Kamikaze
Kamikaze a Japanese suicide pilot or plane in World War II. The plane was filled with explosives and carried only enough fuel for a short, one-way trip. The pilot, a volunteer, was expected to ram his plane into an American ship. The name kamikaze (literally, “divine wind”) refers to the typhoon winds that destroyed the Mongol fleet attacking Japan in the late 1200's.
Kamikazes were first used in late 1944, during the Battle of Leyte Gulf, in a desperate attempt to halt the American invasion of the Philippines. In the Okinawa campaign, air attacks—usually by kamikazes, which numbered more than 3,000—sank 28 American ships and damaged 104 others, many beyond repair. This was one of the worst beatings ever taken by any navy.