3 replies to this topic

[Thomas Normoyle]

I have come across mention of late war IJN Ships being equipped with AA rocket launchers. Were they of any practical use ? and if so what AA should they get ?

[Lonnie Gill]

I have not found any information which would suggest these late war AA rocket launchers had any effectivity. Therefore, no allowance has been made in the AA capacity of late war IJN ships for these launchers. The same approach was taken for the early war British UP [Unrotated Projectile] launchers. Quite a few of them were fitted and used, but the RN soon concluded they were ineffective. Probably the basic benefit of both these types of weapons was to boost crew morale - give them a flashy, vivid sense of fighting back. If anyone can provide documentation that the IJN AA rockets were effective, we can take another look at them.

[Cpt M]

According to Campbells, the only AA rocket that made it to sea was the 12cm AA rocket. They were introduced in July 1944 and were only mounted on new built and refited aircraft carriers. As Lonnie stated, the effectiveness of unguided rockets like these for AA use was minimal, at best.

[Malcolm Wright]

The intention behind the Japanese rocket was to deter dive bombers and skip bombers. Not by shooting them down, but through their obvious presence (visible parachute and cable) force those aircraft to break off their attacks. The Japanese were aware the British version had been ineffective and therefore chose to put them in batteries that could fire enmass. Such a visible barrage was expected to make pilots bank away.As the others have stated, there is no record of them having shot down any aircraft with this weapon. Because of the nature of the weapon it was only suited for use with aircraft carriers. This was because there were so many cables attached to small parachutes, that dislodging them from the superstructure of a warship would have been difficult. The more open deck area of a carrier would make that much easier. Now successful they would have been in their role as an 'aim breaker' is not known, because the majority of ships fitted with them were lost either in harbour, or due to submarine attack.