On October 25, 1944, the Japanese deployed the first kamikaze bombers on suicide missions against American warships. Because naval warfare and conventional air attacks were not stopping the Allies, the Japanese decided there best hope was to resort to crash-dive attacks with their planes. All told, more than 1,321 Japanese aircraft went down on these missions, taking out 34 Allied ships in the process. It took until September 2, 1945 before the Allies successfully defeated the Japanese.
