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The original kamikaze ('divine wind') was the typhoon that dispersed the Mongolian invasion fleets threatening Japan in both 1274 and 1281. During the Second World War, the term was applied to Japanese pilots and aircraft which attacked Allied targets, usually ships, in suicide dives. Kamikaze Tokubetsu Kogekitai (the 'Kamikaze Special Attack Force') or Tokkotai operated from October 1944 in a desperate attempt to prevent Allied forces retaking the Philippines or approaching the Japanese homeland. Kamikaze attacks sank thirty-four ships and damaged approximately 300. A total of 2,198 kamikaze pilots, including many college students, died in the suicide attacks.