or later, would come in on the side of the Allies, Britain
and France. However, because he had visited the United
States and saw firsthand the overwhelming strategic su-
periority that nation would have over Japan, Yamamoto
warned his superiors that such a war would be the death
knell for Japan, even if it could win early victories. He
believed that the only way his country could have an ad-
vantage would be to strike the United States’ naval and
air forces before it could strike Japan. He conceived a
plan that not only included an attack on America but the
quick capture of numerous islands in the Pacific Ocean
to use as barriers to fend off the expected counterattack
against the Japanese homeland. When the American
government froze Japanese assets in the United States
in July 1941, Japan’s leaders approved Yamamoto’s plan
and authorized the dispatch of the Japanese fleet east to
the coast of Hawaii. On 7 December 1941, some 350
Japanese aircraft commanded by Admiral Chuichi Na-
gumo attacked the main American naval base at Pearl
Harbor, Hawaii, sinking or disabling 18 American war-
ships and killing some 3,000 American sailors. Yama-
moto had directed that a second wave of planes be sent
to bomb the remaining American ships and completely
destroy any chance of an American counterattack, but
Nagumo ignored this order and ended the attack after
one wave, a mistake that would lead to Japan’s eventual
defeat. Yamamoto knew that the remaining American
ships could be repaired and sent to attack, and he recog-
nized that Japan had now challenged the United States’
strength when it could least afford to, as it was pinned
down fighting in China. He sent Nagumo’s fleet to Java
at once, and there, at the Battle of Java Sea (27–28 Feb-
ruary 1942), the Japanese defeated a combined Ameri-
can and British fleet to take the islands.
Yamamoto expanded his original strategy of “is-
land-hopping” to include an island he felt would allow
Japan to control the Pacific: Midway. Situated, as its
name implies, midway between Hawaii and Japan, it
was seen as crucial to Japan’s efforts to meet the Ameri-
can counterattack. Sending all of his naval forces to the
area, which included six battle carriers—more than 200
ships in total—Yamamoto conceived a plan to entrap
the American forces near the island and destroy them.
However, what he did not know was that the United
States had broken the secret Japanese naval code and
knew what his plan was.
When the Japanese first attacked the American base
on Midway on 4 June 1942, it was lightly defended to
make them think the United States had been taken by
surprise. Then the American carriers sent off wave after
wave of aircraft, with bombs and torpedoes, to attack the
Japanese, who were themselves caught by surprise. In a
massive two-day battle, the Japanese lost four carriers—
Akagi, Soryu, Kaga, and Hirpu—and some 3,500 killed,
to one American carrier lost—the USS Yorktown—and
about 300 American dead. Yamamoto was forced to
order his forces to retreat. The Battle of Midway was a
turning point in the war: From then on, Japan was on
the defensive against American attacks in the Pacific.
The American victory at Midway allowed them to
attack the 15,000 Japanese forces at Guadalcanal in the
Solomon Islands, landing on 7 August 1942. In October
1942, Yamamoto attempted to land troops at Guadalca-
nal, but American navy ships kept the Japanese at bay.
The Americans then launched an attack on the Japanese
on the island; the subsequent battle (12–14 Novem-
ber 1942) ended any hope of keeping this vital island
out of the hands of the United States, and in January
1943 Yamamoto ordered the evacuation of all remain-
ing Japanese forces; the island was cleared on 9 February- As he had feared, the American force now began
its counterattack. Next on their agenda were the islands
of Bougainville, in what is now Papua New Guinea, and
Yamamoto decided to visit the Japanese troops there,
first to boost their morale and second to plan its defense
against an American invasion. He sent out his itinerary
with the same radio code the United States had cracked
to get the Japanese plans for Midway, and again the infor-
mation fell into American hands. Admiral Chester nim-
itz ordered that Yamamoto’s plane be intercepted and
shot down. On 18 April 1943, Yamamoto’s G4M “Betty”
transport plane was flying over Kahili in Bougainville
when an American fleet of 16 P-38 “Lightning” aircraft,
led by Major John W. Mitchell, intercepted it and blew it
out of the air, crashing into the jungle below.
Yamamoto was just 59 when he was killed. The
Japanese government did not announce his death until
21 May 1943, quietly replacing him as commander in
chief of the Japanese fleet with Admiral Mineichi Koga.
His remains were eventually discovered and buried in
the Tama Reien cemetery in Harjuku Ward in Tokyo.
Historians Anthony Bruce and William Cogar write:
“Yamamoto’s loss was a severe blow to Japanese morale
and damaged the faltering Japanese strategy against the
Allies. He had launched a brilliant campaign in the Pa-
cific but was unable to sustain the momentum against
0 yAmAmoto, iSoRoku