Drawing on U.S. government reports, interrogation reports of Japanese
officers, ship action reports and secondary sources, this book details
more than 400 kamikaze attacks by Japanese aircraft, manned torpedoes,
suicide boats and suicide swimmers against U.S. ships during World War
II. Part One focuses on the traditions, development and history of the
kamikazes, including the origins of the samurai class and its ethos, the
development of kamikaze aircraft and watercraft, and the indoctrination
of children in the Japanese school system. Part Two details the kamikaze
attacks on ships in the waters around the Philippines, Iwo Jima, Taiwan,
Okinawa and Japan. Appendices list all of the U.S. ships suffering
kamikaze attacks along with casualty figures, outlines and silhouettes
of various U.S. ships involved in kamikaze attacks, and silhouettes of
Japanese kamikaze aircraft.