56th Shin'yō Special Attack Squadron Iwadate Unit Monument
Miura City, Kanagawa Prefecture
The 56th Shin'yō Special Attack Squadron members trained and waited for
slightly more than two months at Ena Bay, located at the end of Miura Peninsula about 15 km south of Yokosuka Naval
Base. The young men, mostly aged 16 or 17
years, were trained as pilots of shin'yō explosive motorboats designed to
crash into enemy ships as they neared the shore, but they all survived until the end
of the war since the anticipated Allied invasion of
mainland Japan never materialized.
In 2005, surviving squadron members and other supporters erected a monument
to remember the 56th Shin'yō Special Attack Squadron. The squadron also is
referred to as the Iwadate Unit, since the squadron commander was Lieutenant
Junior Grade Yasuo Iwadate.
Directly in front of the monument stands an umbrella pine tree. A wooden post
next to the tree identifies it as a "Navy Special Attack Corps Memorial Tree."
The monument has the following inscription:
56th Shin'yō Special Attack Squadron Iwadate Unit Monument
In the final stage of the Pacific War, the Imperial Navy, which took
pride in being the best, lost many ships and aircraft before American
forces with superior material resources, and the war reached the phase of
the decisive battle for the mainland.
At that time, the Navy made preparations for an American landing on the
mainland and pursued the development and production of special attack
(suicide) weapons for air, surface, and underwater. Among the surface
special attack weapons was a special attack boat named "shin'yō" (meaning
"ocean shaker"). There was a Model 1 boat (length of 5.1 meters, width of
1.65 meters, one gasoline engine, crew of one) and a Model 5 boat (length of
6.5 meters, width of 1.68 meters, two gasoline engines, crew of two). Both
carried 250 kg of explosives in the bow. These boats were human bombs to
carry out taiatari (body-crashing) attacks against the enemy fleet
under cover of dark nights. The shin'yō pilots were organized into four
groups with 5 officers and 51 petty officers in total. The petty officers
came from the Tsuchiura Naval Air Group Kō Preparatory Flight Training
Program (Yokaren). After graduation, they received special attack training
in the Totsugeki Corps at Kawatana in Kyūshū. On June 5, 1945, as a shield
for the defense of the mainland, the 56th Shin'yō Special Attack Squadron
Iwadate Unit was deployed here to the Matsuwa area and reported for duty.
The unit's headquarters were at Fukusenji Temple, and the petty officer
crewmen were lodged at four private homes. The special attack base was
located at Ena Bay, and tunnels were dug into the eastern and western cliffs
of Ena Bay. The shin'yō boats were stored for the 3rd and 4th groups on the
eastern side and for the 1st and 2nd groups on the western side. Training
took place at night to avoid detection by enemy planes. There were a total
of 183 members in the unit with 5 officer boat pilots, 51 petty officer pilots,
and 127 base and maintenance workers. Without one person dying in battle, at
the war's end on August 15, 1945, they were able to return safely to their
own hometowns.
We bequeath to future generations through the words on this monument the
fact that the 56th Shin'yō Special Attack Squadron Iwadate Unit was here in
this place for the short period of just more than two months. Here where there
has been no war for 60 years since the end of the war, we pray for world
peace and prosperity.
May 27, 2005
Chiyoda Matsuwa Association and Other Supporters
The back of the monument lists the names of the 56 shin'yō boat pilots of the
56th Shin'yō Special Attack Squadron.
View of Ena Bay, where motorboats
of the 56th Shin'yō Special Attack Squadron
were hidden in tunnels along shore
Fukusenji Temple, wartime headquarters for the 56th Shin'yō
Squadron, is located about one kilometer from Ena Bay. The monument dedicated to
the 56th Shin'yō Squadron stands to the left of the stone path leading to Fukusenji Temple's main hall.
Main hall of Fukusenji Temple,
which served as headquarters for
56th Shin'yō Special Attack Squadron
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