Kaiten: Japan's Secret Manned Suicide Submarine And the First American Ship It Sank in WWII

by Michael Mair, Joy Waldron

Japan and the US kept this sinking secret until 2001 when a dive team located the wreck. You get the story from both sides in this book.

Genres: History, War, World War II, Nonfiction, Audiobook, Japan, Military Fiction

363 pages, Hardcover

First published May 6, 2014

About the author

Librarian's note: There is more than one author in Goodreads with this name.

Reviews

[Nadienne Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

I understand that this book was written by a Western author from a Western perspective...and that the "human story" behind the survivors (if you will) and their experiences during the attack is probably what most people will find interesting and enjoy about this book. I have discovered that most people seem to like events "humanized" so that they can, perhaps, put themselves there or sympathize with those present...and perhaps, I do too - when I read fiction. But, I found myself craving for more technical details.

I found myself wondering more about the inner workings of the Japanese parent submarines. I found myself wondering more about the completely underground railroad that they constructed to transport the Kaiten from where they were manufactured to where they were docked. I found myself wondering more about the experience of piloting such a small submarine with so little in the way of, well anything, in the middle of the ocean. Were all the Kaiten the same or did they make modifications? Have there been any other attempts to duplicate them since? These are almost like "fighter aircraft" of the seas. And now I'm wondering about their current applications. Not so much as suicide craft, but more auxiliary craft with secondary weapon systems, deployable out of parent ships...okay, okay, easy on the speculative writing...

Was it eerie that my grandfather was on a ship right next to the Mississinewa when it was hit? Yes, in a way. Had the pilot of the Kaiten gone one ship over, the story of his life - and thus mine - would be quite different. Also, the way that the Navy treated the survivors during and after the attack was atrocious.

Don't get me wrong. The book was entertaining and fascinating and interesting. And it did inform me of an historical event that I was otherwise ignorant of before. But, I want technical data (and yes, I know much of it is hard to come by due to records destruction, the secretive and perhaps embarrassing nature of the craft, and general war-time top-secret buffonery). :)

[Aristotle · Rating 3 out of 5]

The way I’d summarize this book is ‘slightly more entertaining than a history channel documentary’. Because that’s pretty much what it is. It’s a rather uncharming book on a subject that is initially interesting but rather unentertaining for most of the book. The book covers the development of Japan’s suicide torpedoes and their first victim at sea. The only part of the book I found entertaining was the retelling of the attack itself, the rest fell victim to poor writing and boorish details. It’s clear that the main motivation behind the book was that one of the authors, Michael Mair, had a personal connection since a family member of his served on the ship that was sunk first by the Kaiten torpedo. Otherwise it’s difficult to justify writing such a long book on what was by all measurements a failed project that was completely underwhelming. Even the story of the first attack is rather boring when looked at outside of the bright spotlight that the authors place on it. Perhaps I’m being too harsh, I guess I really just didn’t enjoy the book very much.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the title emphasizes the Japanese kaiten, the book really focuses on the ship it sank, the oiler USS Mississinewa. The chapters flip between the Japanese and American perspectives, though the Japanese side lacked a lot of the depth and voice of the American side. The largest portion is dedicated to a compilation of all available accounts of the sinking -- it's an intense read of burnings and drownings. Mair is a competent writer but not a storyteller and this book desperately needed an editor to tie everything together and cut back on redundancies and tedious overdramatic foreshadowing. I am never a fan of an author projecting thoughts into the head of a real person when we actually have no idea what they were thinking (as Mair frequently does with kaiten pilots who did not return from their missions); it makes me question the authenticity of the perspectives he presents throughout. Still, I did appreciate learning a lot more about the kaiten pilots, their training, and their missions. And the vivid imagery of the sinking of Mississinewa is going to stick with me when I read any vague accounts of sinkings from now on.

[Edit to add: Please read the author's detailed response in the comments.]

[Jack Hwang · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a well-researched narrative about the first Kaiten mission and the first US ship sunk by Kaiten. The narrative is split into two threads: one following USS Mississinewa, the US Auxiliary Oiler, from its commissioning till its sinking in Ulithi Atoll; one following Kaiten, the IJN manned torpedo, from its inception till its first ill-fated mission in Ulithi Atoll. The author has done enough homework on both accounts and given the readers vivid images on the life aboard an oiler and devoted determination of Kaiten pilots.

However, there are still some issues with the use of Japanese records.

First, the name Kaiten does not mean "Heaven Shaker". It means "Fortune Changer" or "Fate Bouncer". Japanese wanted to use this kind of weapon to revert the doom they were facing.

Second, I don't know why the author keep referring the IJN Type 91 aerial torpedo as "Long Lance". The term "Long Lance" only refers to IJN Type 93 shipboard torpedo. They have different designs and propulsion system. They should not be mixed up.

Third, the author probably was mislead by the (erroneous) translation of the IJN 6th Fleet's Action Report. In the report, I-47 launched all four Kaitens from 03:28 to 03:42, instead of the "some time after 4:00" as described in Captain Orita's book. The latter does not match with time of the 1st explosion reported by USS Sumner at 04:18. None of the Kaiten would have reached the shallows by the time -- especially when they were launched 5 minutes apart according to Capt. Orita.

Fourth, the author has a misunderstanding about the "bearing" (direction). Examples, "Zau Channel was on a bearing of 154 degree to the northwest", " Submarine I-36 was waiting at a spot abut eleven nautical miles southeast of Mas Island, which was on a bearing of 105 degrees northwest". The diagram labeled "Kikusui Attack" clearly shows the mistake. The arrows showing the "bearings" of 154 deg and 105 deg do not make sense at all.

A bearing of xx degree starts at north and goes clockwise. A bearing of 154 degree is close to south southwest, not northwest. A bearing of 105 degree is closer to east southeast, instead of northwest.

What really happened probably was a translation error of the Japanese Action Report. The original Japanese text is "発進地点はマガヤン島の154度12浬". It means the launch point is at a bearing of south south-east (154 degree) from Magayan Island with a distance of 12 nautical miles". The same for I-36's case. "マーシュ島105度9.5浬" means at a bearing of 105 degree from Mas Island with a distance of 9.5 nautical miles.

[David Sears · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my review published in the April 2015 edition of World War II magazine

Japanese suicide tactics never threatened the Pacific War’s outcome, but they left indelible marks on the lives and psyches of sailors. The military withheld news of kamikaze successes from Americans while those attacks raged. Largely unappreciated is the terrifying variety of suicide weapons—air, sea, and undersea—the Japanese devised.

In Kaiten, Michael Mair and Joy Waldron collaborate on a crisp, persuasive narrative about one of the least known “Divine Wind” weapons: a one man suicide submarine based on a Type 93 Long Lance torpedo. This “Heaven Shaker,” the name for a manned torpedo or suicide vessel, was first used to devastating effect in November 1944 against navy oiler USS Mississinewa in Ulithi Atoll’s vast lagoon.

Stories of the war at sea focus on air craft carriers, battleships, cruisers, and destroyers. Kaiten’s narrative reminds us that before any plane launched or any gun fired, a tireless shadow feet of vital but too often unheralded ships just like Mississinewa provisioned combat vessels with fuel and stores at sea.

Lead author Michael Mair might have been tempted to put his late father John A. Mair Jr. —a survivor of the Mississinewa—at the narrative’s center. Instead, the elder Mair’s experience is a piece in a larger mosaic; each Miss crew man gets his due. Mair and Waldron delve into the Japanese perspective—a rare and authoritative balance of friend/ foe coverage. And though the scope of the duo’s research is convincing, they avoid unwarranted complexity.


Errors only occasionally mar Kaiten: The torpedo used at Pearl Harbor was the aerial Type 91, not the Type 93. “Knots” rather than “knots per hour” is the nautical speed unit. The United States bombed Hiroshima in 1945, of course, not 1944. Still, the account’s drama makes Kaiten a page-turner.

[Jim]

In late 1944, the Japanese were desperate for a weapon that could change the course of a war that, for them, was already lost. Like it's aerial cousin the kamikaze, the kaiten(heaven shaker) was piloted by men devoted to the ancient warrior code of Bushido-valuing loyalty and honor above life. The kaiten was essentially a Japanese Long Lance torpedo modified to accommodate a human pilot. It would be carried aboard a submarine to the launch location at which time the pilot would enter the kaiten. After release from the mother sub the kaiten pilot would steer his suicide weapon toward the enemy target. Multiple kaiten were typically launched in coordinated attacks and depending on the launch location and distance from the target or target area it was quite common for the pilot to be locked inside the weapon for several hours. With only a periscope to find a target and to visually navigate-the periscope was not used when the weapon was at attack depth-the pilot could only estimate the moment when death would come.

The USS Mississinewa(AO-59)-The Mighty Miss-launched on March 28,1944. She was one of a number of new fast-fleet oilers designed to cruise at a speed of fifteen knots in order to keep up with and refuel the warships cruising on the open sea. And, she would be the first ship sunk by the kaiten, while anchored at Ulithi Atoll in November, 1944.

In KAITEN: JAPAN'S SECRET MANNED SUICIDE SUBMARINE AND THE FIRST AMERICAN SHIP IT SANK IN WWII, Michael Mair-son of a USS Mississinewa survivor-and Joy Waldron tell the story of the Japanese designers and pilots and the American victims of a weapon so secret that the survivors of the Mighty Miss didn't discover what actually sank their ship until 1999.

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

I listened to the audio book and it is okay. This is certainly a piece of WWII history you don't hear about much.

The book details the men of the U.S.S. Mississinewa which was an oiler/re-fueling ship operating in the Pacific Theater in late 1944 at Ulithi atoll. The ship was sunk by a Kaiten (torpedo powered by a Japanese suicide pilot, similar to a Kamikaze pilot flying a zero) and 63 American men perished as did the pilot of the Kaiten and the men of it's launching submarine.

The book details many of the men aboard the ship as well as the history of the creation of the Kaiten and mindset of the Japanese for doing so.

It's pretty cool that the author was able to visit the place where his father experienced combat and lived to tell about it. I learned a bit about the requirements to get a shipwreck on the worldwide historic register as well and it's a shame that the location of the USS Mississinewa has not been added to the list yet.

I can recommend this book.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book. It describes a desperate Japanese secret weapon and the destruction wrought by its first use. The book is more about the sinking of the USS Mississnewa, a fast tanker, than it is about the Katien suicide submarine. This is not surprising given that the author's father served aboard the boat at the time of its sinking. If it were about the sub, it should have included more about the two other boats that were sunk by Katien subs. Nonetheless, you don't read much about the logistical side of the war and the dangers that men on the logistical craft faced.

This is a good book for an understanding of the Japanese soldiers who undertook suicide missions on behalf of the Empire and offers insight into the logistical side of the war from the American side. I recommend it for anyone interested in the War in the Pacific.

[Chris Nombres · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting book by an interesting American who loves France. She brought me to a resto when we first met in Bordeaux. Thanks joy.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maru roku kanamono, or in literal Japanese, “circle-six metal fitting,” doesn’t sound like much of a secret weapon, does it? Maru roku kanamono was the secret code name for a manned, underwater torpedo. It was the closing days of World War II in the Pacific. Japan was desperate to reverse their pending defeat. So, maru roku kanamono or the kaiten was born. The plan was to place volunteers in the cramped cockpits of torpedoes converted into miniature submarines. Their suicide missions against American naval ships would result in the loss of the pilot surely, but in exchange for an enemy warship.

Michael Mair and his co-author, Joy Waldron, have documented here Japan’s late World War II efforts to move the same kamikaze terror in their air war with the U.S. to under water. Author Mair has a lot of “skin in the game.” His own father, John Mair was one of 220 enlisted men to survive Japan’s first kaiten suicide sub attack. This is the little-known story of the six month and two day service life of the USS Mississinewa.

Mair and Waldron have included here a treasure trove of detail about the Navy oil tanker’s brief military career told from the Japanese as well as American side of the conflict. You’ll find sixteen pages of archival photos of the ship, its crew, their Japanese attackers, the survivors at a 1999 reunion, maps and drawings. Mair and Waldron even have a complete list of Mississinewa’s officers and enlisted men and their status after the November 1944 attack.

There’s no question that Mair and Waldron did their homework. Their ten-page bibliography documents all of the books, broadcasts, interviews, personal correspondence, deck logs, websites and other sources that contributed to this project. If you’re a World War II buff and just can’t get enough of new history still being revealed nearly 70 years later, “Kaiten” was made for you. This is all you need to know about “Japan’s secret manned suicide submarine and the first American ship it sank in World War II.”

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picture the scene: It is November, 1944, nearing the end of World War II. Imperial Japan, despite the fall of its allies, is still at war with the United States. The nation is desperate for a chance to turn the tides of war. Like the Kamikaze suicide pilots, Japan’s new secret weapon is very deadly at sea. In November, 1944, United States oiler USS Mississinewa explodes. Imperial Japan’s first manned suicide submarine, the Kaiten, had successfully completed its mission.

This nonfiction novel by Michael Mair and Joy Waldron is a very informative book based on Japan’s secret suicide submarine operation during World War II. The book is comprised of different facts in the war and eyewitness accounts from sailors in the war. I enjoyed this book because I learned a lot about Imperial Japan’s tactics and the war in the pacific. I also read many interesting eyewitness stories from different sailors, one detailing the Battle of Midway. This book also contains an interesting photograph section that shows visually what happened during the suicide submarine operation. Overall, this book will give you a lot of insight of the war fought in the pacific.

I would not recommend this book to readers with short attention spans. This book is a nonfiction history book, which can be seen as boring to some people. I would recommend this book to people who enjoy history books and nonfiction, and who can get good information out of this book.

[R. Fulleman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really liked this book. It told the story of the USS Mississinewa and the Imperial Japanese Navy secret weapon, Kaiten, a manned suicide submarine that was used in WWII. The story is a good read and pays homage to those sailors who were fighting for their countries. There is an amazing amount of research done and it is readily seen in the book.

[Ray McCoy]

Very well researched! Well written and easy to follow

Meticulous research is obvious in this well organized piece of history. It was enjoyable to read and most informative in the research of my upcoming book. I wasn't aware that Rosenthal also took a photograph of the Mississinewa as he did at the flag raising on Mount Suribachi.

[Ray McCoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well researched and enjoyable to read.

[Heidi Rothert · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cool topic, but I was bored about half way in sadly.