KAMIKAZE!!

FRI 6 APR 1945
Pacific
Japanese kamikaze onslaught against U.S. ships off Okinawa begins: destroyer Bush (DD-529) is sunk, 27°16'N, 127°48'E; four kamikazes irreparably damage destroyer Colhoun (DD-801), 27°16'N, 127°48'E, which is then scuttled by destroyer Cassin Young (DD-793). High speed minesweeper Emmons (DMS-22) is damaged by five suiciders, 26°48'N, 128°04'E; destroyer Mullany (DD-528) is damaged by two, 26°24'N, 128°10'E; as is destroyer escort Witter (DE-636), 26°04'N, 127°52'E. Other kamikazes damage destroyers Morris (DD-417), 25°55'N, 127°52'E [while high speed transport Daniel T. Griffin (APD-38) is damaged by collision with Morris as she fights fires alongside] 25°57'N, 127°57'E, Leutze (DD-481) and Newcomb (DD-586), 26°38'N, 127°28'E; Howorth (DD-592), 26°32'N, 127°40'; Haynesworth (DD-700), 26°55'N, 129°29'E; minesweepers Facility (AM-233), 26°00'N, 127°00'E; Defense (AM-317), 26°38'N, 127°31'E; and Devastator (AM-318), 26°26'N, 127°40'E; destroyer escort Fieberling (DE-640), high speed minesweeper Rodman (DMS-21), and minesweeper Ransom (AM-283), 26°48'N, 128°04'E; motor minesweepers YMS-311, 26°38'N, 127°48'E, and YMS-321, 26°00'N, 128°00'E; and tank landing ship LST-447, 26°09'N, 127°18'E. Near-misses by kamikazes damage small carrier San Jacinto (CVL-30), 26°46'N, 129°43'E, and destroyer Harrison (DD-573), 27°05'N, 129°22'E. Destroyer Hyman (DD-732) is damaged by kamikaze and torpedo, 26°45'N, 27°42'E; destroyer Taussig (DD-746) is damaged by near-miss of bombs, 27°07'N, 128°39'E; high speed minesweeper Harding (DMS-28) is damaged by horizontal bomber, 26°00'N, 127°00'E. Friendly fire accounts for damage to battleship North Carolina (BB-55), 26°41'N, 129°32'E; light cruiser Pasadena (CL-65), 27°00'N, 129°00'E; destroyer Hutchins (DD-476) [from destroyer Heywood L. Edwards (DD-663)], 26°00'N, 128°00'E; attack transport Barnett (APA-5) and attack cargo ship Leo (AKA-60), 26°21'N, 127°43'E; attack transport Audrain (APA-59), 26°22'N, 127°43'E; tank landing ships LST-241, 26°20'N, 127°45'E, and LST-1000, 26°21'N, 127°44'E; and submarine chaser PCS-1390, 26°00'N, 128°00'E. U.S. freighter Logan Victory, carrying 7,000 tons of ammunition, is irreparably damaged by kamikaze off Kerama Retto, 26°10'N, 127°16'E. Survivors are rescued by minesweeper Strategy (AM-308) and small craft; 3 (including its commander) of the 42-man Armed Guard are killed. The burning merchantman is then scuttled. U.S. freighter Hobbs Victory, also carrying ammunition, is attacked by two kamikazes northwest of Kerama Retto. Armed Guard gunners shoot down one and damage the second, but the latter manages to crash the freighter and start uncontrollable fires that lead to her abandonment, 26°05'N, 125°14'E. Minesweeper Success (AM-310) rescues survivors, transferring them later to attack transport Gosper (APA-170). Hobbs Victory explodes and sinks the following morning.

Submarine Besugo (SS-321) sinks Japanese minesweeper W.12 in Saeku Strait, N.E.I., 08°13'S, 119°14'E.

Submarine Hardhead (SS-365) again attacks unescorted Japanese convoy SASI-45, sinking merchant cargo ship Araosan Maru in Gulf of Siam, 09°37'N, 102°48'E.

USAAF B-25s on China coast shipping strike attack Japanese convoy HOMO-03, sinking Coast Defense Vessel No.1 and Coast Defense Vessel No.134 south-southwest of Amoy, 23°55'N, 117°40'E, and irreparably damaging destroyer Amatsukaze five miles east of Amoy, 24°30'N, 118°10'E; while Amatsukaze's crew manages to beach the ship at the entrance to Amoy harbor, she will perform no more wartime service.

Mines sink Japanese merchant cargo ships Koun Maru in Yangtze near Chinkiang, Kabuto Maru at 32°02'N, 119°59'E, and (laid by USAAF planes on 4 March) Hsing Yun Maru in Yangtze, near Chinkiang, 32°05'N, 119°56'E. Japanese merchant cargo ship Fushimi Maru is sunk by USAAF mine in Shimonoseki Straits, 33°59'N, 130°52'E.

Dutch Mitchells (which claim two hits) and RAAF Liberators (which claim many near misses) attack Japanese light cruiser Isuzu off Flores, N.E.I. (see 7 April).

Mediterranean
Fleet tug Moreno (ATF-87) is damaged by striking submerged object off Palermo, Sicily.

Atlantic
Fishing boat Captain Nathaniel B. Palmer unwittingly snags depth charge in its net about nine miles south-southeast of Block Island; as the charge is being raised to the surface it explodes, sinking the craft and killing three of the four-man crew. Fishing boat Mandalay rescues the sole survivor.