During WWII, why did the Japanese Kamikaze wear helmets?

Question

Seriously, what was the point of taking time to put on the helmets if they were going to kill themselves anyway? Why would the military spend the money on this protective gear for the Kamikaze when they were going to die anyway? It seems like a waste of money and time!

Interesting about the radio gear in the helmets/skullcaps. I did not know this and its not something that is taught where I attended high school. In fact, my old high school history teacher posed this question to our class a couple of times and it always made me wonder.

Answer 1

during WWII, airmen didn't wear helmets...

..they wore skullcaps that kept their head warm, but more importantly, held radio equipment. It doesn't matter if they're kamikaze pilots or not, you can't do damage if you don't know where you're going.

also kamikazes were assigned as such. It was considered a great honor at the time to be assigned a kamikaze mission.

if you look at the picture, you can see the skullcaps with the radio ear pieces

Answer 2

Usually when you say "helmets" people might think of steel helmets that soldiers wear as personal protection from shrapnel. I assume you mean their flying helmets. Anyway there are some very good posts regarding the radio ear pieces they wore in order to coordinate the attacks on the American battle groups. Kamikaze aside, some Japanese Navy pilots did not wear parachutes. Some had the radios removed from their aircraft in order to save weight. As you may or may not know, the Japanese A6M Zero was very light and maneuverable. This was due in large part to the lack of armor plate. Japanese pilots were highly skilled and confident in their abilities as naval aviators. Allied aircraft were heavy and somewhat less maneuverable. The Japanese believed that even if an allied pilot got on their tail they could out turn their opponent and shoot them down with the Zero's 20MM cannons. Think of it this way. The Zero was a light, heavily armed, acrobatic aircraft, almost impossible to dogfight with. Until Allied tactics changed the Zero had a distinct advantage in aerial combat.

Answer 3

It isn't only the radio gear within the helmets although I am not 100% sure that the Kamikazi pilots had radio gear. Helmets had goggles attached to then and these were needed to help the pilot see. All of this equipment was expendible during wartime. These pilots also wore boots to keep their feet warm because they at times flew at high altitudes and they didn't want their pilots to get frozen feet so they couldn't control their planes.

Answer 4

they didnt wear helmets. they didnt really have much protective gear. pretty much all they had was their flight hat and jacket because it gets pretty cold up there. plus that hat had a radio in it so they could communicate. my biggest issue with the japanese in WW2 was why did we even give them guns and ALOT of ammo if they were just going to kill themselves when they were surrounded. the germans even started to do Kamikaze missions in WW2 near the end. usually crashing their planes into bombers

Answer 5

They started out to be kamikaze with ceremony and everything.

The pilots all wore helmets as part of their flight suite

not sure if implemented in wwII planes but helmets are needed to breath at high altitudes.....and warmth....and protection.......if a frag hit them in the head without a helmet it could be fatal .......and making the mission a failure........for any pilot/mission

Answer 6

They needed to stay warm. You loss up to 50% of your body heat through your head, depending on wind and altitude. Plus they had goggles to protect their eyes so the could navagate. Most wore a head covering more closely resembling a leather skull cap, not a true helmet.

Answer 7

helmets werent used for crashes like on bikes...helmets carried radio gear they needed..so even if they were going to kill themselves..they had to wear the helmets purely for the radio gear

Answer 8

That reminds me of a Seinfeld joke.
It goes something like:
"When a skydiver is wearing a helmet and the chute doesn't open, is this little piece of plastic really going to do any good? I mean at that point, isn't the helmet really wearing him for protection!?"

Answer 9

I don't think they set out to be kamikaze's, probably in a last ditch effort when they knew they couldn't do anything else,or ran out of ammo, they went for it.

Answer 10

and why did they wear seatbelts, and why is there braille on drive up atms, some things are left better unanswered