| Event date: April 18, 1943 |
Displays: 5468 |
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Created: |
Aug 24, 2007 at 02:57 PM |
Modified: |
Aug 24, 2007 at 03:07 PM |
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Admiral Yamamoto, Commander in Chief Japanese Combined Fleet, is killed when his aircraft if shot down by Army aircraft.  Isoroku Yamamoto (Japanese: ?????, Yamamoto Isoroku?) (4 April 1884 – 18 April 1943) was a Fleet Admiral (Gensui) and Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet during World War II, graduate of Imperial Japanese Naval Academy and an alumnus of U.S. Naval War College and Harvard University (1919–1921). Yamamoto held several important posts in the Imperial Japanese Navy, and undertook many of its changes and reorganizations, especially its development of naval aviation. He was the commander-in-chief during the decisive early years of the Pacific War and so was responsible for major battles such as Pearl Harbor and Midway. He died during an inspection tour of forward positions in the Solomon Islands when his transport aircraft was ambushed by American P-38 Lightning fighter planes. His death was a major blow to Japanese military morale during World War II. |
