Kamikaze

Kamikaze is a word of Japanese origin that translates as "Divine Wind." It is a type of military tactic in which a pilot of a vessel deliberately rams another vessel, killing themselves in the process, as well as severely damaging or destroying the other vessel.

The kamikaze originated on Earth during the Second World War. Seeking to stop the advance of American forces, Japanese forces often made such suicide runs against Allied ships, often in planes laden with explosives. A number of American vessels were either destroyed or disabled in the process.

Due to a chemical imbalance brought on by a lack of certain elements from their systems, the members of the Jarada hive Zel began to go insane. A number of Jaradan pilots engaged in Kamikaze attacks against the Enterprise. As the shields were up, the Enterprise suffered no permanent damage. While some of the pilots were beamed off their ships at the last moment, a number of other pilots could not be saved, and died when their ships crashed into the Enterprise shields. (TNG novel Imbalance).

The Jem'Hadar have also been known to engage in Kamikaze like tactics. In 2370 a Jem'Hadar vessel rammed the USS Odyssey, destroying both ships in the process, and pointing out to Starfleet just how far they would go to serve the Dominion. (DS9 episode The Jem'Hadar). Later, in 2374 the Jem'Hadar rammed a number of Klingon ships during the first Battle of Chin'toka, destroying at least 15 Klingon ships in the process. (DS9 episode Tears of the Prophets)