Kamikaze Katalina?

[RoaldLarsen]

I hate aircraft.

I usually crash dive whenever my lookouts spot one. Two of my four u-boats lost were sunk by aircraft, which is about par for the historical course. My most recent loss was a bit frustrating.

I read somewhere that Onkel Karl at some point told his boats to fight it out with single aircraft. I was about to start a new career in early 1942, so I got myself a brand new IXc with two twin-20s and a 37mm (my first such boat), and decided to stay on the surface as I transited Biscay, with the flak gunners instructed to fire at anything that gets within medium range.

About an hour after the Vorpstenboot dropped me off, I got bounced by a pair of Hurricanes. They miss me, but I shot down one and damaged the other. "Hey! This is working pretty good!" I think to myself.

A couple of hours later, along comes a PBY Catalina. It makes an attack run and misses, except for a few rounds from its MGs bouncing off the hull. I watch it fly away in my Zeiss binoculars, which is quite easy to do due to the large trail of smoke my 20mms had mangaged to coax from its fuselage. Just before its gets beyond visible range, it turns around! Despite its heavy damage, it's coming back to attack again!

As the Catalina begins to dive for the attack, my gunners open up and score multiple hits. The plane is out of control and its is going down -RIGHT AT ME! It crashes into the conning tower, and as my sub sinks, the Kaleun's last thought is - "I thought those kamikaze guys were on our side!"

I know the Americans raised a unit of Japanese-American infantry that fought in Europe. Has anybody heard of Nisei Catalina pilots?