The Life of Isoroku Yamamoto
Isoroku Yamamoto was born on April 4, 1884, in Nagoka, Japan. He was the last of seven children. His first name “Isoroku” translates literally into the number 56. That was his father’s age when he was born. At 16 years old, he entered the Imperial Naval School and was an ensign on a cruiser in the Battle of Tsushima on May 27, 1905, where he lost two fingers on his left hand. He took the Yamamoto family name when he was adopted by them. Isoroku was promoted to commander and transferred to Tokyo Naval Headquarters. He married soon afterwards.
He traveled to the US to study economics at Harvard and to learn about petroleum as well. In 1923 he was appointed head of the air training base at Kasumigaura, also becoming a naval attaché in Washington, DC. Isoroku returned to Japan a few years later and became Vice-Minister of the navy, championing new aircraft carriers for Japan’s navy but opposed the Tripartite Pact of 1939. It formed an alliance among militarist Japan, Nazi Germany, and fascist Italy.
In August 1939, he was promoted to full admiral and became the commander-in-chief of Japan’s combined naval fleet. He did want to go to war with the US though, knowing the industrial will and strength of the Americans. Once the military leaders decided war on the Americans, he devoted himself, even if he was reluctant, to the task of masterminding the attack on Pearl Harbor in December, 1941. That event officially brought Japan and the US into World War II. When he saw the Japanese defeat in the Battle of Midway in 1942, he knew that they were going to lose.
On April 18, 1943, American Intelligence was tracking Yamamoto’s and looked for an opportunity to eliminate him once and for all. They discovered that he was in a plane flying near the island of Bougainville. That’s when a squadron of fighters was quickly dispatched to intercept it, with orders to shoot it down at all costs. The fighters swarmed up to his aircraft and it was shot out of the sky, crashing in flames on the island. The attack killed all the passengers on the aircraft, which included Yamamoto. He was 59 years old when he died.
He traveled to the US to study economics at Harvard and to learn about petroleum as well. In 1923 he was appointed head of the air training base at Kasumigaura, also becoming a naval attaché in Washington, DC. Isoroku returned to Japan a few years later and became Vice-Minister of the navy, championing new aircraft carriers for Japan’s navy but opposed the Tripartite Pact of 1939. It formed an alliance among militarist Japan, Nazi Germany, and fascist Italy.
In August 1939, he was promoted to full admiral and became the commander-in-chief of Japan’s combined naval fleet. He did want to go to war with the US though, knowing the industrial will and strength of the Americans. Once the military leaders decided war on the Americans, he devoted himself, even if he was reluctant, to the task of masterminding the attack on Pearl Harbor in December, 1941. That event officially brought Japan and the US into World War II. When he saw the Japanese defeat in the Battle of Midway in 1942, he knew that they were going to lose.
On April 18, 1943, American Intelligence was tracking Yamamoto’s and looked for an opportunity to eliminate him once and for all. They discovered that he was in a plane flying near the island of Bougainville. That’s when a squadron of fighters was quickly dispatched to intercept it, with orders to shoot it down at all costs. The fighters swarmed up to his aircraft and it was shot out of the sky, crashing in flames on the island. The attack killed all the passengers on the aircraft, which included Yamamoto. He was 59 years old when he died.