Collision course
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This article is about the movement of one object or philosophy towards another. For other uses, see Collision course (disambiguation).
A collision course, also known as a kamikaze run, is the deliberate maneuver by the operator of a moving object (or often in Sci-Fi a spaceship) to collide with another object. It is a desperate maneuver since it often damages or destroys both.
[edit] Uses in history
- Ancient Greek Triremes were reinforced and equipped with bronze rammers, so they could collide with enemy ships to sink them
- Admiral Nelson used a similar tactic to attack the French fleet at Trafalgar, to the horror of Captain Hardy, when he ordered the British ships to 'run aboard' (crash into, or just ahead of the ships).
- Kamikaze Pilots from Japan used collision course tactics to take out naval vessels or large Bombers in the latter days of World War 2. Such tactics even extended to the construction of dedicated kamikaze aircraft, such as the Ohka.
[edit] Fictional uses
- In Star Trek Nemesis the Enterprise E rams the Scimitar.
- In Star Trek: Deep Space 9 the Jem'Hadar use a kamikaze run to stop Large Federation ships, notably the USS Odyssey (NCC-71832) destroyed circa stardate 47990.
- In Star Trek: Voyager episode Year of Hell Captain Janeway used USS Voyager to destroy Krenim weapon ship.
- In Galaxy Quest (a spoof of Star Trek) the NSEA Protector flies at Sarris' ship dragging space mines.
- In the Babylon 5 episode Severed Dreams, the critically damaged EAS Churchill rams the loyalist ship EAS Roanoke, destroying both.
- In the Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series) episode Exodus Part 2 the Battlestar Pegasus is rammed into a Basestar.
- In Stargate SG-1, Jaffa Ha'tak vessels ram Ori battlecruisers on at least two occasions, but are unable to defeat the superior Ori shields, resulting in the destruction of only the Ha'taks.
- In Star Wars: Return of the Jedi an A-Wing pilot crashed into the bridge of a Super Star Destroyer causing it critical damage.
- In Independence Day the final air battle which takes place over Area 51, a pilot crashes his jet into the spacecraft core which in turn destroys it.
