kamikaze

(in World War II) one of a group of Japanese pilots who performed suicidal missions by crashing their aircraft, loaded with explosives, into an enemy target, esp a ship

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

kamikaze

An action taken by certain Japanese pilots during WW II, in which they flew explosive-laden airplanes as missiles against allied targets, killing themselves. Any like action performed by any pilot. A kamikaze plane is one that is explosive-laden and is to be used as a piloted missile; an attack by such plane is a kamikaze attack.

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Kamikaze

(Japanese, literally “wind of the gods”), a suicide pilot in the Japanese armed forces in World War II used to fight enemy surface ships in a single-action airplane. In addition to conventional aircraft flown by kamikaze, in 1945 the Japaneseair force had more than 5, 000 single-action airplanes called Bakathat carried explosive charges of up to 1 ton in their front end. The airplane, which had a small jet engine and a limited rangeof action, was directed by the kamikaze to the target, dived, andcrashed into it. More than 2, 500 suicide pilots died in combat inthe Pacific Ocean in 1944 and 1945.

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References in periodicals archive

The fact is the city of Mabalacat built a statue honoring the kamikaze pilots!

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A term originating in the 13th century, kamikaze is Japanese for "divine wind." When the Japanese refused to pay tribute to Kublai Khan, the Mongol emperor launched hundreds of ships against the islands of Japan in 1281.

Divine wind

The 26-year-old from the Isle of Man said: "I was fighting with Rojas into the last corner and kamikaze Feillu came flying in.

Cav hits out at 'Kamikaze' Feillu; SPORT ROUND UP

In the author's latest work, he tells the amazing story of the Kamikaze attack that crippled the USS Bunker Hill, an American aircraft carrier off Okinawa, on 11 May, 1945.

Danger's Hour: The Story of the USS Bunker Hill and the Kamikaze Pilot Who Crippled Her

The award was presented by Nik Laming, SVP - Asia Pacific & Managing Director, Singapore/ Malaysia/India, Carlson Marketing and Harish Bhatia, Chief Executive Officer, Kamikaze B2B Media & Project Managing Director, Loyalty Summit and Awards.

Carlson Marketing Presents The Loyalty Awards

Rielly, a World War II maritime historian, provides a comprehensive account of Japanese kamikaze attacks on US warships during the second World War.

Kamikaze attacks of World War II; a complete history of Japanese suicide strikes on American ships, by aircraft and other means

We can't afford the risk of Kamikaze Cameron and co-pilot Osborne.

Kamikaze Cameron

30: Greg Ballard, a member of the Kamikaze Kids who ranks fourth all-time in school history in scoring (1,829) and is the only UO player to have amassed more than 1,000 rebounds.

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Kennedy, said he wrote "Danger's Hour" because he felt little attention had been paid to the rise of kamikaze warfare and its devastating effect on the American fleet.

Kamikaze attack recalled by Castle owner

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