Dead Men's Secrets: The Mysterious Death of Admiral Yamamoto

The remains of the plane he was in when he was killed.

Sixteen P-38's take off from Guadalcanal. Their task is to intercept the flight group carrying Yamamoto and try to destroy him and the plane he is traveling in.

The planes flew at only about thirty feet above the sea and had to carry extra fuel tanks for the long range flight.

This was technically a mission to assassinate an enemy leader.

Targeted for death is Yamamoto. The film then goes into Yamamoto's birth and upbringing and the fact that he was the one who designed the Pearl Harbor attack.

The British came up with the first aircraft carrier that was practical.

The first American aircraft carrier was introduced in 1922.

The Panay, an American boat sunk by the Japanese in China.

Yamamoto warned that Japan would eventually lose a war with the United States due to our industrial ability. The film goes into the attack on Pearl Harbor and Japan's advances in Southeast Asian countries.

The Americans had broken the Japanese naval code which is what ultimately enabled Yamamoto's movements to be followed and a place fixed to intercept him and kill him.

The Japanese lose at Midway and then the United States attacks on Guadalcanal. Yamamoto wants a massive air attack on the island.

He moves his HQ and decides to visit his forces. The air traffic information is intercepted so the Americans know when he will be there.

The P-38 (one of my favorite airplanes) is the one used in the assassination.

18 planes will be involved in the mission. There are four planes in the killer group but one never gets off the ground and another one has to abort the mission due to trouble with it's fuel tanks.

Natives find the plane and Yamamoto's body.

He gets a massive funeral. There was an argument over which pilot shot down Yamamoto's plane. The mission itself was kept secret during the rest of the war.

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