Kamikaze in the Crosshairs: The D4Y3 “Judy” and the Fateful Assault on USS Sangamon, May 4, 1945

In the waning months of World War II, as the sun set on the Japanese Empire, a new, desperate chapter in naval warfare unfolded over the contested waters off Okinawa. Here, in the shadow of victory, the United States Navy encountered an enemy so relentless and so ardent that each attack seemed wreathed in the very spirit of bushido itself. Amongst the waves and the gunfire, on May 4, 1945, one of the most chilling moments occurred: a D4Y3 “Suisei”—known to Allied sailors as the “Judy”—screamed down from the sky, intent on transforming itself into a weapon, all while the USS Sangamon and her crew braced for impact.

The Operation Kikusui No. 5: Desperation Over Kerama Retto

Operation Kikusui, translating ominously as “floating chrysanthemum,” represented the Japanese navy and air force’s last, dire attempts to stem the American advance on Okinawa. “Kikusui No. 5,” the fifth in a deadly series of massed suicide attacks, was launched with a simplicity both horrific and haunting: pilots would fly their bomb-laden planes directly into enemy ships, embracing death in the hope of inflicting maximum carnage.

The Ryukyu Islands boiled with tension. The Americans had seized Kerama Retto off the coast of Okinawa as a staging ground, vital for logistics and medical care. The Japanese response was brutal—hundreds of kamikaze sorties launched toward the American fleet, among them the swift and sleek D4Y3 “Judy.”

The Deadly Diva: D4Y3 Suisei “Judy”

Unlike the bulkier predecessors of the Imperial Navy’s aviation arm, the Yokosuka D4Y3 Suisei (“Comet”) was every bit a predator’s instrument. Far faster than the cumbersome Aichi D3A “Val,” the D4Y3 could streak through the sky at up to 342 miles per hour. Equipped with a more powerful air-cooled radial engine and able to carry a 500 kg (1,100 lb) bomb, it embodied a lethal blend of speed, agility, and firepower.

Originally designed as a conventional dive bomber, the “Judy” had seen action in more traditional roles earlier in the war. But as Allied air superiority pushed Japanese fighter and bomber squadrons to the brink of annihilation, these aircraft were increasingly assigned one-way missions. The D4Y3’s speed allowed it to penetrate formidable American combat air patrols and heavy anti-aircraft defenses, giving kamikaze pilots a precious edge in reaching their targets.

USS Sangamon: A Soft Target, A Steeled Crew

The USS Sangamon (CVE-26) was a “jeep carrier” – a smaller, slower escort carrier responsible for launching fighter planes and supporting ground troops. Though more vulnerable than her fleet carrier cousins, she shared their crucial role in maintaining air dominance and fending off the furious waves of kamikazes.

On May 4, the horizon over Kerama Retto was thick with black smoke and bursting shellfire. Radar operators aboard Sangamon tracked a fast-moving blip—another kamikaze, closing in. Above, the sun glinted off the wings of the approaching D4Y3, its engine screaming as the doomed pilot began his final dive.

Dive of the Damned

The sequence that followed played out in mere seconds, every heartbeat a staccato drumroll of dread. At full throttle, the “Judy” ripped toward the ship. Gunners opened up, tracers stitching the sky. Anti-aircraft shells blossomed, filling the air with shrapnel and fragments that shredded wings, ripped through cockpits, and set machinery ablaze.

Yet the D4Y3 pressed on—a vengeful projectile piloted by purpose and sacrifice. Some accounts recall the pilot weaving through the curtain of fire, aiming for the flight deck, determined to exact a toll before meeting his ancestors. The roar then, the thunder of collision, the sickening eruption of flame and metal as the “Judy” found its mark.

Inferno on Deck

The impact and subsequent explosion triggered chaos on the USS Sangamon. Aviation gasoline, bombs, and ammunition ignited, spitting fire and smoke through the hangar and flight decks. Fire-fighting crews—well-drilled after months of kamikaze attacks—sprang into action amidst the carnage, dragging the wounded to safety, forming bucket lines, and battling the hellish flames threatening to consume the ship.

The ship listed, shuddered, but did not sink. The Sangamon’s crew, battered and bloodied, proved a testament to the grit and resilience forged in the crucible of Pacific warfare. The Judy, its pilot, and all that fueled their mission were gone—transfigured from living threat to smoldering remembrance.

The Legacy of the “Judy” Attack

The attack on USS Sangamon was but one episode in an unending onslaught. Kamikaze sorties claimed dozens of ships and thousands of sailors’ lives during the Battle of Okinawa. Yet, these sacrificial flights also revealed the changing face of aerial warfare—how even outmatched forces could wring terror and destruction from the skies through sheer fanaticism and innovation.

Technologically, the D4Y3 “Judy” was a marvel—embodying the belief that speed and striking power could turn the tide. Its use as a special-attack weapon was less a mark of its shortcomings than a testament to the strategic desperation of the moment. The pilots who flew it—some volunteers, many conscripted—entered history not simply as attackers but as symbols of a nation’s ultimate agony and resolve.

For the crews of ships like USS Sangamon, the memory of May 4, 1945, etched a lesson in duty and survival. The day’s violence, distilled into the flash of a diving plane and the detonating blast of purpose-driven destruction, mirrored the war itself: short, savage, and transformative.

Closing Thoughts: Echoes Over the Pacific

The image of that D4Y3 Suisei—a “Judy” in her suicide run over the gray seas off Kerama Retto—reminds us how, at the apex of war’s fury, human determination reached its most fevered pitch. For those below, the seconds that followed were an eternity; for history, they remain a microcosm of sacrifice and struggle, played out on a steel deck under a burning sky.

Today, as we reflect on the chaos and courage of May 4, 1945, we remember not only the technical marvels and tactics of machines like the D4Y3, but also the human hearts—on both sides—that met fate in the crucible of Okinawa’s waters. The story of the Judy’s final dive is thus more than history; it is a living echo of a world forever altered by war, and the men and machines that shaped its end.