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As America closes in on Japan in 1944, the Japanese turn to desperate new tactics: killer planes and super torpedoes guided by human pilots.
As America closes in on Japan in 1944, the Japanese turn to desperate new tactics: killer planes and super torpedoes guided by human pilots.
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00:00In the midst of World War II, both Nazi Germany and her Japanese allies planned new terror
00:10tactics to strike fear into the hearts of their enemies.
00:14Suicide missions.
00:15When these kamikaze weapons first appeared, they scared the hell out of the Americans.
00:21But it's Japan that takes this fanatical concept to the extreme, with killer planes,
00:28super torpedoes, and rocket-powered missiles, all guided by human pilots.
00:37For some of these young pilots, this was a path of no return.
00:41Japan builds top-secret structures and terrifying weapons to commit the ultimate sacrifice.
00:53This is the incredible story of the kamikaze, the biggest construction project of World
01:05War II, ordered by Hitler and his Japanese allies to secure world domination.
01:11Now the ruins survive as dark reminders of their fanatical military ambition.
01:17These are the secrets of the Nazi megastructures.
01:31In a secret underground bunker in southern Japan, Vice Admiral Motomi Ugaki is preparing
01:36to unleash suicide squadrons against the American forces.
01:41Ugaki's plan?
01:53To prevent the invasion of Japan by sending out the greatest number of suicide squadrons
01:58ever seen.
02:01Today's mission will not be an easy one, but brave and resolute action will scatter
02:09even devils.
02:12You will succeed!
02:16His new weapon, a rocket-powered suicide missile.
02:31On a hillside in southern Japan, hidden behind a jungle of bamboo, are the remains of the
02:37secret command centre, where Vice Admiral Ugaki masterminded hundreds of suicide attacks.
02:46This is fantastic.
02:51Military historian Mike Pavelek has gained rare access to this forgotten bunker.
03:03Ugaki buried his headquarters in this mountain to protect it from the Allied bombing.
03:17Just look at the thickness of these walls.
03:19It's probably three feet here at the top and tapering down to about 18 inches here on the
03:24sides.
03:25It keeps the whole structure very, very solid and secure.
03:32This is not just one bunker.
03:34This is a series of hundreds of metres of reinforced concrete caves.
03:41The Admiral and his staff and secretaries, with maps and telephone and radio, would have
03:50been in this underground headquarters where they directed all of the Kamikaze operations
03:55against the American fleet.
04:06The story of this terrifying new tactic unfolds in both Japan and Nazi Germany.
04:14In Europe, as the tide of the war turned decisively against Hitler, the Nazis planned suicidal
04:20squadrons, driven by fanatical obedience to the Fuhrer and the Fatherland.
04:31In Japan, the story of suicide squadrons begins in 1940.
04:37The Japanese sign a pact with Nazi Germany and fascist Italy, and the three Axis powers
04:43promise to assist one another.
04:49The Empire of Japan looks to expand its borders, conquering swathes of Asia.
04:55The United States' response is to cut off trade with Japan.
05:03The economic blockade puts Japan in a really, really difficult position because clearly
05:06it's now on a collision course with the United States.
05:13On the 7th of December, 1941, Japan launches a surprise airstrike against the American
05:20fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
05:29The attack on Pearl Harbor is an enormous success.
05:31It massively cripples the Pacific fleet, but it catches the Americans totally unawares.
05:38Japan and her Nazi allies are now at war with the United States.
05:45But in the years that follow, the war goes against the Axis powers.
05:50The 6th of June, 1944, D-Day.
05:56The Allies invade France to liberate Europe from Nazi rule.
06:03And in the Pacific, a vast American fleet sweeps west.
06:08Mission?
06:09To crush the Empire of Japan.
06:14The 19th of June, 1944.
06:16The Japanese and Americans meet near the Mariana Islands.
06:26Japan faces the full might of the U.S. Navy, and suffers a devastating defeat.
06:31Marianas Islands is known as the Marianas Turkey Chute, and it's where the U.S. Navy
06:37Air Force really gets one over the Imperial Japanese Navy's Air Force.
06:44Three of Japan's aircraft carriers are sunk, some 600 planes destroyed.
06:57The Japanese surface fleet essentially ceases to exist.
07:02I mean, the bulk of the fighting Japanese capability is lost at the Marianas.
07:08A core reason for the defeat is the failure of the Japanese fighter plane.
07:14The Mitsubishi Zero.
07:18Mike is exploring one of only a handful that still survive.
07:24The Zero is simply outclassed by contemporary American aircraft.
07:31Part of the problem that the Zero has is that even though it has great range and maneuverability,
07:36the fuel system lacks self-sealing fuel tanks.
07:39So when American pilots shoot at Zeros, they tend to explode.
07:48Japan needs a new tactic to face down the might of the American fleet.
07:54And they need it fast.
07:57The Americans are now closing in on Japan.
08:00Their next target is the Philippines.
08:03The Philippines, a former U.S. colony, is absolutely crucial for the Japanese because
08:08it's through the Philippines that their oil supply comes.
08:12And without it, they're absolutely finished.
08:15In October 1944, the man in charge of Japan's Air Force in the Philippines is Takejiro Onishi.
08:24His orders are to stop the Allies from invading the islands at any cost.
08:31But he only has 30 Zero fighter planes to hold off hundreds of enemy ships.
08:40How can we possibly hold the Philippines with what we have?
08:47His solution is radical and unexpected.
08:50He will turn the 30 Zero fighter planes into bombs.
08:55I don't think there will be any other certain way to carry out the operation than to put
09:02a 250 kilogram bomb on a Zero and let it crash dive into a U.S. carrier.
09:10This is the first time Japan orders suicide attacks.
09:16It will totally change the face of the war.
09:21The new squadron is called Kamikaze, meaning divine wind.
09:27The aim, each Zero plane takes out one American ship.
09:36To give the Zero the longest range possible, engineers reduce its weight by removing machine
09:41guns, armor, and radios.
09:45They add extra fuel tanks and then a 550 pound bomb.
09:55They turn it into a flying missile that would attack the American fleet.
10:02All Vice Admiral Onishi needs now are some pilots.
10:18In Japan, shame is very important.
10:20So it's very hard to say, no, I don't want to die for my country, because that brings
10:24shame upon not only yourself, but your family.
10:29And so a lot of these young soldiers had to put on a strong face, a strong look.
10:35They had to be manly.
10:39Looking for the first ever Kamikaze leader, officers call in one of their best pilots,
10:4423-year-old Lieutenant Yukio Seki.
10:51You are being considered to lead the special attack unit.
10:56How do you feel about it?
11:08You absolutely must let me do it.
11:19Seki confides to a journalist that he believes suicide tactics are a waste of his skills.
11:26But still, he prepares himself for certain death.
11:30And he writes a letter of farewell to his new wife.
11:37My dear Mariko, I am very sorry that I must die before I could do much for you.
11:44As I am departing, I recall innumerable memories that we share.
11:54I'm sure they wanted to live, but the situation was so dire, so desperate, that they had no
12:03choice but to sacrifice their lives.
12:08The next day, the new Kamikazes are ready for their first ever attack.
12:19You're already gods without earthly desires.
12:23Your own crash dive is not in vain.
12:25I ask you all to do your best.
12:29Let's go.
12:32Before getting into his zero, Seki makes a last request.
12:37Commander, please give this to my family.
12:54In the seas around the Philippines, the Japanese Navy is fighting an epic battle against the
13:08Allies.
13:10In the skies above, Yukio Seki leads the first ever squadron of Kamikaze pilots.
13:22After setting out on five successive days, he finally spots an American naval task force
13:29and his key target, an aircraft carrier.
13:52Seki's plane smashes into the escort aircraft carrier USS St. Louis.
14:17The ship sinks, with 889 men on board.
14:24The attack at Leyte Gulf is incredibly successful because they managed to sink one aircraft carrier,
14:28which is the most important American weapon they could knock out.
14:31They badly damaged three others, an awful loss of five aircraft.
14:35That's a really good, good hit-to-loss ratio for the Japanese.
14:43It looks like this is a tactic that has some legs that may well be paying off.
14:49Buoyed by the success, Kamikaze commander Onishi expands his suicide tactics on a far greater scale.
14:58New planes and pilots arrive from Japan.
15:03Onishi now sends wave after wave of Kamikazes to defend the Philippines.
15:11In the Battle of the Philippine Sea, 121 Kamikaze pilots hit their intended target,
15:18sinking 16 American ships.
15:24It's the most effective use of air power that the Japanese have had in years.
15:30The power of the Kamikazes is not just hitting ships, it's also the psychological effect,
15:35that suddenly you are up against an enemy at which there seems to be no limits at all.
15:40And that's a terrifying proposition.
15:47But in the midst of the Kamikazes' early success, there's a growing problem.
15:54The Kamikazes are damaging and sinking US ships.
15:58But so far, they've only sunk one aircraft carrier.
16:06The biggest problem is that the Mitsubishi Zero, configured as a suicide weapon, is simply not a big bomb.
16:14Even though it's filled with fuel and it's carrying a 550-pound bomb that's supposed to go off,
16:19it's not a big enough weapon to sink an American battleship or aircraft carrier.
16:26The Japanese need something new.
16:31And what they come up with is something much more terrifying and much more powerful.
16:39Japan is developing a secret weapon.
16:42A rocket-powered missile designed for one purpose.
16:46Suicide missions.
16:50It is named Oka, meaning cherry blossom.
16:55For the Zero fighter, the Oka is more bomb than plane.
17:02The Oka was a small piloted missile that had a huge bomb in the front.
17:08It has to be dropped from a larger bomber.
17:11And once it's dropped, it glides towards the American fleet, guided by the suicide pilot that's flying it.
17:25Very few original Okas remain.
17:28But one, in a restricted hangar in the UK, is in the process of being restored.
17:37Wow. I wasn't expecting to see this.
17:41This is something that hasn't been seen in three quarters of a century.
17:46For aviation technology expert Joe Piccarella,
17:50it offers a rare chance to see how the Oka was originally put together.
17:57The whole purpose of the Oka was to carry a warhead to its target.
18:01And the whole front end, that's five and a half, six feet of the airframe, was warhead.
18:072,600 pounds of high explosives, equivalent to TNT.
18:13This was the raison d'etre of the Oka, to carry the largest bomb possible towards the Allied fleet.
18:25The warhead makes up about 60% of the weight of the Oka and fills the entire nose cone.
18:35Sitting right behind this massive bomb is a small, basic cockpit for the pilot.
18:44The cockpit contained the bare minimum of instrumentation.
18:48Just an altimeter, an airspeed indicator and a compass.
18:53And up here is the original arming handle for the warhead.
18:57One hard tug of that handle, the warhead was live, there was no going back.
19:05The cockpit also contained something found in no other aircraft.
19:11These two clips would hold the pilot's samurai sword.
19:17The pilot would look up and one of the crew members on the betty would pass him his last worldly possession, his sword.
19:27Dropped from a height of 20,000 feet, the Oka could glide to a target up to 20 miles.
19:34But the Oka is also supercharged by three rocket boosters at the back.
19:40Their purpose? To propel the Oka at speeds that are fast enough to evade enemy fire and penetrate ship's armour.
19:54The Oka is incredibly fast. In a dive it can reach speeds in excess of 600 miles per hour.
20:00So that's faster than anything else in the sky at that time.
20:05The Oka is a radical solution. But the Japanese are not alone.
20:13In Europe, Nazi Germany is desperately searching for ways to improve the accuracy of their own terror weapons.
20:21Their answer is also a human navigator.
20:26The Nazis add a cockpit to their powerful V1 cruise missile, creating the Reichenberg.
20:37But Hitler is not convinced by the concept of kamikaze-like squadrons.
20:42He cancels the manned V1 programme.
20:48In Japan, development of the rocket-powered Oka is underway at a top-secret research base,
20:55in the port city of Yokosuka, south of Tokyo.
21:03But the Oka engineers here suffer a major setback.
21:08In the autumn of 1944, the Oka is launched into space.
21:15In the autumn of 1944, the advancing Americans start bombing Japan's industrial centres.
21:23The Japanese need to move the production line of their new weapons to somewhere safer.
21:33They choose a hillside right next to their research base in Yokosuka.
21:39Holy cow!
21:42Look at the hinges on that!
21:45Overgrown cliffs, hidden from view behind old factories, still house forgotten remains.
21:53This is a huge concrete bunker with these massive, inch-thick, bomb-proof, blast-proof doors.
22:02On the outside, and then another steel door on the inside.
22:06Two sets of protection against bombs, bullets, whatever.
22:12It's just very, very heavy construction to protect something that was very vital.
22:20Beyond these bunkers, through dense undergrowth, is evidence of further structures.
22:26This entire mountain is riddled with caverns and tunnels where the Japanese built the Oka.
22:33Seven years later, you can still see the striations from the hand tools that were used to hack the stone out to make this cave.
22:44In order to protect the secrecy of the program, as well as to keep it safe from American bombs,
22:50they moved the entire manufacturing process from the exposed buildings just across the street into caves just like this,
22:58not only to build the machine, but also to store the ones that they had already built.
23:09American bombing campaigns slow the production of the Oka.
23:16But Japanese engineers have been secretly working on other suicide weapons,
23:22including one that attacks not from the skies, but from below the waves.
23:31A manned torpedo.
23:42The Japanese Imperial Navy is preparing its Kamikaze torpedo at Otoshima, a top-secret naval base.
23:51Hidden on a small island near the south coast.
24:00Historian Tosh Minahara is heading for the site.
24:07This is Otoshima, the former Imperial Japanese Navy top-secret base,
24:11where they have the human-guided suicide submarines known as Kaiten, which in English means heaven mover.
24:22Tosh has come to explore what remains of the base.
24:27A replica Kaiten stands as a reminder of what the Japanese were doing here in 1944.
24:41So this is the Kaiten. It's a human-guided torpedo with one pilot.
24:46The pilot would sit here.
24:49You would think, well, why not just your torpedo? Why does it need to have a pilot?
24:53Well, the reason why is because of the guidance system. It would supposedly increase accuracy.
24:58When you have a person sitting here, he can control it until the last minute.
25:07The 3,400-pound warhead is 30% larger than the one on an Oka missile.
25:13The Kaiten was intended to sink a very large battleship just with one shot.
25:18It packed a large punch.
25:23One of the first volunteers to train how to operate the Kaiten is teenager Yutaka Yokota.
25:32He arrives at Otoshima in the September of 1944.
25:37For Yokota to try out his new weapon, it first has to be wheeled out to the water.
25:47This is the path in which they carried the Kaiten, which was built over there, the base over there.
25:52They would wheel it on tracks through this tunnel, which they carved out from the hillside.
25:58This is really interesting here. You can see actually where the tracks used to be.
26:02The Kaiten would be wheeled along here, out to sea.
26:11This is also the path where the pilots would walk through.
26:15They would take the Kaiten out to sea.
26:17They would take the Kaiten out to sea.
26:19They would take the Kaiten out to sea.
26:21They would take the Kaiten out to sea.
26:23This is also the path where the pilots would walk through on their training missions.
26:28If it's an actual mission, this was a one-way path here.
26:32This was a path of no return.
26:42Learning to pilot this cutting-edge weapon takes months.
26:46The young trainees, like Yokota, must learn to navigate blind towards their target.
26:52Then take aim by identifying a ship through their periscope.
27:07They weren't guided by anything high-tech. It was just the skill of the pilot.
27:12And this pilot could not see. All he had was a compass and a stopwatch.
27:17November 1944.
27:21The Japanese are fighting a losing battle against the American fleet in the seas around the Philippines.
27:29The Japanese Navy needs the Kaitens fast.
27:33But the Allied ships are over 1,600 miles away from the Kaiten base.
27:38The Japanese have to find a way to get their suicide torpedoes close enough
27:43The Kaiten was designed to be strapped onto a larger Japanese mother submarine.
27:48About four to six would be strapped onto the deck.
27:51And then these subs with a larger range would take the Kaiten to its intended target.
28:05The first of the Kaiten was a suicide torpedo.
28:10The first-ever Kaiten mission leaves Otushima Naval Base.
28:20Pilot Yokota has not completed his training, but his fellow recruits set out.
28:28Their target? An Allied refueling harbour, over 1,500 miles away.
28:40Twelve days later.
28:45Mother submarines close in on their target.
28:51Once released, the Kaiten speed towards a sheltered lagoon where hundreds of American ships are refueling.
29:00One Kaiten slams into the side of fuel supply ship USS Mississinua.
29:08This is the actual footage of the ship as 4.5 million gallons of fuel goes up in smoke.
29:16The first success the Kaitens have is one of the most astonishing strikes of the war, really.
29:20And it is good news for the Japanese because a Kaiten has actually sunk a ship.
29:26The size of the explosion makes the Japanese think they've sunk five American ships.
29:34Bolstered by their success, they expand the Kaiten program.
29:44But they aren't ready in time to save the Philippines.
29:48The Allies begin liberating the islands in December 1944.
29:53Next step? The vast Allied fleet makes its move north, to the island of Okinawa.
30:00They're closing in on mainland Japan.
30:05But they're now also coming into direct range of the full force of all Japan's kamikaze weapons.
30:12And a man on a mission to rain terror from all sides.
30:18In Japan, a new commander is in charge of the kamikaze squadrons.
30:25Naval veteran Vice Admiral Matome Ugaki.
30:32Ugaki has fought the Allied fleet at the Philippines and knows just how powerful it is.
30:39He now controls kamikaze operations from his high-security underground bunker.
30:46Sir, five carriers and seven escorts have been spotted entering the lagoon.
30:54Assemble the pilot and the rest of the squadron.
30:59Yes, sir.
31:01Seven escorts have been spotted entering the lagoon.
31:06Assemble the pilot and crews of the special attack unit.
31:10The raid is set for tomorrow. All forces to depart by 8.30 a.m.
31:17Ugaki is determined to stop the Allies from taking Okinawa.
31:23The Japanese have an intense fear of being invaded.
31:26They haven't been successfully invaded in two millennia.
31:29They have no intention of allowing that to happen now.
31:33Kamikaze commander Ugaki's suicide pilots are based in Kanoya, on the south coast of Japan.
31:41From here, they can strike the Allied fleet as they approach Okinawa.
31:46If the Allies take this island, the next step is mainland Japan itself.
31:52It was from this very airfield where Admiral Motomi Ugaki
31:56sent his suicide pilots to attack the American fleet.
32:02Mike Pavelek has been granted special access to the airfield by the Japanese Navy.
32:09This is the southernmost airfield in all of Japan.
32:13The Americans are only allowed to enter the airfield from the south.
32:17This is the southernmost airfield in all of Japan.
32:20The Americans are only 800 kilometers away at Okinawa.
32:24The Japanese are really beginning to feel the American pressure.
32:29Ugaki's plan to save mainland Japan from invasion is swarms of suicide pilots.
32:37He sends in squadron after squadron.
32:48The battle for Okinawa sees the most intense use of kamikaze tactics ever.
32:57And Ugaki has an ace up his sleeve.
33:02Japan's secret mega-weapon, the rocket-powered Oka,
33:06is finally operational and ready for launch.
33:10Saburo Doi is one of the suicide missile pilots, known as the Thunder Gods.
33:20He takes his final drink, a ceremonial cup of rice wine.
33:27Today's mission will not be an easy one,
33:30but brave and resolute action will be necessary.
33:34Today's mission will not be an easy one,
33:37but brave and resolute action will scatter even devils.
33:42You will succeed!
33:49Doi and eight other Thunder God pilots head for Okinawa,
33:53onboard bombers carrying the deadly Okas.
33:58Nearly 70 miles northwest of the island,
34:01Doi's crew spot the first of the U.S. fleet,
34:04the destroyer USS Mannert L. Eberle.
34:16Doi prepares for release.
34:23At an altitude of 19,000 feet,
34:27he drops from his mothership.
34:32He fires his rockets.
34:37Traveling at up to 600 miles an hour,
34:40he bears down on the American destroyer.
35:01It hits the ship square in the middle.
35:04It blows up and sinks.
35:07It looks like the Japanese have finally got their key killer weapon.
35:15Sir, reports are that we have sunk one enemy ship
35:19and damaged at least 14 others.
35:24Prepare squadrons for further attacks.
35:39As the U.S. fleet continues its assault on Okinawa,
35:43Kamikaze Commander Ugaki sends more and more rocket bombs into the skies.
35:49It's an act of desperation mirrored in Nazi Germany.
35:55In April 1945, the Allies are closing in on Berlin.
36:00Despite Hitler's previous opposition to suicidal missions,
36:04the Luftwaffe is under pressure.
36:10It sends squadrons on self-sacrificing missions
36:13to destroy the enemy.
36:18It sends suicide missions first to ram into U.S. bombers,
36:25then to crash-dive strategic bridges to halt the Allied advance.
36:33It's too little, too late for Hitler.
36:37Berlin falls.
36:43But in Japan, the suicide aircraft continue to inflict damage
36:47on the Allied fleet of Okinawa.
36:52And beneath the waves, the suicide subs are also on the attack.
37:06In the seas off Okinawa, a Japanese submarine approaches the U.S. fleet.
37:12Kaiten pilot Yokota prepares to launch his suicide torpedo.
37:24After eight months of training,
37:26Yokota is desperate to play his part in the defense of his motherland.
37:35But there's a problem.
37:39Water leaking into cables cuts off all Yokota's communication.
37:45He can't be released.
37:58Yokota is denied the opportunity to sacrifice his life for his nation.
38:08I'll find an enemy myself.
38:19So far, the Japanese have sacrificed over 5,000 Kamikaze pilots.
38:26But these new tactics have failed to halt the advance of the Allies.
38:33May 1945.
38:36In Europe, Nazi Germany has finally surrendered.
38:41More Allied ships are arriving to swell the fleet in the Pacific.
38:46And on the 22nd of June, the Americans secure Okinawa.
38:53The Allies are now set to invade the Japanese homeland.
38:58After the fall of Okinawa, Japan is now in pure survival mode.
39:04You'd have thought with the fall of Okinawa that that would be it,
39:07that the Japanese have got nothing left to chuck at it.
39:10But no, they're determined to still keep fighting
39:13and throw everything that they've still got
39:16at this final desperate defense of the Japanese mainland.
39:22At coastal bases like Otoshima,
39:24the Japanese Navy now prepare a new way to deploy their torpedo subs.
39:29The Kaiten are now deployed directly from the bases.
39:33And so they're tugged out to deeper waters.
39:36From there, they're on their own.
39:38They are to seek and destroy American ships.
39:43The Japanese also decide to launch their suicide rocket missile, the Oka,
39:47directly from hidden coastal locations.
39:51One site is near Miyoshi Village, south of Tokyo.
39:59This concrete pad was the bottom layer
40:02of a land-based launch system for the Oka.
40:05This would have had steel rails on it.
40:08A trolley would sit on top of the rails,
40:11which would have been the launch pad for the Oka.
40:14And the Oka would have been on top of the rails,
40:17And the Oka would have been on top of the rails,
40:20which held the Oka.
40:25A trolley had rockets on it to get it going down this rail
40:28to launch the Oka, to get it enough airspeed
40:31to launch it off the end and out towards its targets.
40:34It's pointed out towards the sea
40:37where the expected American invasion was going to come from.
40:43August 1945.
40:46Over 600 Oka missiles are on standby.
40:505,000 aircraft are assigned to kamikaze attacks.
40:55And more than 100 Kaitens are primed.
40:59All ready for the greatest onslaught of suicide attacks
41:02the world has ever seen.
41:08But these plans are in vain.
41:15On the 6th of August, 1945,
41:18Americans drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima.
41:22Three days later, they drop another on Nagasaki.
41:28While Japan pursued the tactic of one suicide bomber
41:31to destroy one ship,
41:34the U.S. turned to science
41:36to create a bomb that can destroy a whole city.
41:45It is the lethality of this, the destruction caused by these bombs
41:48that finally persuades the Imperial Japanese
41:51to throw in the towel at long last and surrender.
41:56The war is over.
42:02Ultimately, you have to see
42:04the rather grotesque kamikaze tactics as a complete failure.
42:11If you just look at the numbers,
42:13they only sunk 51 ships,
42:15and out of those, just one aircraft carrier.
42:1751 ships after all that effort,
42:19after all those lives lost,
42:21is an appalling failure by any one standard.
42:26Japanese suicide tactics ultimately fail
42:28because the Americans are able to flood the theater
42:31with men and material at an unprecedented scale.
42:35The Japanese concurrently are running out of everything.
42:39Everything. Food, fuel, men, planes, machines, oil, everything.
42:45The Americans simply overwhelm Japan in the Pacific.
42:55After he hears of Japan's surrender,
42:57Kamikaze Commando Ugaki orders one last suicide mission.
43:04His own.
43:07Overcome by the shame of surrender,
43:09he resolves to die in the same way as his young pilots.
43:16He records the event for posterity in this photograph.
43:23Ugaki can't fly himself.
43:26So, taking the kamikaze spirit to a new extreme,
43:29one of his pilots volunteers to take him as a passenger.
43:37But the plane is intercepted
43:39and shot down by US fighters.
43:49With Ugaki's death,
43:51he becomes the last of Japan's kamikazes.