The was an aircraft and airbase garrison unit of the

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...

(IJN) during the Pacific campaign of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. This air group was organised for specializes in

suicide attack A suicide attack is any violent Strike (attack), attack, usually entailing the attacker detonating an explosive, where the attacker has suicide, accepted their own death as a direct result of the attacking method used. Suicide attacks have oc ...

. Another known as God thunder Corps (''Jinrai Butai'').

Structure

*Higher unit **

Yokosuka Naval District was the first of four main administrative districts of the pre-war Imperial Japanese Navy. Its territory included Tokyo Bay and the Pacific coasts of central and northern Honshū from the Kii Peninsula to Shimokita Peninsula. Its headquarters, a ...

(1 October 1944–14 November 1944) **

Combined Fleet The was the main sea-going component of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Until 1933, the Combined Fleet was not a permanent organization, but a temporary force formed for the duration of a conflict or major naval maneuvers from various units norm ...

(15 November 1944–19 December 1944) ** 11th Air Flotilla (20 December 1944–9 February 1945) ** 5th Air Fleet (10 February 1945–21 August 1945, dissolved.) *Lower unit ** Attack bomber Squadron (1 October 1944–14 November 1944) ***Renamed ''711th Attack Squadron'' on 15 November 1944. **

Ohka The Yokosuka MXY-7 was a purpose-built, rocket-powered human-guided ''kamikaze'' attack aircraft employed by Japan against Allied ships towards the end of the Pacific War during World War II. Although extremely fast, the very short range of t ...

Squadron (1 October 1944–21 August 1945) **

Suisei Suisei is Japanese for "comet" and the Japanese name for the planet Mercury. It may also stand for: *Hoshimachi Suisei, Japanese virtual YouTuber * Suisei (probe) , originally known as Planet-A, was an unmanned space probe developed by the Ins ...

Squadron (15 November 1944–14 February 1945) ***Aircraft and airmen were moved to ''

722nd Naval Air Group 7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube. As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has greatly symbolic associations in religion, mythology, ...

'' on 15 February 1945. **305th Fighter Squadron (1 February 1945–19 August 1945) **306th Fighter Squadron (15 November 1944–19 August 1945) **307th Fighter Squadron (1 February 1945–19 August 1945) **708th Attack Squadron (20 December 1944–21 August 1945) **711th Attack Squadron (15 November 1944–5 May 1945, dissolved.) ***Aircraft and airmen were moved to the ''708th Attack Squadron'' on 5 May 1945. **

Kamikaze , officially , were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending to d ...

***''Shinken Unit'' ***''Shichisei Unit'' ***''Tsukuba Unit'' ***''Shōwa Unit'' *Commanding officer **Capt.

Motoharu Okamura was a Japanese naval aviator who served as a test pilot in the 1930s, and served as the commander of the 341st Tateyama ''Kōkūtai'' (Air Group) for ''kamikaze'' attacks in June 1944. Career In June 1934, Lt. Okamura was flight testing the sec ...

(50) - 1 October 1944 - 30 September 1945

Bibliography

*Atene Shobō, Tōkyō, Japan. **''Navy battle record of special attack units'', Author: each air unit of the Imperial Japanese Navy, reprinted in 2001, . *Bunrin-Dō Co., Ltd., Tōkyō, Japan. **Famous Airplanes of the World No. 59, ''Type 1 Attack Bomber'', 1996, . **Famous Airplanes of the World, Special Edition Vol. 6, ''Type Zero Carrier Fighter'', 2012, . **Koku-Fan Illustrated No. 42, ''Japanese Imperial Army & Navy Aircraft Color, Marking'', 1988. **Koku-Fan Illustrated Special, ''Japanese Military Aircraft Illustrated Vol. 2, "Bombers"'', 1982. *

Gakken is a Japanese publishing company founded in 1947 by Hideto Furuoka, which also produces educational toys. Their annual sales is reported at ¥ 90 billion ($789 million US). Gakken publishes educational books and magazines and produces other ...

, Tōkyō, Japan. **Hiroshi Katō, ''How the Gods of Thunder unit turned out'' (), 2009, . *Model Art Co. Ltd., Tōkyō, Japan. **Model Art No. 406, Special issue ''Camouflage & Markings of Imperial Japanese Navy Bombers in W.W.II'', 1993. **Model Art No. 458, Special issue ''Imperial Japanese Navy Air Force Suicide Attack Unit "Kamikaze"'', 1995. **Model Art No. 510, Special issue ''Camouflage & Markings of the I.J.N. Fighters'', 1998. **Model Art No. 525, Special issue ''Shūsui and Jet aircraft / Rocket aircraft of the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy'', 1998. **Model Art No. 847, Special issue ''Model Art Profile No. 12, "A6M of IJN (Part 1)"'', 2012. **Model Art No. 857, Special issue ''Model Art Profile No. 13, "A6M of IJN (Part 2)"'', 2012. *Ushio Shobō, Tōkyō, Japan. **The Maru Special No. 108, ''Kamikaze Special Attack Forces'', 1986. **The Maru Mechanic No. 46, ''Naval Aero-Technical Arsenal Bomber "Ginga" P1Y / Mitsubishi Type 1 Attack Bomber G4M (Betty)'', 1984. {{Imperial Japanese Navy air units Groups of the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service Japanese World War II special forces Military units and formations established in 1944 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945

Structure

See also

Bibliography