During World War II, the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) employed two types of midget submarines called Kaiten and A-Target in their operations. Both types of submarines were designed to be used in suicide attacks against enemy ships.
The Kaiten was a manned midget submarine that was designed to be used in kamikaze attacks. The submarine was equipped with a single torpedo, which the pilot would aim at an enemy ship before diving the submarine into the target, effectively becoming a human torpedo. The Kaiten was used in several operations during the war, including the attack on Sydney Harbor in 1942.
On the night of 31 May – 1 June 1942, four Kaiten submarines were launched from the mother submarine I-27, with the intent of attacking the Allied naval base at Sydney Harbor. However, due to mechanical problems and navigational errors, none of the submarines were able to reach the harbor. One was sunk by the Australian destroyer HMAS Warramunga, and the other three were scuttled by their crews.
The A-Target was a different type of midget submarine, it was a unmanned submarine and it was designed to be used as a target for training purposes. It was also used in a few real operations during the war, including the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941.
The attack on Pearl Harbor involved a total of six midget submarines, known as A-Target, which were launched from larger submarines in the pre-dawn hours of the attack. The A-Targets were intended to enter the harbor and attack ships at anchor, but all were unsuccessful in their mission and none of them succeeded in penetrating the harbor defenses.
Both the Kaiten and A-Target submarines were used by the IJN in suicide attacks against enemy ships during World War II. While the Kaiten was manned and the A-Target was unmanned, the purpose of these submarines was the same: to cause as much damage as possible to the enemy fleet. The attack on Sydney Harbor and Pearl Harbor were not successful operations, but they demonstrated the determination and willingness of the Japanese to use these submarines as a weapon of war, regardless of the human cost.
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