WWII B&W Photo Japanese MXY7 Ohka Suicide Bomber World War Two WW2 Japan / 6111

Description

Japanese MHY7 Ohka Suicide Plane
Kadena, Okinawa
This is a nice reproduction of an original WW2 photograph showing a captured Japanese "Ohka" rocket powered suicide plane captured by US forces at Kadena airfield on Okinawa.  Note the gigantic warhead.  Nice photo with great detail!
Size is about 4" x 6".
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The MXY-7 Navy Suicide Attacker Ohka was a manned flying bomb that was usually carried underneath a Mitsubishi G4M2e "Betty" Model 24J bomber to within range of its target. On release, the pilot would first glide towards the target and when close enough he would fire the
Ohka
'
s three solid-fuel rockets, one at a time or in unison,
[4]
and fly the missile towards the ship that he intended to destroy.
The design was conceived by Ensign Mitsuo Ohta of the 405th Kōkūtai,
[5]
aided by students of the Aeronautical Research Institute at the University of Tokyo. Ohta submitted his plans to the Yokosuka research facility. The Imperial Japanese Navy decided the idea had merit and Yokosuka engineers of the Yokosuka Naval Air Technical Arsenal (Dai-Ichi Kaigun Koku Gijitsusho, or in short
Kugisho
[6]
) created formal blueprints for what was to be the MXY7. The only variant which saw service was the Model 11, and it was powered by three Type 4 Mark 1 Model 20 rockets. 155 Ohka Model 11s were built at Yokosuka, and another 600 were built at the Kasumigaura Naval Air Arsenal.
[4]
The final approach was almost unstoppable because the aircraft gained high speed (650 km/h (400 mph) in level flight and 930 km/h (580 mph) or even 1,000 km/h (620 mph) in a dive). Later versions were designed to be launched from coastal air bases and caves, and even from submarines equipped with aircraft catapults, although none were actually used in this way. It appears that the operational record of
Ohkas
includes three ships sunk or damaged beyond repair and three other ships with significant damage. Seven US ships were damaged or sunk by
Ohkas
throughout the war. The USS
Mannert L. Abele
was the first Allied ship to be sunk by Ohka aircraft, near Okinawa on 12 April 1945.
[7][8]
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6111