Following these strikes, TF 58 proceeded to Okinawa to support the amphibious assault launched there on 1 April 1945. While alone on picket duty 12 miles from the main group, "Walker" was subjected to persistent Japanese kamikaze attacks. One plane dropped a torpedo just after dark which passed close astern. During that night, "Walker"'s agile maneuvers and accurate guns beat off three more such attacks. On 7 April 1945, Paul Klahr, Gun Captain of 40 mm Gun 43 (starboard midship position), vividly recalls that a Zeke fighter circled the stern and began diving for the bridge from the starboard side of the "Walker". The Zeke passed forward of Klahr's gun position by about 20 feet allowing him and his crew to see the face of the pilot. He remembers the pilot's look of fear, facing his impending death. One member of his gun crew actually threw his helmet at the plane as it passed. The plane flew over the ship between the positions of the five inch guns Gun 1 and Gun 2 at an altitude low enough to part the lifelines on the port side before wheeling into the ocean and exploding, sending a solid sheet of water over the "Walker" mixed with debris from the plane and the shredded remains of its pilot.