First Ohka Combat Mission (Jinrai Butai First Attack)
桜花初出撃（神雷部隊第一次攻撃）
On March 21, 1945, 16 G4M2e Betty bombers carrying Ohka weapons launched from Kanoya Air Base against the US Fifth Fleet off Kyushu. All 16 were intercepted and shot down before reaching release range, killing approximately 160 crew members — the bloodiest single-day loss for the Jinrai Butai.
History
The first operational Ohka mission was launched on March 21, 1945, from Kanoya Air Base in Kagoshima Prefecture. Sixteen Mitsubishi G4M2e Betty bombers of the 721st Naval Air Group (Jinrai Butai), each carrying one Ohka Model 11 weapon and its pilot, departed to attack elements of the US Fifth Fleet operating off the coast of Kyushu in support of the Okinawa invasion.
The slow, heavily-laden Bettys — each weighed down by the 2,140 kg Ohka mounted under the fuselage — were intercepted by American F6F Hellcat fighters from Task Force 58 well before reaching their intended release point approximately 37 km from the target ships. Without adequate fighter escort (only 30 Zero fighters were available, and most were drawn away or shot down), all 16 bombers were destroyed. The Ohka pilots, unable to launch their weapons, perished inside the mother aircraft. Approximately 160 men — Ohka pilots, Betty bomber crews, and fighter escort pilots — died in the catastrophe.
Despite this devastating debut, subsequent Ohka missions during the Okinawa campaign achieved sporadic successes. On April 12, 1945, an Ohka sank USS Mannert L. Abele (DD-733), the first ship in history to be destroyed by a guided missile in combat.