Today in History: The First Kamikaze Attack

On this day (October 21) in 1944, the first kamikaze attack was launched by the Japanese military. These attacks were intended to compensate for Japanese loss of air superiority in the war by providing a more certain method for sinking Allied warships. The fighter plane was loaded with a 440 pound bomb and successfully crashed into the cruiser, HMAS Australia, killing its captain and 29 men and injuring 64 others. The Australia did not sink.