The impact of the kamikaze was so severe that I could see the paint bounce off the bulkheads in the wardroom before smoke filled the room. My immediate thought was, "We have been hit by a torpedo or a bomb!" I looked around the room and noticed that nearly everyone else had ducked under the wardroom tables. I thought, "That seems kind of silly since the explosion is over." Then I thought about delayed-action fuses. "They are expecting a second explosion!" So, I got under a table, too.
YIKES!!!
From 12. Essex Takes a Kamikaze
A chapter from Torpedo Squadron Four: A Cockpit View of World War II By Gerald W. Thomas