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Japanese

The very last photo of Admiral Matome Ugaki in the back-seat of a Yokosuka D4Y just before taking off on one of the last Kamikaze attacks of the War. 15th Aug, 1945

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This day Ugaki flew out on the last kamikaze mission of the war. Three and a half hours later, a flight of seven or eight aircraft was shot down near Iheyajima, an islet off Okinawa. One of the wrecked planes was found on the beach the next morning, and its three aircrew -- one of whom closely fit the description of Ugaki -- were unceremoniously buried in the sand by the Americans.

Ugaki was considered "one of Japan's best officers and a recognized authority on Japanese naval strategy". Ugaki's diary was discovered after the surrender, and it become an important source for historians of the war.
 
Louis said:
Admiral Matome Ugaki
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Final mission[edit]​


Admiral Ugaki before his final kamikaze mission
On 15 August 1945, Emperor Hirohito made a radio announcement conceding defeat and calling for the military to lay down their arms. After listening to the announcement announcing Japan's defeat, Ugaki made a last entry in his diary noting that he had not yet received an official cease-fire order, and that as he alone was to blame for the failure of his valiant aviators to stop the enemy, he would fly one last mission himself to show the true spirit of bushido. His subordinates protested, and even after Ugaki had climbed into the backseat of a Yokosuka D4Y, Warrant Officer Akiyoshi Endo—whose place in the kamikaze roster Ugaki had usurped—climbed into the same space that the admiral had already occupied. Thus, the aircraft containing Ugaki took off with three men, as opposed to two each in the remaining ten aircraft. Prior to boarding his aircraft, Ugaki posed for pictures and removed his rank insignia from his dark green uniform, taking only a ceremonial short sword given to him by Admiral Yamamoto.[4]

Elements of this last flight most likely followed the Ryukyu flyway southwest to the many small islands north of Okinawa, where U.S. forces were still on alert at the potential end of hostilities. Endo served as radioman during the mission, sending Ugaki's final messages, the last of which at 19:24 reported that the plane had begun its dive onto an American vessel. However, U.S. Navy records do not indicate any successful kamikaze attack on that day, and it is likely that all aircraft on the mission (with the exception of three that returned due to engine problems) crashed into the ocean, struck down by American anti-aircraft fire. Although there are no precise accounts of an intercept made by Navy or Marine fighters or Pacific Fleet surface units against enemy aircraft in this vicinity at the time of surrender, it is possible further research may reveal more detail as to which ships (if any) were attacked.

The next morning, the crew of American landing craft LST-926 claimed to have found the still smoldering remains of a 'cockpit' (implying a shootdown or violent ditching of some sort, but not the exact cause) with three bodies on the beach of Iheyajima Island. The third man, his head crushed and right arm missing, wore a dark green uniform and a short sword was found nearby. The sailors buried the bodies in the sand.[citation needed] He was posthumously awarded the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun.
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Who knew? I did some research on this myself and found that although the Ki-61 (Tony) did fight the B-29’s it looks like the Nakajima Ki-84 Hayate (Frank) was the best at it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nakajima_Ki-84

"The Nakajima Ki-84 Hayate (Frank) (キ84 疾風 Gale) is a single-seat fighter flown by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service in the last two years of World War II. The Allied reporting name was "Frank"; the Japanese Army designation was Army Type 4 Fighter (四式戦闘機, yon-shiki-sentō-ki). The Ki-84 is generally considered the best Japanese fighter to operate in large numbers during the conflict. The aircraft boasted high speeds and excellent maneuverability with an armament (up to two 30 mm and two 20 mm cannon) that gave it formidable firepower.[2][3] The Ki-84's performance matched that of any single-engine Allied fighter it faced, and its operational ceiling enabled it to intercept high-flying B-29 Superfortress bombers."

Nakajima Ki-84 Hayate (Frank) N3385G wearing Japanese Air Force markings at Ontario Airport California in 1970.

 
I only ever thought about midget submarines as the one the Japanese used off of Pearl Harbor.
I looked it up and they actually had several different types and sizes for different purposes.

This is from the "World War II Database"

"In mid-1944, with coastal defense requirements becoming urgent, the Japanese Navy developed the Koryu Tei Gata Type D midget submarines. More than just another improved version of the Type A, this was a new design. They were the largest of Japan's midgets, displacing about 60 tons, 86 feet in length, with a five-man crew, featuring a more powerful diesel engine, and had improved operating endurance. Koryu's had the same armament as the Ko-hyoteki Type A's: two muzzle-loaded 17.7-inch torpedoes. As with the earlier types, individual boats had alpha-numeric names in the "Ha" series beginning with Ha-101. Some 115 units had been completed when Japan capitulated in August 1945. Nearly 500 more were under construction. Some of these submarines intended for training pilots for Kaiten type manned torpedoes, had an enlarged conning tower and two periscopes.

Type D boats were employed off Guadalcanal and the Solomon Islands in 1942-43, where they achieved modest success against U.S. shipping. They were deployed around Midway, the Aleutians, the Bismarck Islands, the Philippines, the Marianas, and Okinawa as shore-based defensive units, but their overall effectiveness was negligible at best."

At first this had me fooled.
You are actually looking at the front of the boat where the torpedo's would be located.

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Part of 221 Japanese prisoners of war in the hold of a aboard the USS Admiral C. F. Hughes (AP-124) transport ship en route to Pearl Harbor from Guam. May 1945
After transport made a two-day stop at Pearl Harbor from 10 to 12 May to disembark the prisoners, then continued her voyage and she moored at San Francisco on 17 May.
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I've been looking around at different sites for pictures and videos of this tank and I can't figure out how the commander when buttoned up can see anything.
(I guess those ae tiny vision slits in the cupola?)

Or the gunner for that matter.

 
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