Hello all, here is today's article posted on TheArmoryLife.com. It is titled “Yokosuka MXY-7 Ohka — The Kamikaze Baka Bomb” and can be found at https://www.thearmorylife.com/yokosuka-mxy-7-ohka-the-kamikaze-baka-bomb/.
Yokosuka MXY-7 Ohka — The Kamikaze Baka Bomb
- Thread starter Mike H.
- Start date
Annihilator
Emissary
Interesting read, thanks Mike!Hello all, here is today's article posted on TheArmoryLife.com. It is titled “Yokosuka MXY-7 Ohka — The Kamikaze Baka Bomb” and can be found at https://www.thearmorylife.com/yokosuka-mxy-7-ohka-the-kamikaze-baka-bomb/.
Jmartin23665
Alpha
When I was stationed at Kadena Air Base on Okinawa I was able to see the shelters for these aircraft which are still standing.
PeterGrayBear
Alpha
Thanks for a great article about these piloted cruise missle/bombs! Only recently did I find out about the sinking of the Unryu (fleet aircraft carrier carrying 30 Ohka/Bakas) by the USS Redfish. My father was an officer on the Redfish in the later part of WW2, but I knew little of Redfish's battle history until recently. Until I read this article, I knew very little about these flying bombs, so: Thank you for a wealth of detail!
By the time these rockets were in use, much of the Navy's large caliber AA was radar guided, and used proximity fuses. B/c Japan was running out of aircraft aluminum, much of these were constructed of plywood, which made for a very difficult target for the radar systems of that time. Combined with the high speeds/brief aiming period, this made these tiny aircraft very difficult to hit. Or, that is my understanding of this & I welcome feedback on this.
Re: the USS Redfish: When Redfish torpedoed Unryu, it set off the rocket fuel & bombs and explosions completely destroyed the carrier. Heavy depth charging cracked the submerged Redfish's pressure hull, forcing the sub to surface. Redfish then managed to outmaneuver the destroyers escorting the carrier, and escaped ON THE SURFACE and then managed to successfully return to Pearl Harbor. It then had to return to the mainland for repairs, & later returned to sail to Japan as part of the fleet in Tokyo Bay for the surrender ceremony in Sept 1945.
By the time these rockets were in use, much of the Navy's large caliber AA was radar guided, and used proximity fuses. B/c Japan was running out of aircraft aluminum, much of these were constructed of plywood, which made for a very difficult target for the radar systems of that time. Combined with the high speeds/brief aiming period, this made these tiny aircraft very difficult to hit. Or, that is my understanding of this & I welcome feedback on this.
Re: the USS Redfish: When Redfish torpedoed Unryu, it set off the rocket fuel & bombs and explosions completely destroyed the carrier. Heavy depth charging cracked the submerged Redfish's pressure hull, forcing the sub to surface. Redfish then managed to outmaneuver the destroyers escorting the carrier, and escaped ON THE SURFACE and then managed to successfully return to Pearl Harbor. It then had to return to the mainland for repairs, & later returned to sail to Japan as part of the fleet in Tokyo Bay for the surrender ceremony in Sept 1945.
Snake45
Professional
The NASM has one of these. Last time I toured the Garber resto facility in the '90s, it was in the shop being restored. They had it sitting on a couple of common sawhorses to do the work. I was able to get a number of closeup cockpit pics. The whole thing reminded me of something a home craftsman might build for his kids to play on/with in the back yard. 
Presumably the restored hot mess is now on display at Dulles. ETA: Here it is:
BTW, the old HAWK model company did a fairly nice (for the time) 1/48 scale model of the thing in the 1950s, which I built as a kid. They also did a V-1, and IIRC sold the two of them as a set.
Presumably the restored hot mess is now on display at Dulles. ETA: Here it is:
BTW, the old HAWK model company did a fairly nice (for the time) 1/48 scale model of the thing in the 1950s, which I built as a kid. They also did a V-1, and IIRC sold the two of them as a set.