The final entry on our list, the MXY-7 Ohka (Cherry Blossom) wasn’t a plane as such, but a manned missile. By 1944, Japan was growing increasingly desperate to stem the Allied advance through the Pacific. The solution was a dedicated kamikaze craft, built out of non essential materials, and packing enough explosives to sink a heavily armoured warship. It was designed to be carried underneath the Mitsubishi G4M “Betty” bomber. Once near the target it would be released, using its three rocket motors in a 1000kph (620mph) dive at enemy shipping. It was incredibly basic, the cockpit having just four instruments, but since it would only ever be a one way trip this was considered unimportant. Grand plans were put forward for waves of suicide aircraft to be launched from planes, submarines and even caves. The Ohka was first used operationally on 21st March 1945, when 16 were carried by “Bettys” to attack US Navy Task Force 58. Pounced by patrolling Hellcats, the bombers released their cargo 113km (70 miles) from the targets. Not a single Ohka reached its target, and all 16 bombers, along with 15 of the 30 escorting Zero fighters, were shot down. On 1st April, the USS West Virginia was hit, suffering minor damage, but again all the Bettys were lost. They were employed a further 8 times before the end of the war. During these operations they sunk one destroyer and badly damaged two more, but at the cost of 50 Ohka and the majority of mothership bombers. Although extremely fast, it was almost impossible to aim at a moving target, lacked the power to cripple larger ships and was fatally vulnerable until it was launched. To the Americans it was nicknamed the Baka (fool or idiot). In Today’s Japan the kamikaze ethos is seen as a tragic waste of life, and Ohka pilots are honored in several shrines throughout the country. Such suicide attacks (mini submarines, small boats and divers were also utilized) did nothing to stop the Allied advance and merely served to harden their resolve to defeat Japan by whatever means necessary. This was undoubtedly a factor in the decision to use the atomic bomb to end the war. As an aside, a similar version was also built in Germany as the Fiesler Fi-103. The main difference was this allowed the pilot scope to bale out after aiming his aircraft, although quite how you would successfully climb out at near the speed of sound with a pulse jet by your head is somewhat debatable. The idea of suicide corps was mooted, but Hitler rejected the idea believing it “wasn’t in the German warrior spirit”