Awesome! Kamikazes!

[csargemg]

This has happened to me twice now.

If you heavily damage but do not destroy an aircraft attempting to attack you, often they will use the last of their speed to climb, and then try to dive right onto you. Amazing.

The one that got me was a four-engine flying boat. Couldn't have been good for my pressure hull. Instant sink.

[Safe-Keeper]

They indeed do that too often for it to be random. It simply must be a scripted feature.

And yes, it's fairly awesome. Maybe they shouldn't do it 100% of the time, but yes, it sure as Heck adds some challenge to even small, lightly armed aircraft.

[joea]

Well these are not "real" Kamikazes, as those went out with the idea not to return and would dive undamaged onto their targets. That said, if a Japanese plane was fatally damaged and bound not to make it back anyway they might dive. Plus a lot fo the fighters early war didn't bother with parachuts as they were too bulky so...

[Safe-Keeper]

According to Tora, tora, tora!, the Japanese airmen attacking Pearl Harbour were told that if they realized they'd not make it home, they were to crash their planes into the enemy ships. An example is given of a pilot who observes his wingman signalizing 'no more fuel' with his hand and then rams an American vessel.

[csargemg]

I am not using 'Kamikaze' in the strict sense, but only loosely. This was a common thing, actually, for heavily damaged aircraft - Germans often rammed American bombers if they had been too heavily damaged, and Colin Kelly famously was thought to have rammed his B-17 into a heavy cruiser after sustaining too much damage to make it back after he let the crew bail out - he won the DSC for that

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by csargemg

Germans often rammed American bombers if they had been too heavily damaged

That's not quite true. The Rammjeager were a unit of specially armored FW-190s, who had orders to ram an American bomber if they couldn't shoot one down. One of their pilots reported that he never heard of one of them actually trying it.

I know of only one report of a German fighter pilot intentionally ramming a B-17, though there are several instances of it happening apparently accidentally.