"Kamikaze" tunnels, Lamma island [1945- ]

This photo shows the kamikaze boats on Lamma Island that were destroyed and captured by the British naval forces soon after the re-occupation of Hong Kong in AUG 1945:

http://london.iwm.org.uk/server/show/conMediaFile.47362

Further photo. Look under KT102:

http://www.royalnavyresearcharchive.org.uk/MONABS/KT_Album.htm

The China Mail on 11 September 1945 reported the existence of a potential Kamikaze Corps during the rounding-up of Japanese military forces. The men found on Stonecutters Island were organised into a suicide squad operating miniature torpedo boats. A considerable number of craft were found at Stonecutters.

Not sure if there were other locations for the concealment of these suiciide boats or that the correspondent may have incorrectly stated the location as Stonecutters and not Lamma.

The first photo that Moddsey linked, showing the Kamikaze boats on Lamma appears to be the first cave in the photos above which is fully blocked off with a tree on the right.

I had a quick look about on the inter-web and found a little more information on the boats;

 In 1937, Japanese hull designers began a study of existing British, Italian and American motor and torpedo boats. Many models were made. By 1941, they completed their own design of six 18-meter motor torpedo boats. At the beginning of the war, these models were put into production.

In March 1944, the Shinyo ("Sea Quake") manned explosive motorboat (EMB) program was begun. The first models were copied from the 18-meter motor torpedo boats. Six steel hulled boats were constructed at Yokosuka Naval Base and two wooden hulled EMBs were built at Tsurumi, Yokohama.

On 27 May 1944, the first Shinyo EMBs were tested. Difficulties were encountered with the design and it was determined to abandon steel hulls in favor of wooden hulls because of the availability of materials.

On 1 August 1944, over 400 new students arrived at the Naval Torpedo School facility at Kawatana on Omura Bay, near Yokosuka. Captain Hara Tameichi (former CO of DesRon 27) was Senior Instructor. The students, all would-be aircraft pilots, had been transferred from aviation schools because of the lack of aircraft production. Their average age was 17 years. The students were given the choice of training for duty with conventional torpedo boats, Special Attack (suicide) boats or as suicide frogmen. About 150 of the first students chose the Special Attack EMBs.

A three-month training period in small-boat handling, mechanics and attack techniques was prescribed for EMB units, but the early squadrons were soon deployed in the defense of the Philippines, Okinawa, Formosa and Hainan Island. In September 1944, the 1st, 2nd and 5th Shinyo Squadrons were sent to Chichijima in the Bonin Islands, the 3rd and 4th Shinyo Squadrons to Hahajima, Bonins, while the 6th Shinyo Squadron went to the Philippines. In October-November 1944, EMB training "officially" commenced.

Type 1 one-man Shinyo EMBs were relatively slow and only capable of speeds up to about 23 knots. When carrying a warhead, their top speed dropped off to a dismal 18 knots. Typically, Navy EMBs were equipped with a bow-mounted explosive charge. Army EMBs carried two depth charges and were not considered suicide boats, as the pilot was supposed to drop the depth charges and U-turn around in the 6-seconds before they exploded. In reality, there was no way to get away safely from the explosion.

The slightly larger and faster two-man Type 5 Shinyo EMBs were powered by two automobile engines. Armed with a 13.2mm heavy machine gun, they were designed to serve as command boats. Both Type 1 and Type 5 Shinyo were equipped with two 120-mm RO-SA rockets (same type used on ISE and HYUGA, not rocket guns) to increase speed during the final run-in and as makeshift propulsion in case of engine failure. The engine(s) for both versions was designated as Toyota KC Special Type. Some Type 5 Shinyo were equipped with radio telephones.

A total of 6,197 Shinyo EMBs were manufactured for the Imperial Japanese Navy and 3,000 somewhat similar "Maru-ni" EMBs for the Imperial Japanese Army. Around 1,100 boats were transported to the Philippines, 400 to Okinawa and Formosa, and smaller numbers to Korea, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Hainan and Singapore. The vast majority of EMBs were stored along he shores of coastal Japan for defense against the expected invasion of the Home Islands. The Naval General Staff expected a 10 percent hit rate for Shinyo EMBs.

EMBs scored some limited successes in the Philippines and Okinawa, but heavy gunfire from Allied ships and PT-boats ("fly-catchers") stopped most of them. Others were lost in transit, met with accidents, or were strafed and sunk by American aircraft.

No detailed production records of EMBs have been located by the authors; however, Japanese and Allied records do contain some information concerning EMB operations. As a result, although we cannot present EMB data in our usual Tabular Record of Movement (TROM) format, we have chosen to present the information by geographical areas of operation and time periods as listed below.

Shinyo and Maru-ni -- Motorboat with explosives in the bow.

Great numbers -- 6,200 Navy (Shinyo) and 3,000 Army (Maru-ni) -- were built and stored in caves for the invasion. 400 were at Okinawa and Formosa ; thousands waited in the coves of Japan proper. The speedboat had one man and, typically, two depth charges as explosives. A slightly larger 2-man speedboat was also available.

Good work Craig and nice pictures.

From the HMS Vengeance website and memories of Charles Davidson, P.O. 812 Sqdn:

http://www.hms-vengeance.co.uk/index.htm

"I can see quite clearly in my mind an early sunny morning when I saw the coast of China. We were at Action Stations. The aircraft flew overhead us as we steamed between the rocky islands off Hong Kong slowly for fear of mines. The Bofors guns were manned and depressed and I remember they opened up when I was below decks and was told some Japanese had loaded a little boat with dynamite and darted out from the lee of an isle, then lashed the wheel and set it at full throttke to collide with the ship and jumped into the sea.  They sunk the boat well away from the Vengeance. Later in the Hong Kong Dockyard several of these home made craft were found to be powered by engines taken from the old British built Leyland (?) buses that ran in the Colony before the war."

1945 Kamikaze Boats  (Lamma Island)

four photos here of them surrendering - one is as shown above. good resolution
http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/158442

doesn't seem to work when you click on it, but does if you copy and paste into address bar

I wonder if these 3 extracts from the BAAG Situation Reports have a connection to the Kamakaze tunnels:

Yes, the IWM photo was of the abandoned Japanese boats at Picnic Bay, Lamma Island

Here are the new links: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205187664 and http://www.royalnavyresearcharchive.org.uk/MONABS/M8_Album.htm#.Vc1XGvmqpBc (flip through for KT 102)

Best Regards

In the Ride Collection I found this newspaper cutting from the South China Morning Post of Sunday November 30th 1975:

"CONFRONTED BY JAPANESE SUICIDE BOATS.

In 1945, HMCS Prince Robert had brought back to Canada a captured Japanese suicide boat from Hong Kong as noted here Would be interesting to find out whatever happened to it. The Australian War Memorial warehouse collection has a photo of a Shinyo suicide boat captured at Sandakan.

Moddsey might be interested in this report in KWIZ #79, dated 29.12.1944:

"Suicide Surface Craft.  Various shipyards in Hongkong have received orders to build motor speed boats called "Despatch Boats" or "Surface Flying Mines".  These are of all-wood construction, 15 ft in length and fitted with diesel engines, with a one-man crew and explosives loaded in the bow, they are designed for suicidal attack on enemy shipping.  .."

Regards, Elizabeth. 

Thank you.

I remember seeing these in 1958 from the opposite side of the bay. At that time I was told they were used for mini submarines!

Nice to see this story resurrected as it seems to have been overlooked in the passing years

The Imperial War Museum in London holds many reels of film taken by a Naval war photographer during the re-occupation of Hongkong in 1945.  Special Collections in the HKU Library have acquired copies of many of these films (5 discs).  From the description of contents of these five disks, I quote the following sequences which show  the Japanese tunnels at Picnic Bay and the subsequent activity by the planes on board the naval ship:

“Disc 4 (7-Adm 1200:
 

Picture1.png, by Admiralty

Disc 5 (2-Adm 1196:

Picture2.png, by Admiralty

Further sequences concerning the re-occupation of Hongkong are described in Post 1e [Hong Kong Reclaimed > “Re- Occupation films”] of my website ElizabethRideArchive.com.

A Happy New Year to all readers of Gwulo!