Battleship Cove Naval Museum - Japanese Suicide Boat
Bill Maloney
10/18/2006

01JapaneseSuicideBoat 02DeckDetails 03PropNRudder 04Stern
01 Japanese Suicide Boat.jpg 02 Deck Details.jpg 03 Prop & Rudder.jpg 04 Stern.jpg
05HullDetails 06DeckDetails 07Cockpit 08Plaque
05 Hull Details.jpg 06 Deck Details.jpg 07 Cockpit.jpg 08 Plaque.jpg

This boat appears to be a Chris Craft Barrelback Speedboat copy that has been converted for military use. The Barrelback hull is a recreational design and less practical and more expensive to build, so I'm fairly certain it is a conversion. The Japanese Suicide Boat is powered by an American 6 cylinder marine engine. With the watertight hatch, enclosed cockpit, and raised intake it is thought by the museum to be a semi submersible. Personally I believe those modifications were made to enable it to head out through heavy surf or rough seas without swamping or stalling before reaching their targets. There are no diving or trim planes of any type on the boat so I really don't believe it was meant to run even partially submerged.

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