This photo was snapped aboard the battle-scarred LST 512, which was damaged in action at Normandy and was a major player in the 12,000-mile inland waterway tour of the 7th War Loan Bond Drive in 1945. Exhibits were mounted in the LST’s hold to be viewed by millions of people between March 1945 and January 1946, of which this “Baka” Rocket Bomb exhibit was one. The official Japanese designation for the bomb was “Oka,” which translates as “cherry blossom. “The allies dubbed it “Baka,” which was Japanese for “fool.” The Baka Bomb was carried under a twin engine land-based Navy bomber. The pilot was locked in the cockpit, and as the mother plane approached a target the Baka was released to make a diving attack propelled by rocket power. The Baka’s 289-mph maximum gliding speed reached 405 mph when rocket-propelled. The rocket power lasted 30 seconds. Little more than a human bomb, many graduates of the Japanese Air Academy flew to their deaths in a Baka during the closing days of World War II. Note the U.S. Navy flier at the controls.
