Kamikaze

The name recalls the typhoons that scattered the Mongol fleets sailing for Japan in 1274 and 1281; officially the units were called special attack units (tokkōtai). They were created in the Philippines in October 1944 by Vice-Admiral Takijirō Ōnishi, who had too few aircraft and trained pilots to fight by conventional means. The first organised attacks came on 25 October 1944 during the Battle of Leyte Gulf, when the escort carrier St. Lo was sunk.

The heaviest attacks came during the Battle of Okinawa in spring 1945, when waves of suicide aircraft struck destroyers and carriers. About 3,800 Japanese airmen and more than 7,000 Allied sailors died, and several dozen ships were sunk.