Isoroku Yamamoto

Isoroku Yamamoto is a well known Japanese naval commander during WWII. He went to the Japanese Naval War College from 1919 to 1921 at Harvard University. For a while, in between 1926 and 1928, he was a Naval Attaché for the United States. He got a negative attitude for the American Navy while he was in it. He’s great skill in naval aviation made him want to improve Japan’s navy. But he knew that the American Navy had a lot of power, especially in the Pacific Ocean. Since the United States was the only real threat to Japanese expansion in the Pacific Ocean, Yamamoto was ordered to prepare a attack. The attack happened on December 7^th, 1941. Yamamoto attacked Pearl Harbor because he knew that that was America’s naval base. He wanted a “stunning but quick knock-out blow” He did not get this quick knock-out blow though because all the aircraft carriers based in Pearl Harbor were out at sea. He did sink four battleships and damaged another four, and started World War II. The attack on Pearl Harbor did give the Japanese six months to expand their territory while America recuperated from the blow. Then in 1942, Japan had a devastating loss that the navy could not recover from. It was called the Battle of Midway. Then in 1943, Yamamoto was going to go to the Solomon Islands. America decoded the Japanese message that told them the exact time and locations of where Yamamoto would be.  The plan to kill Yamamoto was called ‘Operation Vengeance.’ It was successful and Yamamoto was killed. He got the Oder of the Chrysanthemum Award and Nazi Germany awarded him the Knight’s Cross Award, he was the only foreigner to receive this award. Yamamoto really did change history with his attack on Pearl Harbor, it is still remembered today, and so is he. 

Attack on Pearl Harbor