duty for the assault forces while the Japanese launched the first major kamikaze onslaught of the war. By 31 January, she was back off Leyte and, four days later, entered Ulithi. On 8 February, she stood out for Saipan and arrived on the 10th. Stanly patrolled off Saipan for six days; then off Iwo Jima from 16 February until 13 March. She returned to Saipan for logistics on 15 March and weighed anchor on the 17th. She put in at Ulithi the next day and stayed until 27 March, undergoing repairs. At the completion of repairs, she headed for Okinawa, where she arrived late on the 31st. For the first 11 days of April, Stanly moved from station to station around Okinawa on radar picket duty. On the 12th, as the "Divine Wind" again rose to gale force, she was on station north of the island. Cassin Young (DD-793) had just been crashed by a kamikaze, and Stanly was speeding to her station. Soon enemy planes were swarming around her like angry bees, and she maneuvered radically to avoid their deadly sting. In the meantime, Stanlys fighter director team took charge of the stricken destroyer's combat air patrol. Under their direction, the friendly fighters whittled away at the attackers, splashing six Aichi D3A "Val" naval dive bombers in rapid succession. American fighters and kamikazes swirled above Stanly in a grand melee. Suddenly, out of the maelstrom of planes, a rocket-powered Yokosuka MXY-7 Ohka piloted flying bomb plunged toward her at a speed in excess of 500 knots (900 km/h). Her assailant's great speed made countermeasures impossible; and so, Stanly absorbed the kamikaze's impact on the starboard side of her bow, five feet above the waterline. The warhead punched clear through the hull of Stanly without detonating, passed out her port side, and exploded in the water close aboard. The remains of the pilot and some wreckage were later recovered from inside the vessel. Within minutes of the first attack, another Ohka headed for the ship, with the destroyer's antiaircraft guns blazing on it. The pilot was either wounded or killed, as at the last moment, the Ohka whisked over the ship and snatched her ensign from its gaff in passing. It skipped across the water like a flat stone, then disintegrated. Soon after the second Ohka's pass, Stanly was ordered to close the transports at Hagushi. On her way, she