5 Insane Attempts To Turn Humans Into Suicide Weapons

5 Insane Attempts To Turn Humans Into Suicide Weapons:

Suicide bombing is synonymous with terrorists today, but that hasn’t always been the case. It used to be the mainstay of standing armies and was extensively used by the Axis powers during World War II. The kamikazes of Japan are well-known examples, Japanese pilots were trained to ram their airplanes into Allied ships. Below are five bizarre times that different kinds groups tried and sometimes succeeded in turning soldiers into suicide weapons.

5. Kaiten

The kaiten were the underwater version of the Japanese kamikaze airplanes. Like the airplanes, the pilots were expected to ram their torpedo submarines into enemy ships, killing the pilot and destroying the ship. Work started on the kaiten in February 1944, and a prototype was deployed in July the same year

The Japanese navy did manage to successfully deploy kaiten against US ships, however. The USS Underhill was a notable casualty. It sank on July 24, 1945, after it was attacked by six kaiten. Japan suspended kaiten attacks a week before it surrendered.

4. Proxy Bombings

While Islamist terrorist groups today will brainwash people with their ideologies before ordering them into bomb-strapped vehicles, the Irish Republican Army (IRA) used a more terrible and cowardly tactic during its decades-long war with the British government.

3. Bomi

The Bomi is straight out of the United States. Its name means “Bomber-Missile.” It was developed during the Cold War, at a time when the US and Russia were only concerned with developing new technologies to deliver nuclear warheads into the other’s territory. The US Air Force later dumped the idea because the missile could not reach Moscow. Besides, the US government was only interested in delivering nuclear weapons into Russia with either bombers or missiles, not with a hybrid of both.

2. Sonderkommando Elbe 

Sonderkommando Elbe was a special group of Luftwaffe (Nazi Germany air force trained) pilots to ram their airplanes into Allied aircraft. As we mentioned earlier, the tide changed toward the end of World War II, with Germany on the losing side, and the Germans had been getting crazy ideas. One was the Fieseler Fi 103R. Another was removing all weapons and armor from aircraft and ordering the pilots to ram them into Allied planes.

The idea ended up worsening Germany’s situation. While Germany had better airplanes than the Allies, it did not have enough. The Germans didn’t have enough pilots or fuel, either. Turning their aircraft into manned missiles only reduced the number of planes and pilots at their disposal. While the pilots were expected to bail out of their airplanes before they crashed, it would not have been easy.

1. Shinyo

At this point, we can all agree that the Japanese were so determined to stop the Allies from invading their territory that they used suicide attacks as a regular combat tactic. The Shinyo (“seaquake”) boats were another suicide weapon deployed by the Japanese. They were modified torpedo boats containing deadly explosives.

Two types of Shinyo boats were developed. The first, which was designed for the navy, was rammed into enemy ships, killing the pilot and causing extensive damage to the ship. The other, which was developed for the army, was used to drop depth charges around the enemy ship before fleeing.

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