The year is 18 April 1943. The planner of the Pearl Harbor attack, the man whose strategy devastated the US Navy in a little less than 2 hours on December 7^th 1941 is about to answer to the forces of vengeance. Little does he know that a squadron of P-38 Lightnings is on an interception course with the Japanese admiral’s escorting flight.

Decoded

Unbeknownst to the Japanese, the US Naval intelligence branch working with US citizen Japanese interpreters had decoded not only the Japanese official diplomatic codes, but now the Imperial Navy’s operational encryptions. This would enable the outnumbered US Pacific Fleet to know where and when the Japanese Imperial Fleet would position itself to attack and invade the US base at Midway and would be the deciding factor that destroyed 4 Japanese aircraft carriers, a cruiser, and all of the seasoned combat pilots who had participated in the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor 2 years before. After Midway, the Japanese would forever lose the initiative to wage an offensive war against the US.

A student of America

Yamamoto had attended university in America, and even served as a naval attaché in Washington DC. He had witnessed the massive industrial might of the US, and knew well the attitude of Americans. He did not want war with the US, but the general Togo Government of Japan had moved into an expansionistic direction willing to kill and conquer and with US oil sanctions against them the Japanese empire would be deprived of the fuel it needed to feed its war effort. Yamamoto had been called upon to draw up a plan against the US Pacific Fleet that he feared would only awaken a sleeping giant as he would later state after the celebration of the Pearl Harbor victory.

Realization

By 1943 it was apparent that the war with the US Pacific Fleet was turning against Japan. Yamamoto feeling an obligation to visit the troops and sailors to instill some kind of morale, had planned an aerial visit to the island of Bougainville from the powerful Imperial Japanese base of Rabaul. Japan only had one last ditch offensive it planned against the US occupation of the Solomon Islands: Operation I GO. He wanted to personally inspect the forces readying to deploy, but he was warned not to go. The Americans had proven to be too unpredictable.

Planning of the kill

Admiral Yamamoto would disembark from Rabaul in an M-1 B-4 Betty Bomber escorted by 6 Mitsubishi Zeroes. Vice Admiral Ugaki also flying in a Betty Bomber would also be along as part of the formation.  Little could Yamamoto have known that “Operation Vengeance” was underway. A flight of 14 P-38’s divided into 2 groups would have to fly 1,000 miles to make the precisely timed interception. Four of the P-38’s were the designated the killers who would make the shoot downs while the 2^nd group flew as cover to fight off the escorting Zeroes. In order to reach their target the American USAFF pilots would have to maintain radio silence as they overflew Japanese controlled air space where an Imperial Air Field that housed 150 Zeroes on hand would need to be avoided. Navigation only consisted of estimation by speed at 400 miles per hour, compass, and fuel consumption measured against timing.

Hard pressed

The P-38 Lightning was a high altitude interception fighter but the attack group was forced to fly a lower altitude to catch Yamamoto’s contingent. So, without the ability to crack their cockpits for cooler air, sitting under the Plexiglas wind screens in direct sunlight was like being cooked by the sun’s rays. To pull off the mission they would need every detail to work their way. Two of the cover force P-38’s experienced mechanical problems and were forced to turn back so two of the fighters from the covering force would move up to complete the killer group.

Dogfight begins

One of the fighter pilots breaks radio silence as he calls out, “Japs at 11 o’clock!” Captain Lanphier makes a right turn into the enemy formation going head to head with 3 of the Japanese Zeroes knocking one down, and then makes a turn to get on the tail of Yamamoto’s unarmed Betty Bomber, but his altitude is too high. He orders his men to get the bombers! Now the Japanese fighter cover has been scattered. As Lanphier overshoots Yamamoto’s bomber Lieutenant Barber moves in from behind the Admiral’s Betty Bomber for the kill using his cannons! He makes a direct hit on both the right and left engines sending the Betty Bomber down in a fireball to the jungle floor below.

Mission accomplished

Pilots Hine and Holmes who had trouble releasing their drop tanks were now in position for the kill turning into Vice Admiral Ugaki’s M-1 B-4 Betty Bomber which had taken an evasive maneuver out to sea. Both aviators riddled Ugaki’s bomber with machine gun fire so badly that the escaping vapor from a shot up gas tank ignited and the Betty disintegrated in a ball of flame and black oily smoke in midair over the sea. With remaining Japanese escort fighters in vain pursuit of the exiting P-38 Lightnings only Hine who helped shoot down Ugaki’s Bomber is left behind but he has a Zero behind him. A US Navy PBY on patrol spots this from overhead and reported that a lone P-38 with the right engine smoking had a Mitsubishi Zero on his tail. Hine is the only aviator who doesn’t make it home. Now the American air group must make it back over Japanese controlled air space and bypass the airfield where 150 Japanese Zeroes are parked.

In the aftermath

Once the Japanese rescuers attempted to locate Yamamoto’s plane crash they arrived to see most of the fuselage burned and torn apart, but where was Isoroku Yamamoto? They found him seated in his aircraft chair thrown clear of the crash site leaning forward his head down as if concentrating on something, but there was a bullet wound in his rear shoulder and a bullet had entered his jaw. Operation “Vengeance” had succeeded and would deal a huge blow to Japanese morale. It was only the grisly beginning of the end for the Japanese who would fight determinedly in a futile effort to stop the ever growing and deadly US Pacific Fleet.