How many ships were damaged or sunk by Kamikazes in World War 2?

Answer 1

Damaged Ships

Here are opinions and answers from FAQ Farmers:

• Kamikaze aircraft sank 26 US naval vessels and damaged 164 others during WW2.

• Various accounts put the losses to kamikazes at the Battle for Okinawa alone at 21 ships sunk, 217 damaged (43 to the point of being written off). One Air Force sanctioned source claims that over the course of the war kamikazes sank 34 U.S. Navy ships and damaged 368 others. The British Navy also took kamikaze losses.

• Your question sounds familiar. I seem to remember responding to such a query a number of months ago where someone's grandfather on the Randolph was working on planes on the(hanger or flight )deck when the ship was hit by a kamikaze. Perhaps it was you -- perhaps not. I was on a ship anchored close to the starboard side of the Randolph in Ulithi harbor when she was hit. The plane roared just yards over our superstructure before hitting the Randolph. It happened just as it was getting dark. The kamikaze was reported to have come from the island of Yak -- an island that had been bypassed by U.S. forces. Fortunately the damage to the carrier was repaired and she made it to Okinawa in time to cover the landings and bombard the island.

• No US aircraft carriers were sunk by Kamikazi. Not one, "Big Ben" was the most heavily damaged..

• http://www.navsource.org/archives/03/063.htm (USS St. Lo)

• http://www.navsource.org/archives/03/079.htm (USS Ommaney Bay)

• http://www.navsource.org/archives/03/095.htm (USS Bismarck Sea)
• http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cohort

Answer 2

One source stated approximately "over" 300 vessels damaged and 36 sunk during the Okinawa campaign by Kamikazes. But this figure does not count the Leyte Gulf engagement, which saw the first use of Kamikazes, nor the Iwo Jima campaign...which saw the loss of the USS Bismarck Sea to a Kamikaze.