Editing Kamikaze (section)

===Beginnings===
[[File:USS Essex (CV-9) is hit by a Kamikaze off the Philippines on 25 November 1944.jpg|thumb|left|A ''kamikaze'' aircraft explodes after crashing into ''Essex''{{'s}} flight deck amidships 25 November 1944.]]

Captain [[Motoharu Okamura]], in charge of the [[JMSDF Tateyama Air Base|Tateyama]] Base in [[Tokyo]], as well as the 341st Air Group Home, was, according to some sources, the first officer to officially propose ''kamikaze'' attack tactics. With his superiors, he arranged the first investigations into the plausibility and mechanisms of intentional suicide attacks on 15 June 1944.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archive.animeigo.com/liner/out-print/father-kamikaze.html|title=Father of the Kamikaze Liner Notes – AnimEigo|work=animeigo.com}}</ref>

In August 1944, it was announced by the [[Dōmei Tsushin|Domei]] news agency that a flight instructor named Takeo Tagata was training pilots in [[Taiwan]] for suicide missions.<ref>Axell, pp. 40–41</ref>

One source claims that the first ''kamikaze'' mission occurred on 13 September 1944. A group of pilots from the army's 31st Fighter Squadron on [[Negros Island]] decided to launch a suicide attack the following morning.<ref>Toland, p. 568</ref> [[First Lieutenant]] Takeshi Kosai and a [[sergeant]] were selected. Two {{convert|100|kg|lb|abbr=on}} bombs were attached to two fighters, and the pilots took off before dawn, planning to crash into carriers. They never returned, but there is no record of a ''kamikaze'' hitting an Allied ship that day.<ref>[[John Toland (author)|John Toland]], ''[[The Rising Sun: The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire 1936–1945]]'' p. 568</ref>

According to some sources, on 14 October 1944, {{USS|Reno|CL-96|6}} was hit by a deliberately crashed Japanese aircraft.<ref>[http://www.ww2pacific.com/suicide.html ww2pacific.com, 2004, "World War II in the Pacific: Japanese Suicide Attacks at Sea"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200413183449/http://www.ww2pacific.com/suicide.html |date=13 April 2020 }}. Accessed 1 August 2007.</ref>

[[File:Arima Masafumi.jpg|thumb|upright|Rear Admiral [[Masafumi Arima]]]]

[[Rear Admiral]] [[Masafumi Arima]], the commander of the 26th Air Flotilla (part of the [[11th Air Fleet]]), is sometimes credited with inventing the ''kamikaze'' tactic. Arima personally led an attack by a [[Mitsubishi G4M]] "Betty" twin-engined bomber against a large {{sclass|Essex|aircraft carrier|1}}, {{USS|Franklin|CV-13|6}}, near Leyte Gulf, on or about 15 October 1944. Arima was killed and part of an aircraft hit ''Franklin''. The Japanese high command and [[propaganda]]s seized on Arima's example. He was promoted [[Posthumous name|posthumous]]ly to [[vice admiral]] and was given official credit for making the first ''kamikaze'' attack. 

On 17 October 1944, Allied forces assaulted [[Suluan]] Island, beginning the [[Battle of Leyte Gulf]]. The Imperial Japanese Navy's 1st Air Fleet, based at [[Manila]], was assigned the task of assisting the Japanese ships that would attempt to destroy Allied forces in Leyte Gulf. That unit had only 41 aircraft: 34 [[Mitsubishi A6M Zero]] ("Zeke") carrier-based fighters, three [[Nakajima B6N]] ''Tenzan'' ("Jill") [[torpedo bomber]]s, one [[Mitsubishi G4M]] ("Betty") and two [[Yokosuka P1Y]] ''Ginga'' ("Frances") land-based bombers, and one additional reconnaissance aircraft. The task facing the Japanese air forces seemed impossible. The 1st Air Fleet commandant, [[Vice Admiral]] [[Takijirō Ōnishi]], decided to form a suicide offensive force, the Special Attack Unit. In a meeting on 19 October at [[Clark Air Base|Mabalacat Airfield]] (known to the US military as Clark Air Base) near Manila, Onishi told officers of the 201st Flying Group headquarters: "I don't think there would be any other certain way to carry out the operation [to hold the Philippines] than to put a 250&nbsp;kg bomb on a Zero and let it crash into a US carrier, in order to disable her for a week."