Operation Vengeance: April 18, 1943

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Morning of April 18, 1943. Admiral Isoruku Yamamoto, Commander in Chief Imperial Japanese Navy, and his staff approached nearby Ballalae Island in a pair of Mitsubishi G4M-1 “Betty” medium bombers, escorted by six A6M “Zero” fighters. Several other fighters take off from nearby Japanese airfields to greet and escort the admiral’s flight into Ballalae.

Unknown to all, US Naval Intelligence had broken portions of the Japanese code and were well aware of Yamamoto’s plans including his ETA at Ballalae for some time. Yamamoto, who is well known to US forces as the architect of the raid on Pearl Harbor, was determined to be a target of the highest priority. The entire project was given the code name Operation Vengeance.

Earlier in the AM, sixteen Lockheed P-38G Lightning fighters equipped with special long range drop tanks had departed Henderson field on Guadalcanal to the south. Flying a circuitous low level route (50-100 foot) route to avoid detection, the P-38s (339th FS, 13th AF) arrived in the area virtually at the same instant (0935 local time) as Yamamoto’s flight.

The sixteen P-38s climbed to altitude and “jumped” the incoming Yamamoto flight. Twelve aircraft fought off escorting Japanese fighters while four designated “gunners” attacked the two Bettys. In a brief but intense aerial melee, both of the Japanese bombers are shot down. Yamamoto’s aircraft crashed in flames on nearby Bougainville. The other, crashed into the waters just off Bougainville’s southern coast. Chief of Staff Admiral Matome Ugaki aboard the second bomber is the sole survivor of either aircraft. One American P-38 and its pilot is lost in the scuffle.

Initially Capt. Tom Lamphier was given credit for shooting down both Bettys, including that of Yamamoto. However, in the post-war years 1st Lt. Rex Barber claimed that he shot down both aircraft. A 1985 statement from one of the surviving pilots from the escorting Zeros, as well as that from another American pilot on the mission tended to corroborate Barber’s claims. The USAF revised its records, crediting both pilots with half-kills on each Betty. Barber unsuccessfully sued the USAF to gain full credit. Since then the USAF has refused to reconsider the matter.