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I did not know this -- Admiral Yamamoto killed by US airplanes in 1943

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October 02, 2019, 08:00 PM
Sig209
I did not know this -- Admiral Yamamoto killed by US airplanes in 1943
I consider myself reasonably well-read on WW2 history.

But while reading a book recently on the Pacific theater - I read about the air mission to specifically target the Admiral on his travel itinerary.

I'll take 'things I didn't know' for $500 Alex.

WW2 is a source of endless learning on so many levels.

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Proverbs 27:17 - As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.
October 02, 2019, 08:02 PM
alreadydead
Yes and there is a pissing match to this day of who actually did shoot him down. The mission was a great one, sans the conflict mentioned.


__________________________
Keep your rotor in the green
The aircraft in trim
Your time over target short
Make it count
October 02, 2019, 08:08 PM
David Lee
Best I can recall it was P 38 Lightnings that did the shoot down. A pretty formidable aircraft for the day.
October 02, 2019, 08:15 PM
MikeinNC
Wait till you try and figure out who shot down the Red Baron. Some Aussie machine gunners, some ground folks, the guy shooting at him from a plane and several others all claimed shooting him down.



"Violence, naked force, has settled more issues in history than has any other factor.” Robert A. Heinlein

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October 02, 2019, 08:17 PM
John Steed
quote:
Originally posted by David Lee:
Best I can recall it was P 38 Lightnings that did the shoot down. A pretty formidable aircraft for the day.
Yes, I believe 4 P-38s were dispatched to intercept, but two had to turn back for some reason. Since the US had broken the Japanese code, they knew where and when the transport plane he was riding in was going.



... stirred anti-clockwise.
October 02, 2019, 08:18 PM
Gene Hillman
There was a James Cagney movie "The Gallant Hours" (1960) which tells that story. Not a bad watch.
October 02, 2019, 08:18 PM
sigfreund
P-38s. The mission was possible because the US had broken the cryptographic code/cypher the Japanese used to report the flight.




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October 02, 2019, 08:27 PM
gearhounds
This was referenced in Neal Stephensons The Cryptonomicon. It was a gamble deemed worth alerting the Japanese that we had broken their codes to kill the architect of Pearl Harbor. It was a huge morale boost for US troops and an equally hard blow to Japanese military morale. The mission was called Operation Vengeance for the obvious reason.




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October 02, 2019, 08:35 PM
jsbcody
quote:
Originally posted by David Lee:
Best I can recall it was P 38 Lightnings that did the shoot down. A pretty formidable aircraft for the day.


Yep, P38 was one of my favorite planes from WWII (the British Mosquito and P51 Mustang being the other two).


October 02, 2019, 08:43 PM
Otto Pilot
Charles Lindbergh was also instrumental in teaching the pilots how to eke every last mile of range they could get out of the planes for the extremely long flight to the interception point.


______________________________________________
Aeronautics confers beauty and grandeur, combining art and science for those who devote themselves to it. . . . The aeronaut, free in space, sailing in the infinite, loses himself in the immense undulations of nature. He climbs, he rises, he soars, he reigns, he hurtles the proud vault of the azure sky. — Georges Besançon
October 02, 2019, 08:46 PM
architect
Code breaking is a fascinating game of cat and mouse. The secret that we had broken the Japanese diplomatic code some months earlier was considered so vital that no warning was given to Pearl Harbor even though it was known that the attack was imminent. The official excuse, "there was not enough time between decryption and the attack to warn them" seems a little thin.

Code breaking, in this case a Naval code, has been credited for enabling the Midway victory. The story of how this was broken (seeding known plaintext - the water desalinator thing) seems a little too pat to me, perhaps there is a bigger secret being protected by this explanation.

It is clear that superior cryptanalysis and information management helped our side greatly in both theaters of WWII and since then in other conflicts.
October 02, 2019, 08:51 PM
slosig
quote:
Originally posted by MikeinNC:
Wait till you try and figure out who shot down the Red Baron. Some Aussie machine gunners, some ground folks, the guy shooting at him from a plane and several others all claimed shooting him down.

Nah, everybody knows Snoopy got the Bloody Red Baron. Wink
October 02, 2019, 09:15 PM
mojojojo
quote:
Originally posted by John Steed:
Yes, I believe 4 P-38s were dispatched to intercept, but two had to turn back for some reason.


No. An entire squadron of P-38s flew the intercept mission with 4 P-38s assigned to engage the Mitsubishi G4M “Betty” Bomber Yamamoto would be traveling in. When they made the intercept there were 2 Betty’s and 6 escort fighters. The confusion and controversy comes from who actually shot down the bomber carrying Yamamoto as both bombers were shot down. The mission was code named Operation Vengeance.

Read the book Attack on Yamamoto as it lays out the background, the players and the mission pretty well.



Icarus flew too close to the sun, but at least he flew.
October 02, 2019, 09:20 PM
Bassamatic
Sig 209: Don't feel bad. I had not heard of this either. Damn.



.....never marry a woman who is mean to your waitress.
October 02, 2019, 09:49 PM
9mmepiphany
quote:
Originally posted by Bassamatic:
Sig 209: Don't feel bad. I had not heard of this either. Damn.

I'm a bit surprised.

I remember reading about this is a copy of Reader's Digest...I thought it was pretty mainstream




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October 02, 2019, 09:55 PM
Sigfest
The breaking of the code and his being shot down was in the movie Midway. I thought everybody knew that. Wink
October 02, 2019, 10:01 PM
mr kablammo
If you like learning about obscure WWII stuff check out Mark Felton.

This is about the flying wing...

https://youtu.be/QD3JWVSkDuU


"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye". The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupery, pilot and author, lost on mission, July 1944, Med Theatre.
October 02, 2019, 10:06 PM
Edmond
quote:
Originally posted by mojojojo:
Read the book Attack on Yamamoto as it lays out the background, the players and the mission pretty well.


Thanks for that. I might pick that up and do some reading. Stuff like this interests me.


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October 03, 2019, 12:26 AM
CoolRich59
Yep. I wish I could remember the book, but it discussed the "debate" amongst U.S. leaders of the morality of targeting Yamamoto. Some thought it was immoral to deliberately "assassinate" him.


_____________________________________________________________________
“One of the common failings among honorable people is a failure to appreciate how thoroughly dishonorable some other people can be, and how dangerous it is to trust them.” – Thomas Sowell
October 03, 2019, 01:00 AM
Modern Day Savage
quote:
Originally posted by 9mmepiphany:
quote:
Originally posted by Bassamatic:
Sig 209: Don't feel bad. I had not heard of this either. Damn.

I'm a bit surprised.

I remember reading about this is a copy of Reader's Digest...I thought it was pretty mainstream


This mission was well-enough known that Hollywood recreated it, or at least loosely based an episode of the WWII 1970s TV series Baa Baa Black Sheep (Black Sheep Squadron), in which the Black Sheep were assigned the mission to shoot down Yamamoto...or whatever fictitious character they invented to play the role.