Isoroku Yamamoto is said to be Japan’s greatest strategist and officer because he commanded the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. Yamamoto was born on April 4th, 1884. Yamamoto graduated from the Japanese naval academy in 1904. After that, he worked as a marine attaché fo the Japanese embassy in Washington D.C. from 1926 to 1927. in the next 15 years, Yamamoto went through several promotions in the Japanese navy.
Despite the depleting positive relationship between Japan and America, especially because the alliance between Japan with Germany and Italy, Yamamoto didn’t want to have a war with the US in fear that the conflict will end badly for Japan. In the end, that fear came true when the Prime Minister of Japan at that time, Tojo Hideki, decided to declare war on the United States. Following orders, Yamamoto made the plan of a surprise air strike on Pearl Harbor, saying that it would give a chance of victory. Because Pearl Harbor held much of the US naval force, Yamamoto knew it would cripple that part of the army. And yet, Yamamoto also predicted a negative side effect of this attack. If America and Japan continued to be at war against each other for more than one year, Japan would lose.
Yamamoto made this secretive plan and carried it out with Japanese air strikers. They attacked Pearl Harbor, which is on the island of Oahu, Hawaii on December 7th, 1941. The attack destroyed all of the US battleships within 30 minutes of the raid. The Japanese attack led to 180 US aircrafts destroyed and more than 3400 Americans killed. But, when US forces caught up to Yamamoto, they ambushed and shot down his plan over the Bougainville Island in 1943. He died having predicted two things: the success of aircraft carriers in long-range naval attacks and that Japan was bound to lose a drawn-out conflict with the United States.
Despite the depleting positive relationship between Japan and America, especially because the alliance between Japan with Germany and Italy, Yamamoto didn’t want to have a war with the US in fear that the conflict will end badly for Japan. In the end, that fear came true when the Prime Minister of Japan at that time, Tojo Hideki, decided to declare war on the United States. Following orders, Yamamoto made the plan of a surprise air strike on Pearl Harbor, saying that it would give a chance of victory. Because Pearl Harbor held much of the US naval force, Yamamoto knew it would cripple that part of the army. And yet, Yamamoto also predicted a negative side effect of this attack. If America and Japan continued to be at war against each other for more than one year, Japan would lose.
Yamamoto made this secretive plan and carried it out with Japanese air strikers. They attacked Pearl Harbor, which is on the island of Oahu, Hawaii on December 7th, 1941. The attack destroyed all of the US battleships within 30 minutes of the raid. The Japanese attack led to 180 US aircrafts destroyed and more than 3400 Americans killed. But, when US forces caught up to Yamamoto, they ambushed and shot down his plan over the Bougainville Island in 1943. He died having predicted two things: the success of aircraft carriers in long-range naval attacks and that Japan was bound to lose a drawn-out conflict with the United States.