Japanese pilots used the tactic of Kamikaze (suicidal) dive-bombing attacks on enemy warships in 1944 and 1945. The "USS Nevada," despite an escort and efforts to fight off a Kamikaze attack, sustained such a hit in early 1945 off the coast of Japan. The "USS Ticonderoga," a carrier, also sustained such a hit in early 1945 off Formosa (Taiwan). The impact of Kamikaze attacks decreased during the final months of the war in the Pacific, in part because of an improvement in Allied evasion tactics.
Off Japan proper, the USS "Nevada" and her escorts fight off attacks by Kamikaze suicide planes. One wing blown off, a Japanese plane scores a direct hit. The "Nevada," veteran of the last war, was in Pearl Harbor at this war's beginning, and has fought in many major actions since. All that remain of the Kamikaze plane are its wheels. The pilot is wrapped in the Japanese flag for his suicide mission. Casualties on the "Nevada" are sixty men dead, wounded, and missing. The carrier "Ticonderoga," off Formosa, sustains a near miss from another Kamikaze. Succeeding enemy planes try for hits. Most are brought down. But one dives straight into the "Ticonderoga." Smoke envelops the ship. Pictures made simultaneously show the same attack viewed from the carrier itself.
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