WWII on a transport ship. His primary job was ferrying Marines and supplies to and from the beach on an LST. I got him to talk about it one day. He told of going after a load of munitions at the end of a battle and his LST being attacked by a kamikaze. The kamikaze missed obviously, but during the telling of the story, I watched him go back to the deck of that LST, and could see and feel the fear. Scared the hell out of me, and I was careful to keep our discussions on current events thereafter.