About 19% of kamikaze attacks were successful. Pilots would attempt to crash their aircraft into enemy ships in what was called a 'body attack' ( tai-atari) in aircraft loaded with bombs, torpedoes or other explosives. Kamikaze aircraft were essentially pilot-guided explosive missiles, purpose-built or converted from conventional aircraft. About 3,800 kamikaze pilots died during the war, and more than 7,000 naval personnel were killed by kamikaze attacks.
Kamikaze ( 神風, pronounced 'divine wind' or ' spirit wind'), officially Shinpū Tokubetsu Kōgekitai ( 神風特別攻撃隊, 'Divine Wind Special Attack Unit'), were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending to destroy warships more effectively than with conventional air attacks.
Kiyoshi Ogawa (left), 22, and Seizō Yasunori, 21, the pilots who flew their aircraft into Bunker Hill
