Judge (apparently) shooting shipwrecked sailors in the water. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmyq2OJOVDw&NR=1
Not in the same category, but note the second impact (which gives a different impression of the earlier film).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjPucHmoOzU
Hello Rising Sun*.
I rewatched the films now and i saw what i thought about - i think the dokumentation out of which the second video you posted above is, seems to be somehow ‘too humanistic’.
If you rewatch the first video and take a closer look at the time 2:50 to 3:05, you will see the same sequence as in the second video!
Now the ‘grenade’ footage seems pretty similar in the context with the other material shown in the first video [same quality, colours and probably the same submarine? etc.], so it probably belongs to the same film.
I don’t know what caused the explosion in the water [i don’t think they would blow ‘something’ [in general]up that near to their boat]. The second impact [the rifle projectile] was most definately shot as a reaction to the explosion.
So seeing that the naval personal shot those guys in the water i wonder what weapon caused the explosion - was it really a grenade? If yes - just a macabre, but possible, theory - did US submarines have handgrenades on board?
Good evening.
They probably had a few grenades on board. But before we condemn the Navy crewmen as war criminals, let’s ask if it was possible if the pilot himself had a grenade and tried to take some sailors with him?
Has to be said it’s pretty unlikely that either aircrew or submarines would carry hand grenades. They’re a weapon for dismounted close combat almost exclusively - something neither group is ever likely to engage in.
But a grenade was a favorite suicide/booby-trap weapon of the Japanese…That is something that would have to be researched.
I only post this because I’ve heard of US sailors’ accounts of Japanese crewmen or pilots that refused to be taken by them…
Then again, just shooting them in the water is pretty sickening…
Info on Japanese hand grenades at #7 here
http://www.ww2incolor.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7073 The pilot’s actions are consistent with using a Type 23 grenade.
I think it’s feasible that the pilot carried a grenade as a backup against survivng a crash, as grenades were widely used by Japanese troops to commit suicide.
Subs could well carry some, to arm landing parties.
Even if they did, sailors probably lacked the experience to throw one at exactly the right time to explode a few feet below the surface.
Anyway, the vessel in the pilot scene is a ship of some sort, not a sub.