MASS KAMIKAZE ATTACKS OFF OKINAWA

Mass kamikaze attacks off Okinawa

As ground combat raged on Okinawa, the United States fleet offshore faced a new and deadly form of air attack in unprecedented numbers. Japanese forces launched a series of large-scale suicide air raids, known as kamikaze attacks, aimed at crippling the invasion armada by sacrificing pilots and aircraft directly against ships. On April 6th, waves of kamikaze aircraft struck radar picket destroyers, carriers, and other vessels, sinking some ships and damaging many more. Sailors and anti-aircraft crews fought desperately, relying on radar warning, combat air patrols, and layers of gunfire to break up the formations before they could reach their targets. The psychological strain of watching incoming aircraft that would not turn away added to the physical danger on exposed decks. Although the fleet absorbed serious losses, the attacks did not derail the Okinawa campaign, and the United States Navy adapted its defenses in response. These brutal days at sea underscored the lengths to which the Japanese military would go and further influenced American thinking about the cost of pushing the war directly onto the Japanese home islands.