History
Towards the end of 1943 the Japanese command in response to unfavorable progress in the war heard suggestions for various suicide craft. These suggestions were initially rejected but later deemed necessary. Various suicide mission vehicles were developed in the Japanese Special Attack Units.
For the naval department this meant kamikaze planes, shinyo suicide boats, kaiten submarines and fukuryu suicide divers or human mines. The kamikazes were somewhat successful, and the second most successful of these were the kaitens.
Research on the first kaitens began in February 1944, followed on July 25 of the same year by the first prototype. By August 1, an order for 100 units had been placed.
Read more about this topic: Kaiten
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