During the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the Japanese command resorted to the ultimate weapon: the kamikaze; from now until the end of the war, 4,615 kamikazes would sacrifice themselves, sinking 35 American units, including 3 aircraft carriers (more than half the planes would be shot down, 82 in half an hour by the cruiser Guam alone, and hundreds more would be lost or run out of fuel prematurely) but above all dealing a deadly blow to the morale of the American soldiers.
