Lamma Island's "Kamikaze" Cave

In the public consciousness, the term “kamikaze” is most often associated with the aerial suicide attacks launched by Japan against Allied forces toward the end of World War II. Although none of these aerial strikes were launched from or against Hong Kong, the territory still served as a staging ground for suicide missions—albeit not the airborne variety.

Along the coastline near Lamma Island's Lo So Shing village, visitors can still find squared-out caves measuring 10 metres wide and 30 metres deep (33 feet wide and 100 feet deep). These structures were excavated from the rock by local residents forced into hard labour by the occupying Japanese military.

Known as the Kamikaze Caves, they were used by Japanese forces to conceal 7.5-metre-long (25-foot) wooden speedboats called Shinyo (“Sea Quake”) motorboats. Packed with roughly half a ton of TNT or depth charges in the bow and piloted by a single sailor, these watercraft were designed to be rammed directly into the hulls of Allied warships.

Much like their aerial counterparts, Hong Kong's naval kamikaze units were deployed at the tail end of the war. They were prepared for action in August 1945, just as the British Pacific Fleet entered local waters to reoccupy the colony following the announcement of the Japanese surrender.