Austin Hughes
Despite its defeat at the Battle of Midway in 1942, Japan refused to surrender, prompting the United States to make plans to kill Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto.
Yamamoto, the most famous Japanese naval admiral at the time, was the commander of the surprise raid on the US base at Pearl Harbor in December 1941.
Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto of the Japanese navy during World War II Photo: Dan Hampton.
Yamamoto is considered a talented and extremely intelligent person, earning respect from both sides on the front lines.
Yamamoto's goal was merely to serve the country.
"In the first 6-12 months of the war with the US and UK, I will act decisively and win one after another. But if the war continues after that, I do not expect success," Yamamoto said.
On April 14, 1943, US cryptographers collected and decoded a telegram about Yamamoto's survey plan in the Solomon Islands.
US President Franklin Roosevelt was decisive at the time and gave no further thought after hearing about Operation Revenge.
The P-38 Lightning (Lightning), one of the most effective fighters in the world, is selected for the campaign thanks to its superior long-range ability than any other aircraft in the arsenal.
US staff officers set the possibility that the plane carrying Yamamoto would travel in a straight line from Rabaul, Papua New Guinea, to Balalae airport on the Solomon Islands, about 507 km long.
The position of the plane carrying Admiral Yamamoto was shot down Photo: Google
General John Mitchell, commander of Operation Revenge, calculated that the interception would take place at 9:35 am April 18, 1943, minutes before the plane carrying Yamamoto landed in Balalae.
At 7:00 a.m., only 16 P-38 fighters took off from Kukum Field airport on Guadalcanal Island in the Solomon Islands, due to two problems.
American forces were lucky when everything went according to the original plan, neither side changed plans.
The position of the plane carrying Admiral Yamamoto was shot down.
US Lieutenant Rex Barber was the first to fire on the first bomber, hit the right engine, causing the plane to catch fire and fall into the woods.
Ugaki was rescued and survived, but Yamamoto was not.
A month later, the Japanese people were notified of Yamamoto's death, the loss was supposed to be enormous to the country.
