Kugisho
MXY7 Ohka Model 22
Photo: Robert Deering 10/23/2006
Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum
Dulles International Airport (IAD)

Chantilly, Virginia
Near the end of World War II, Vice Admiral Onishi Takijino recommended that the Japanese navy form special groups of men and aircraft to attack the American warships gathering to conduct amphibious landings in the Philippines. The Japanese used the word Tokko-tai (Special Attack) to describe these units. To the Allies, they became known as the kamikaze. By war's end, some 5,000 pilots died making Tokko attacks.

The Ohka (Cherry Blossom) was designed to allow a pilot with minimal training to drop from a Japanese "Betty" bomber at high altitude and guide his aircraft with its warhead at high speed into an Allied warship. While several rocket-powered Ohka 11s still exist, this Ohka 22 is the only surviving "Campini" jet-powered version of the aircraft. It was captured in Japan in 1945. Unlike the Ohka 11, the Ohka 22 never became operational.

Dimensions:
Overall: 120 x 690cm, 545kg, 410cm (3ft 11 1/4in. x 22ft 7 5/8in., 1201.5lb., 13ft 5 7/16in.)

Materials:

All-metal monocoque construction

Physical Description:

Single-seat, all-metal monocoque construction and conventional layout with low wing and twin vertical fins and rudders, powered by "Campini" jet engine

Source: Smithsonian Air & Space Museum

HISTORY

Yokosuka Naval Air Technical Arsenal (海軍航空技術廠 Kaigun Kōkū Gijutsu-shō, lit. Naval Air Technical Arsenal) had many names, each depending on the period of its existence, and the circumstances at that time. Many of the names were acronyms that were derived from its military name or designation, which changed from time to time. The arsenal was sometimes known as "Kūgi-shō" (a contraction of "Kō Gijutsu-shō" 空技廠). The name Yokosuka prevailed however, even though it referred to the Arsenal's location at Yokosuka, Japan.

The air arsenal's roots go back to 1869 when the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) established a naval arsenal at Yokosuka, about 13 miles south of Yokohama on Tokyo Bay. The arsenal provided ship building, repair and replenishment to the Japanese Navy. It was also a storage depot where munitions and other assorted supplies were brought as they were purchased.

When a number of foreign aircraft were purchased for evaluation, the Navy brought them to the arsenal for processing. The arsenal assembled the aircraft from their shipping boxes, and when assembled, they were flown by the pilots who had been sent abroad for flying lessons and evaluate the aircraft flown.

Modifications to these aircraft were done as weaknesses were found, or when an improvement was incorporated. To facilitate this work, the IJN established the Aeroplane Factory, Ordnance Department at the arsenal's torpedo factory in May 1913.

The next year, the first acronym was used was Yokosho, a contraction of "Yokosuka Kaigun Kōshō" (Yokosuka Naval Arsenal). The arsenal was renamed "Kaigun Kōkū Shiken-sho" (Naval Establishment for Aeronautical Research) in December 1919. The name "Kaigun Gijutsu Kenkyūsho" (Naval Technical Research Institute) was assigned by April, 1923, when the arsenal was moved to Tsukiji with several other Naval support units. The entire Tsukiji facility was destroyed in the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake. Several names were used when the navy began establishment of the arsenal. Research was started again in 1924 when several aircraft were evaluated. Under the command of the newly formed Naval Air Headquarters, the Kaigun Kokusho (Naval Air Arsenal) was formed at Yokosuka on 1 April 1932. A large amount of draftsmen and Designers were transferred from the Hiro Naval Arsenal, ending aircraft production there.

During World War II, the arsenal was responsible for the design of several IJN aircraft, although the arsenal itself did not manufacture more than a few prototypes of the aircraft it designed. Its designs were mass produced by companies such as Aichi Kokuki, Watanabe Tekkōjo steel foundry, renamed in 1943 to Kyūshū Hikōki Kabushiki-kaisha (九州飛行機株式会社 Kyushu Aircraft Company Ltd., Kyushu Armaments, and the Hiro Naval Arsenal (Hiro Kaigun Kōshō, which is often abbreviated as Hirosho).  Aircraft designed by the arsenal are usually designated by the manufacturer's letter "Y" for "Yokosuka".

SOURCE: Wikipeda