The USAAF Intercepts and Shoots Down Admiral Yamamoto, 1943 - Animated

[@MilesStratton]

Vice Admiral Ugaki survived this interception btw. He would go on to participate and plan most of the Japanese naval operations in the pacific war before he died hours before the Emperor's surrender speech by boarding a kamikaze flight rather than surrender on the morning of August 15th 1945. He left a 20 volume diary recounting the entire pacific war from the months leading up to Pearl Harbor to the very last day of the war. His diary remains one of the most complete primary sources of the Japanese perspective of the Pacific war to survive today.

[@MarvelDcImage]

He died hours AFTER the Emperor's surrender speech by boarding a kamikaze flight.

[@SprikSprak]

Out of interest do you know how he survived? If his plane disintegrated midair did he parachute out before after the initial hits?

[@maxmeh2342]

Didn't the narrator say his Betty blew up from a fuel explosion and disintegrated?

[@holyfordus]

@@maxmeh2342 It appears that part may have been somewhat inaccurate. His plane fell into the ocean at high speed, likely after exploding and appearing to disintegrate. Ugaki, the pilot of his bomber, and another staff officer aboard his bomber all miraculously survived. As mentioned, Ugaki recovered from his injuries and returned to duty in February 1944.

[@ledwardsak]

First I would like to say I like this series and the research involved however the error is that the second bomber did not disintegrate over the water. Instead when it was hit a small explosion from it sent debris that damaged the P-38 firing. The plane crash landed into the water and there were three survivors including Ugaki who would later for a time command the Yamato battleship in the Imperial Japanese Navy and then at the end of the war after the Emperor called for surrender climbed into the back of a Kamikaze with another piloting and others younger pilots joining in. The flight taking off was actually witnessed by the pilot of the bomber that had crash landed in the water and who was disgusted that Ugaki would take others to their doom in defiance of the Emperor. The plane and his remains were found during a failed attempt shortly afterwards.

[@c.c.s.1102]

Yamamoto's Betty is still there. Some of the locals still know where it is and will guide you to it through the jungle. There is footage of it on KZbin.

[@bri-manhunter2654]

Rip, he was a fine commander and he fought hard for his country.

[@fargneta]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/lZLIp3WCntN4rLs

[@fargneta]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/iZfQlnydoNCBldE

[@edfrawley4356]

@@bri-manhunter2654 He knew his enemy well and advised against the strike on Pearl but to no avail. He did his duty while knowing full well what the end result was likely to be. And he was right.

[@lolroflroflcakes]

@@edfrawley4356 This is incorrect; he both suggested and planned the operation as the Japanese' best hope of winning a Pacific war with the United States. He advised they could not win a long war, but he still believed his empire's hype and that they could scare the Americans into peace talks. For some reason, the Axis powers based most of their plans around the concept of patriotism carrying the day. Unfortunately, patriotism won't stop the Russians or the English from continuing to resist from what are essentially unassailable fortresses, and it certainly won't stop the Chinese when you've made your intentions to exterminate pretty clear. However, I suppose that patriotism was all they had. They knew their position was bad and only getting worse, and given the way they thought offensive action with a high probability of defeat was better than giving up their empires later.

[@saturnv2419]

Fun fact, Yamamoto, being a Japanese, view American general Ulysses S.Grant as his personal idol. While his American counterpart, admiral Nimitz, view Japanese admiral Tōgō Heihachirō as his personal idol.

[@datubangkas9908]

And Tōgō Heihachirō's personal idol was Horatio Nelson, in case anyone was wondering.

[@tedk.9093]

@@datubangkas9908 Thats utterly wild. Thanks!

[@nobblkpraetorian5623]

@@datubangkas9908 Wasn't Togo's idol Admiral Yi Sun-Sin?

[@danishkfd]

Lol

[@JonathanLundkvist]

Admiral Togo regarded Admiral Yi as his superior. At a party held in his honor, Togo took exception to a speech comparing him to Lord Nelson and Yi Sun-sin. It may be proper to compare me with Nelson, but not with Korea’s Yi Sun-sin, for he has no equal. (The Imjin War, by Samuel Hawley, pg. 490)

[@AzuriteKnight]

"The operation was a great success, and hit the Japanese morale hard..." Except the Japanese Army who was probably enjoying a round of drinks in celebration.

[@officialspock]

Why?

[@charleshawkins7337]

The Japanese army hated the navy as they believed war with the USA was dumb and they should invade Russia instead

[@jeffreycollins9705]

@@officialspock There was a terrible interservice rivalry between the Japanese Imperial Army and Navy.

[@lonniebailey4989]

@@jeffreycollins9705 So terrible that it makes my sibling rivalries look like a tea party.

[@jaredf.6532]

@@officialspock basically you had a feud between the army and navy. The navy was the pride of Japan but the army was supposedly the undefeated. Plus the navy got the good stuff while the army was getting leftovers from whatever the empire provided them with. So there was a bitterness between the two branches

[@mindeloman]

I was 14 years old playing an old PC game called "Aces of the Pacific" and the Yamamoto mission was one you had to do. Was the first time I'd ever heard of the mission. The US had an intelligence coup on the Japanese.

[@gargoilification]

"Aces of the pacific" Countless childhood memory are flodding my mind right no, playing the game on the ps2 and countless hours beating the last level against that japanese ace with the prototype with the push prop that game really got me into aviation and history

[@jonny-b4954]

@@gargoilification That must be a different game. He's talking about the Aces of the Pacific DOS game from 1992. Think you're talking about WW1: Aces of the Sky. That's a PS2 game.

[@gargoilification]

@@jonny-b4954 oh sorry, mine was Heroes of the Pacific

[@shlarpy]

@@gargoilification That's what I thought of

[@billy5179]

Holy!!! thats the game that started my love for "flight sims" awesome game for its time.

[@jjkusaf]

Should be noted that Ugaki survived the crash .. would go on to command the 1st Battleship Division ... and died when he carried out a kamikaze mission on August 15 (after Emperor Hirohito conceded defeat)

[@robertmaybeth3434]

Why wouldn't they give somebody as important as Yamato a parachute? Were they really that cavalier with lives, even important ones?

[@outorgado2776]

@@robertmaybeth3434 Yamamoto was shot in the head, he never had the chance to understand exactly what has happened

[@Dont_Tread_on_Me448]

@@robertmaybeth3434 yes , to the Japanese at that time , death in battlefield was considered to be a symbol of great honour and pride...

[@reitairue2073]

@@Dont_Tread_on_Me448 brain washing to the nth degree, fucking losers

[@potato88872]

@@reitairue2073 are you going to spam your braindead comment ?

[@canadadelendaest8687]

Operations Room is hands down the best "Battle Animations" channels on the entire internet.

[@TheOperationsRoom]

Too kind!

[@penultimateh766]

They should call them "Battle-mations".

[@sorrrbet4923]

@awesome guy Too much power. Yarnhub 3d animating the actual engagements and Ops Room animating the strategic part, that would be truly incredible.

[@gefreitercluey6569]

How about BazBattles?

[@hafeezuddin1367]

@awesome guy he made some really good naval WW2 battles animations. Look at the bismark and tirpitz videos

[@jdsedona9169]

In 1993 I had the chance to meet and have dinner with Rex Barber, Doug Canning, Lou Kittel and five of the other surviving members of the mission whose names I cannot recall currently. Rex lived near me in Oregon. What an amazing treat to meet and talk with these gentlemen. And, by the way, there was no doubt amongst the men that were present that day. Rex Barber is absolutely the man responsible for downing Admiral Yamamoto.

[@crhu319]

Thanks for finally debriefing them!

[@jamesberry7584]

Rex was a member of the Central Oregon Chapter of the (then) Retired Officers Association and I had the pleasure of meeting him at our chapter dinners.

[@djquinn11]

That was an honor indeed! Thanks for sharing.

[@serpent645]

When planning this mission, the US high command considered the following factors, likely among others: 1. Was Yamamoto really a skilled warrior commander or just a politically astute officer? A. Would taking him out offer a stratic advantage for Allied Forces? B. Would his death actually be good for the Japanese? They determined that Yamamoto was in fact a very skilled commander and his death would be a sore blow to the IJN. 2. Would killing this man be moral? US high command, right up to NCA level conferred with leading theologians and ethicists and determined that Yamamoto was an active enemy officer, wearing the uniform of his service, and flying in a marked military aircraft. Yamamoto was, therefore, a valid military target whose loss would hurt the enemy at a crucial time.

[@OperaceFlakpanzer]

Yes but his loss meant the replacement in command became more desperate and preferred foght to the last man battles rather than doing strategic withdrawals in the face of a superior allied invasion force

[@dragonace119]

@@OperaceFlakpanzer That would've happened regardless if he died or not.

[@gonenccan1661]

I call bullshit on the ethics part.

[@serpent645]

@@gonenccan1661 It's in the history of the event, look it up. That is, unless you're just trying to raise a fuss, in that case, get a life.

[@DeltaElites]

This was a straight up revenge for Pearl Harbor mission.

[@Josh-hr5mc]

Fun fact, Ugaki survived the plane crash. Took almost a year recovering from injuries before being placed over the 3 battleships. Eventually took off in a suicide mission at the end of the war with 3 total in a 2 seater.

[@alzaidi7739]

Imagine if it was Yamamoto that survived instead. Not very thorough.

[@warhawk9566]

@@alzaidi7739 kinda hard to be thorough in aircraft moving hundred of miles an hour while getting shot at. The thing slammed into an island and burst into flames. Plus they didn't declare it a success until it was announced on Japanese channels

[@TremereTT]

@@alzaidi7739 Yamamoto could have somply taken a parachute and it would have been illegal to kill him while helplessly hanging below a parachute.

[@vcv6560]

@@warhawk9566 Yamamoto's body as found had a bullet through his head, died before the crash

[@owo1744]

@@TremereTT Pretty sure Yamamoto wouldn't be protected by those laws.

[@BC-yv8ew]

As I understand it the P-38s flew another mission in the same area the next day so as to make it look like they were random air patrols that happened upon Yamamoto and reduce suspicion from the Japanese that the US had been able to decipher their coded messages.

[@zoso73]

Thank you for sharing.

[@hsmedsvik]

One would think that them only targeting the Betty’s and ignoring the Zero’s would give away the fact that they were aware of a high profile target in the Betty’s and not on a random air patrol?

[@fonesrphunny7242]

​@@hsmedsvik2 Bettys + 6 Zeros That's quiet obviously no "regular" flight

[@Laotzu.Goldbug]

​@@hsmedsviknot necessarily. If you happen to cross an enemy formation of transport planes/bombers escorted by fighters it would make sense to conclude that those transports are more valuable targets even if you didn't know exactly who was on board them. It also does say that several of the P-38s did engage the zeros who effectively scattered and ran away so it wasn't like they completely ignored them

[@michaelhunker6025]

​If anyone wants to read more about this I'd recommend the book Lightning Strikes by Donald Davis. In the book it breaks down events to the run up of the operation and covers a bit of the controversy with who downed Yamamoto.

[@GermanShepherd1983]

@stebo luketich And then there's trump who faked having bone spurs so he didn't have to fight at all. What a coward.

[@chrisg5219]

@stebo luketich yea it was definitely barber. Lanphier was a disgusting person and none of the evidence especially since the war ended supports his claims. Barber merely refuted him rather than trying to be the center of attention. Lanphier was spitting on the efforts of not just Barber but everyone else in the mission by trying to be the hero

[@frankreaderman9990]

read 'Get Yamamoto' by Burke Davis

[@justandy333]

Next time I'm late for work I'll say I'd be a fool to not learn from Yamamotos mistake.

[@MarcosElMalo2]

Yeah, don’t worry too much about punctuality. Yamamoto might have lived if he hit the snooze bar one or two times.

[@chupacabra304]

Manager : *sigh* “alright , that actually makes perfect sense “

[@tommybason6057]

Your chances of coming under P-38 attack are slim *but never zero*

[@AugmentedGravity]

You never know when you're gonna be struck by lightning.

[@canon-de-75]

@@tommybason6057 it doesn’t seem he had enough Zeroes to protect him

[@Big_E_Soul_Fragment]

The P-38 Lightning was such a badass looking plane

[@cwntman]

The Nazi's called it the "Fork-tailed Devil"

[@ChaplainBobWalkerBTh]

the P 38 had 4 fifty caliber machine guns and one 20mm cannon it was a formidable armament.

[@JohnyG29]

@@ChaplainBobWalkerBTh Well that's kind of average for a fighter at that stage of the war. For example the P51 had x6 .50cals and late war Spitfires had x2 20mm cannon and x2 .50 Cal's. P38 did have its firepower highly concentrated in the nose, which was a plus.

[@ForTehNguyen]

@@ChaplainBobWalkerBTh because of the nose mounted guns, and not converging guns like most planes, the P38 had something like 4x the effective range on its guns since its a straight beam of bullets

[@CaesarInVa]

My grandmother helped manufacture P-38's at Lockheed's Burbank plant in California. I think she worked on wiring bundles. Her son (my father), who earned his wings as a Naval aviator in '42 and joined the Lexington's airgroup, always wanted to fly a P-38 but never got the chance. Although he loved his F4U (he dubbed his "Old Hose Nose"), he thought the P-38 the sexiest plane in the air. Dad passed on in '96, so maybe he's flying one now.

[@ZZZ2573]

Two incredible facts: 1. Barber's P-38 was hit 104 times by the escorting Zeroes; 2. Ugaki survived after his bomber crash landed in the ocean

[@crhu319]

That's amazing, Barber was lucky. Really lucky. I'm sure the average number of hits to take down a P-38 is far less.

[@Bartonovich52]

It’s not about averages. It’s about where you hit. Two rounds will take down a P-38 if they hit coolant lines. Hundreds that hit structurally, aerodynamically, or systemically unimportant parts of the aircraft won’t.

[@reitairue2073]

@@Bartonovich52 lmfao tell that to fucking gaijin, american planes feel like they are made of paper in war thunder 🤣

[@billsmith513]

Barber's plane didn't suffer damage. He never mentioned that. 104 hits would take out a P-38, especially since the Zero was armed with two .30 machine guns and two .20 mm cannons. Also, my father flew on the mission and was responsible, along with others, with keeping the Zeros away from the Shooters; he also never mentioned this. The men on the mission all thought that it was Barber who shot down Yamamoto, and regarded Lanphier as a self-aggrandizing liar.

[@danielmocsny5066]

@@crhu319 - The average number matters when you are talking about a large number of shoot-downs - then it becomes an issue of logistics, how many bullets you need to win the war. For individual airplanes you will get a distribution of the number of hits per shootdown. Some airplanes go down from just one bullet (the so-called "golden BB") while other airplanes limp home with hundreds of holes and even rather large parts shot away. Even a bird can knock down an airplane if it hits in exactly the right place.

[@jonny-b4954]

That's some impressive navigation.

[@christosvoskresye]

And *that* is a serious understatement.

[@thesprinklerguy2598]

lmao give a young adult nowadays a compass and map and they couldn't get 5 miles without gps. quite easy to navigate with a compass, the right map and knowing your speed/pace

[@seanmac1793]

@@thesprinklerguy2598 yeah those damn kids these days. Back in my day we walked to school in the snow

[@jimfeldhouse4038]

@@seanmac1793 uphill both ways.

[@seanmac1793]

@@jimfeldhouse4038 yeah uphill both ways 10 miles

[@RamdomView]

In addition, the Japanese did not put the pieces together to conclude that their codes had been broken. The information they should have had were that the P-38s were operating at the edge of their range, they had given out detailed information given of Yam's route. The lack of detection and long range of the mission should have led to the conclusion that the Americans picked a route maximize surprise. These should have led to the futher conclusion that their codes were not as secure as thought.

[@OtherDAS]

My recollection is to help prevent this from being understood the P-38s continued to fly this "patrol route" for sometime afterwards as if it was a regular thing they were doing.

[@danielmocsny5066]

@@OtherDAS - Yes, that's what I read too. American planners wanted the Japanese to have the excuse that the Yamamoto shootdown was just a massive coincidence of running into the Americans on what was to be the first of many regularly scheduled patrol flights to Bougainville. The Japanese were, however, in the habit of changing their naval codes semi-regularly. American code-breakers struggled to keep up, so there were periods when Americans weren't reading the Japanese codes. That's part of why, for example, the USN had those lopsided losses in the Guadalcanal Campaign, and later why Halsey fell for the Japanese decoy force in the Battles of Leyte Gulf. The book "Pacific Thunder" details the back-and-forth with codes and codebreaking. But you are correct that when one side breaks the other side's codes, it faces a dilemma: by acting on the information, the codebreakers risk alerting the enemy to the fact that their codes are broken. So you want to save that ace until you can make it really count. The British faced some terrible choices when they broke the German Enigma codes. They had to let some of their missions go to their doom so as not to let the Germans know their codes were broken. In one case they arranged to have a patrol airplane fly over some Italian ships to make what would appear to be the first report, even though the codebreakers already knew where the ships were. Since it was not unusual to see patrol airplanes, that made a plausible cover.

[@GrowFoodSustainably]

When Yamamoto's schedule and timing for that inspection was sent to the destination, several Japanese officers described sending such sensitive information by radio as 'Insane'. The higher ranking officers who arranged that 'morale boosting' inspection calculating 'how many P-38s were left' were grossly wrong because Japanese pilots chronically lied (exaggerated) to superiors about how many P-38 had been destroyed, thus the commanders thought the U S had nearly run out of fighter planes. I taught my children to tell the truth, based on this incident and others.

[@kurtwpg]

10 months after Midway. Sheer stupidity.

[@davidschlaefer8078]

Japanese intelligence had a really bad record during the war. In addition to mishaps like this, military intelligence routinely overestimated the damage that Japanese forces inflicted on US naval forces, leading Tokyo to think that US forces were nearing an exhaustion point in 1943 when in reality, they were ramping up to unprecedented levels.

[@OhioCoastie94]

Thank you for just getting right into the mission, and avoiding the temptation to give a ten minute preface on the causes of WWII, Japanese militarism, Yamamoto's involvement in the strike on Pearl Harbor, or the Allied codebreaking system.

[@Matthew-ez4ze]

Excellent episode! The grit of these young American pilots is phenomenal. 1943: no radar systems or AWACS flying above. Executed by probability calculations of time, speed and Yamamoto's habitual punctuality. Amazing.

[@cafenightster4548]

It's crazy how much planning and just straight up luck that's involved In these operations. These guys in those planes were doing it old school with just a compass and paper map. Some people can't even find their cars in a parking lot.

[@cipher88101]

LOL, that they, themselves parked no less, very true.

[@bsarachek1568]

Some pilots cant fly planes anymore without GPS. Serious.

[@clarencegreen3071]

When I learned to fly back in 19 oh 66, half the fun of flying cross country was finding the airport you were headed to. But we had a trick: take off and climb while circling your home airport. When you are high enough to see your destination, throttle back and glide to it. We never got lost. We only became "uncertain of position." Ah, the good old days!

[@vincenttouzard3367]

Every new episode is a master piece, time to sit down, close the door, and watch history! great great great...

[@stevexu7692]

Sir we don't need to know you're on the toilet

[@rudert56]

@@stevexu7692 we don’t need to know you’re in the toilet.

[@vincenttouzard3367]

@@stevexu7692 Ahah very funny Steve! But is there something in your mind that brings you automatically from a "closed door" to the toilet?

[@Galm02]

*close the door, sit down, and watch history!

[@walterloehrmann5213]

@@Galm02 watch, smell and hear history and feeling relieved afterward.

[@sbrmilitia]

This is one of my favorite channels. Seeing the animations makes my understanding of these events so much better.

[@ronmani9476]

agreed

[@TheDHM3007]

100%

[@philjamieson5572]

Absolutely. Same for me.

[@nicolebadham8511]

Ikr same

[@michaelmorehouse8872]

My understanding comes from stories told to me, I'm 55 now. Having great grandpa, and grandpa who served in the Pacific theatre, and Germany... Really puts WWII into perspective.

[@cybervigilante]

Operations usually have some silly name like Operation Sandlot. Operation Vengeance didn't fool around.

[@willbxtn]

Overlord, Neptune, Anvil and Mincemeat all have nice rings to them, given their subject (and all relate to the liberation of France).

[@WannabeWRX]

Operation We're Gonna Kill Him might have been a little too on the nose.

[@TheRoleplayer40k]

Generally you choose random names for operations so that if the name leaks it doesn't reveal the intent behind the operaton to the enemy by name alone. Coolness doesn't really matter

[@SnowbordrWRX]

Operation Sandlot would not be a silly name. Then Yamamoto could have said "You're killin' me Smalls!" as his plane was going down

[@Senor0Droolcup]

I had completely forgot that the P 38’s had to fly this mission at low level to avoid radar. As a real world private pilot that is incredible to me it would be physically and mentally exhausting to fly low level over the wave tops for such a long distance. Really incredible

[@sugarflame1833]

Especially with boiling heat in the cockpit

[@benjaminbuchanan7151]

They also didn’t have noise canceling headsets and I doubt they had a easy way to tune both engines in sync. The loud, constant oscillating noise may have been almost as exhausting.

[@douglasdavis8395]

@@benjaminbuchanan7151 - A lá Doolittle's Raiders.

[@robertmandain5791]

No they didn't fly at low level altitude, that a myth. However they did change their flight altitudes and their course to not be spotted. Furthermore a low altitude plane is easily spotted and can be damaged, and they dont gain much of accuracy at low level. Low flight altitude is also not common. Bombing campaign by B-29, and B-52 and A-6 and all other were at high or medium flight altitude, never low. You comment is as false as the ottoman propaganda

[@mattrowland473]

The equatorial heat in the planes was incredible, the pilots stripped down to skin to cope with it. The p-38 design environment was for operations above 20,000 ft. strange but true

[@danielmocsny5066]

You fight the war with the army you have, not with the army you wish you had. (Or in this case with the airplanes you have.) At least on the fight home I hope they were able to climb to a comfortable altitude.

[@kurtwpg]

Makes perfect sense. How often are they going to be below 5000.

[@shootfirst2097]

7:12 No, Ugaki's plane DID NOT "explode and disintegrate." It landed roughly on the water. That's how Ugaki, a staff member and one of the pilots survived. Updated: SOME people claim that Ugaki was one of the pilots... NO... there were TWO regular Army Japanese pilots flying that G4M Betty

[@annalorree]

Shortly before he died, I had the honor of meeting Lieutenant Lawrence Graebner, a pilot in the overwatch group in Operation Vengeance. We talked briefly about that mission, and about the times he was shot down during the Pacific War (once at IWork Jima, I don’t recall the location of the other time). He was a college professor, a realtor, a church elder, a husband, and a father.

[@ptilrem]

I would love to se an episode of the Heavy Water raid at Rjukan in 1943 with Operation Grouse, the failure of Operation Freshman, leading to the success with Operation Gunnerside. And Maybe later, a short episode of the sinking of Blücher.

[@MrPh30]

Look up the movie " Kampen om Tungtvannet" ,most of the Linge guys play themself there, and Ray Mears serie also about Vemork , some of the Linge guys who participated there passed on shortly after series premiered. If you read Helge Ingstad " Trapper Life" you get their survival bible which made the mission succeed .

[@ptilrem]

@@MrPh30 Så serien i påsken.

[@richardw2566]

Superbly researched and animated as usual. Well done sir. You might have mentioned Charles Lindbergh work with the P38 crews on running the Allison engines lean of peak that increased their range significantly and made this mission possible. I look forward to your next video.

[@napoleonibonaparte7198]

Which is why a wizard arrives precisely when he means to.

[@bobbybates2614]

Gandalf lord of the rings

[@700gsteak]

I once used this line when I was late to a date. Her reply was that she was low key offended. lmao

[@ringogringo814]

Lindbergh helped plan that mission by figuring out the prop, and manifold pressure settings to extend the range of the P-38. It said that he flew a P-38 in a combat Mission as a civilian also.

[@paulhughes5422]

Lindbergh the nazi sympathizer?

[@ringogringo814]

@@paulhughes5422 you've got to be stupid actually printing that. Lindbergh was FDR's Aviation spy, who also ramroded the mission to kill General Yamamoto. He shot down two Japanese planes as a civilian. You better study American history.

[@Kicker1981]

I'm stationed at McGuire AFB. The P-38 Thomas McGuire flew in WWII (Pudgy) is a static display in the main circle. I was surprised at how small that aircraft is. Very cool to see the actual aircraft up close :)

[@MacMcNurgle]

I have heard that the P-38 had marked performance increases from time spent in-theater by Charles Lindbergh. This is a great channel. Thanks. Not enough breakdowns on the air war in the Pacific Theater. The B-25 raids on Papua New Guinea, just barely making it over the Owen-Stanleys. The Beaufighter work. You could spend a large amount of time on Henderson Field all by itself. Such as the time a pilot landed his damaged plane, jumped out and was given a gun to defend from the Japanese attack under way. Then he found wreckage that allowed him to repair his fighter and he then flew off to land on his carrier. War is Terrible. People can do incredible things.

[@danielmocsny5066]

Yes, the Lindbergh story was on another program: Battle Stations: P38 Lockheed Lightning (War History Documentary), available on KZbin.

[@marksummers463]

Yeah L was the guy who came up with a way to lean the fuel mixture to greatly increase their range without blowing up the engines.

[@rolinthor]

I think he basically doubled their range. Crazy!

[@chloehennessey6813]

I love the Lightning. So many folks talk about the P-51D but the Lightning doesn’t get brought up much. It hit like a sledge hammer and had the speed and maneuvering of a ballet dancer. Interestingly it did have some teething problems at the beginning of its life. Thanks to some fixes on its rudder they went away. Diving too fast would cause problems like compressibility.

[@CountryWolf_TX]

Looking forward to it. Hell my 4 yo daughter loves the P-38

[@Matt-uk7zq]

Raised right

[@gompye1834]

P-38 is really cool

[@jasskeeper8152]

What an awesome kidd you have there

[@jeffreymcfadden9403]

Here is a bit of history for you. My cousin was Charles Earnhart. He flew P-38s in north Africa. Jimmy Doolittle awarded him the DFC. He had 7 kills before finally being shot down and captured by the Germans. tighar.org/Projects/P38/elliott.htm Here is an internet article that references Charles. Under "last mission." Charles and myself are related to the Earnhart race car driving family. Charles was murdered in his pharmacy by druggies in Ohio in 1974.

[@Connection-Lost]

@@jasskeeper8152 Kids try to please their parents by liking what they like. You clearly don't know much.

[@krisw7625]

My grandfather was at Pearl Harbor and he was part of this mission. He had some pretty amazing stories. Especially when we went back to Pearl and we walked around to all the places he went at different times that morning.

[@rolinthor]

My grandfather was in the Navy codebreaking unit that cracked this message. His unit got a commendation for it, which he couldn’t even talk about until the 1980s.

[@malickfan7461]

Yamamoto was greatly opposed to the war with the US. He spent a lot of time in America and knew how great our industrial capacity was.

[@weirdshibainu]

Yep. He didn't want any part of it.

[@danielmocsny5066]

Usually when a person "greatly opposes" something they choose not to take part in it. Instead Yamamoto showed about as much real opposition to helping Japan fight its doomed-from-the-start war as Trump showed to the Playboy model and the porn star when he got tired of his third wife.

[@malickfan7461]

@@danielmocsny5066 Bro, he was an admiral in the Japanese navy. Of course he is not going to betray his country just as I would expect an American officer to not betray theirs. He saw that the war was going to happen with or without him, so he had to try and do what he could to help ensure the best outcome.

[@robc4191]

The scary thing is that we have let our industrial capacity diminish so much since then.

[@Outlier999]

@@danielmocsny5066 Biden just hasn’t been caught - yet.

[@alanOHALAN]

As a Chinese I am grateful for the American war effort and sacrifice under the extraordinary leadership of Frankly Roosevelt. This is my favorite operation of the Pacific Theater. Had Roosevelt not being the US president, the world history would have been much different today. I wish there are more Americans like Roosevelt but he is truly one of a kind.

[@ckim6400]

Flying 1000 miles and finding your target is an amazing feat, especially in those day's!

[@northwestprof60]

Well done, nicely illustrated. Many years ago, I was fortunate to have a nice discussion about this mission and other of his missions with Rex Barber in his home near Terrebonne, Oregon. He was a very congenial and humble man, a true hero.

[@wilburshaw9330]

The fact is, Charles Lindbergh worked specifically with this group to extend their mileage. Without his expertise, the p-38 wouldn’t have made it.

[@FLYSUBS89]

Yeah no. That myth was debunked.

[@FLYSUBS89]

@Ferro Equus the claim was he worked “specifically with this group” which is the myth. He was in theatre and he did train pilots how to lean out engines, but one does not equal the other.

[@thehighhegemon2199]

Great video. I love these breakdowns of less prominent engagements. There are so many videos detailing Stalingrad and DDAY, but there are only so many about Operation Vengeance. Keep it up

[@TheOperationsRoom]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@lordbrain8867]

I agree. No disrespect to the men who've fought in the battles, but I've seen a million things about the famous battles of WWII. I want obscure stuff, or just stuff that hasn't been shown on screen. The naval battles this channel has detailed are great.

[@davidadcock8717]

In April, 1988, the Admiral Nimitz Museum in Fredericksburg TX hosted a "Yamamoto Mission Retrospective". Present were all the surviving American pilots from the mission and the sole surviving Japanese fighter pilot. Interesting presentations by all parties. P.S. Everyone in the 339thFS were told that they could not talk/brag about the mission to anyone - and none did for the course of the war!

[@hammerr]

Do you remember anything from the Japanese pilot?

[@W1se0ldg33zer]

The wreckage of Yamamoto's Betty is still there.

[@Michael-hb4wc]

Where? I need to pee.

[@rbvfeehfbudenrj]

@@Michael-hb4wc did you pee

[@Michael-hb4wc]

@@rbvfeehfbudenrj I did, thanks! Down CT-101s throat.

[@austinluepkes5484]

@@Batiatusss sheesh relax

[@envy5480]

I fucking hate the guy but I still have some respect bc of who he was and how he did his job

[@robjcol]

Great to see your channel grow with all your hard work, keep up the brilliant videos man!

[@TheOperationsRoom]

Thanks, will do!

[@bf61marc35]

Yamamoto was personally friendly to the US. I look at it with regret that they went after him, but he was a legit military target and you do what you have to do to win.

[@ryanmarquez9404]

Friendly enough to plan pearl harbor and midway....

[@christosvoskresye]

Agreed. And he was more than merely a legit target; this really was a mission worth all the potential sacrifice, Yamamoto was that important to Japan. But one way or another, Yamamoto was certainly not going to survive the end of the war. He would have been ashamed to have been hanged, and as a Catholic, he would not have committed suicide, so the best outcome for him really was to die in combat.

[@randommadness1021]

He was a master at what he did and needed to be dealt with. Can only imagine how the morale of the Japanese would have been had their emperor been killed.

[@georgebrantley776]

@@ryanmarquez9404 He never wanted to go to war against the USA in the first place, but got overruled. For any officer loyal to his men, it is only natural, then, that he would engage in Pearl Harbor and Midway, rather than resign and let someone else handle it.

[@JohnRodriguesPhotographer]

I agree you could call him The Reluctant Warrior. He felt it was gross error to go to war with the United States. He also advocated against attempting to invade the United States. He said it's something to the effect that you would have every citizen behind every blade it brass shooting at you. This is very paraphrase but the part about the citizen is pretty accurate.

[@gazza2933]

I didn't realise that there was that many aircraft involved in the operation. Fascinating stuff. Thank you

[@-nixwite-]

Your Content is amazing and I love every little second of it. Sometimes I Watch it multiple times because I cant get enough of it. AWESOME VIDEO!!

[@tzebra]

Charles Lindberg should be given props in this, as he personally demonstrated, in combat, how to double the range of the P-38. As a civilian he also shot down a Zero...and was quickly whisked back home

[@rolinthor]

Army people must have crapped their pants to think that they could have lost a civilian national hero in air combat.

[@jmrodas9]

It is a curious thing that one year earlier, at the same date April 18, Doolittle's bombers did the first bombing of Japan, and one year later Yamamoto was killed. Despite the strict Yamamoto's motions were secret, and not to be mentioned in radio, a careless radio operator talked about it in code, which was descifered and that contributed to

[@asian_wehraboo1876]

The one that took out that p38 is a Japanese ace named Shoichi Sugita, the second highest killing ace of the IJN with 80 kills under his belt

[@pinchevulpes]

Frustration kill knowing he had failed his mission while still in the cockpit must be a whole different level of stress though

[@DakkaScrappa]

and let me guess he is killed by a F6F hellcat pilot because this ace used the high climb tactic that were mostly used on wildcats because of their sluggish and weak engine power but since it is a hellcat it surpassed the limits of a wildcat and the ace made a fatal error because it used on a hellcat which has like i said it before exceed the limits of the wildcat didnt stall and got shot and destroyed.

[@LibertyOrBust]

Thank you. I had somehow never read that. I'm the grand nephew of Lt Raymond K Hine.

[@thenumbah1birdman]

@@DakkaScrappa Killed flying the N1K2 "Shiden" (George) off of Japan in 1945. Bounced by US fighter aircraft while taking off.

[@Venganza_]

amazing as always! cant believe the production quality on these

[@TheOperationsRoom]

Glad you like them!

[@ianstradian]

The best quote for Yamamoto “ don’t start no shit and there won’t be no shit”

[@chuckysmaria6466]

You do know he was quite aware of that... Yes he planned the attCk on pearl but the decision to go to war was not his decision. Pearl was a gamble and he knew it, that's why be said he would run wild for 6 month if war is not concluded by then they will not win.

[@ianstradian]

@@chuckysmaria6466 dude, it was a joke... you know Ha Ha Funny...

[@chuckysmaria6466]

@@ianstradian Well that quite should be for Tojo then. That smooth brain and his ilk actually thought they can win it in 3 months.

[@B-A-L]

Oh the good old pre rap and hip hop days when the word shit meant something entirely different!

[@nathanfugate8210]

THANK YOU for acknowledging the consesus (correct) that Rex Barber shot down Yamamoto.

[@hjander]

All of that information in only 8:28 minutes. Extraordinary! As a lawyer, I am conscience of how much more work is required to summarize a set of facts, rather than to babble on ad nauseam. Congratulations!

[@ElsinoreRacer]

Lanphier was a hot dog, at best. Priority ONE on the mission was not to get Yamamoto, but to do nothing while doing so to give away the fact we had broken Japanese codes. On the way back Lanphier, so eager to claim first credit (for an account that didn't add up), gets on the radio and calls, "We GOT HIM!" HUGE security gaff and betrayal of his mission mates, but the whole thing was buried. Until after the war. Long story short: There is Lamphier's version, and then everyone else's including surviving Japanese. Kind of a skank, he was.

[@twells138]

Agreed ... the whole mission put the code breaking at risk.

[@hscollier]

He was a glory hog POS. He didn’t deserve 1/2 credit with Barber.

[@garyquan5575]

And a hot dog with a big ego. Apparently, he spent the rest of his life claiming HE shot down Yamamoto and I read somewhere that he was introduced ''more than a few times'' as the pilot who ''nailed'' Yamamoto. Even Japanese Zero pilot Kenji Yamagiya (the only Yamamoto escort pilot to survive the war) disagreed with Lanphier's assessment. From all the additional records and information that has emerged over the years, it now appears that Rex Barber should get the SOLE credit for downing Yamamoto's aircraft. I don't remember the source (Air Force Review(?)/whatever) but after Lanphier's death in November 1987, the American Association of Fighter Pilots/Aces(?) reviewed Lanphier's aerial victories in the Pacific during the war. His victory total was REDUCED from 5 to 4 1/2 so he was no longer even considered an ace (good thing he wasn't still alive to witness that).🤔🤔🤔

[@sarumace4851]

Another interesting video on a subject I have little knowledge of. Great narrative and presentation which effectively puts the key facts into an informative 8 minute video. Well done!

[@captainnemo7708]

Though it is absolutely understandable that the Americans wanted revenge for Pearl, I would love to have seen what post-war memoirs and talk could have come from Yamamoto if he survived the war - considering his stance on war with the US and his approach on the tactical level to the Pacific war. Hindsight is 20/20 i guess

[@electrolytics]

I hear ya. But you know the Japanese. They're not the world's biggest talkers. Especially concerning matters like war or defeat.

[@dannytallmage2971]

@@electrolyticsI mean the other admiral in the second plane that survived his crash left a ten volume journal of the war. Hardly matters though Yamamoto would have had to be executed the justify the blood bath unleashed on German officials at Nuremberg.

[@joeschenk8400]

I have enjoyed every one of your postings....thank you and keep up the great work!

[@TheOperationsRoom]

Thanks, will do!

[@philjamieson5572]

An excellent documentary. Thanks for this. What a well planned operation. Brave US pilots. Superb aircraft, those P38s.

[@rubbersidedown5620]

Excellent job! Perfect length ensured I watched until the end which as far as I understand it is the best thing someone can do for a channel even moreso than liking/commenting/subscribing etc.

[@TheOperationsRoom]

Glad it was helpful!

[@UJustMadeMeLOL]

Great video!! Your channel should definitely keep growing steadily with content like this! Nice job on the graphics/explanations to put things into perspective.

[@TheOperationsRoom]

Much appreciated!

[@Jannisido]

The only channel where i can like a video before i even watch it

[@steveclapper5424]

Thank you for all the little details that make this more epic than it seemed before.

[@TheOperationsRoom]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@johngalt3568]

This mission is one of my favorite historical vignettes from WWII. In my opinion there are significant parallels between this mission and Operation Neptune Spear, 2 May 2011.

[@Colin-kh6kp]

Damn, 18 Lightnings vs 6 Zeros... Definitely might want a few more escorts next time you transport an admiral.

[@ladaas9528]

This, as well as many other battle reports that I have seen hit home how massive an advantage code breaking afforded in both theaters of war. While technology, skill, and leadership all were highly important, without code breaking there wouldn't have even been an opportunity to attempt operations like this.

[@johnslaughter5475]

Another channel, that I just watched a few minutes ago, said a medical exam of Yamamoto found he had been hit twice by .50 ca. One went in through his shoulder and came out near his eye. That was the one that killed him. That video also reported that Yamamoto was still strapped in his seat, which had been thrown clear from the plane. He was sitting down, looking down as if thinking, with one hand on his Katana.

[@Littlebudda12321]

And yet again, a magnificant video! Thumbs up my dear Sir!

[@weinerschnitzelrock1]

A P-38 pilot can fire all four heavy machine guns and the 20 mm cannon at once. But, there is a problem. He is blinded by muzzle flash. However, the effective range is long. The bullets and canon go straight out. Barber said he fired a short burst at long range. To test his guns. He was surprised. This test burst hit Yamamoto's Betty at long range.

[@XxBloggs]

Unforgivable that such an important mission wasn’t immediately debriefed.

[@asafoster7954]

It was the 40s lol. I read once that carrier pilots would take a shot, first thing after landing a sortie 👌

[@fordhamdonnington2738]

These are giants we are talking about. Nothing unforgivable about preserving the four freedoms.

[@SpartacusColo]

On one hand, the only man the pilots would have loved better to have slain was Tojo, so it was party-time. They had only lost one fighter in the mission to kill Japan's top commander: even more reason to celebrate. On the other hand, the pilots were, most likely, completely and utterly exhausted once they had landed.

[@pinchamu8687]

@@fordhamdonnington2738 the west is a giant shopping mall that claims it has no heritage, that serves a hostile elite of kosher bankers, and that has endorsed global authoritarian dystopia just as much as anyone else. But hey, muh "we preserved muh freedoms" cuz 1940's propaganda said we did.

[@tomm1109]

Kinda sad about the pissing contest about who got the kill. They all had jobs to do and did them, so they all took part.

[@Madenity]

Yamamoto knew he was gonna die in the mission so he named the operation operation I-go lol

[@AndrewGuns]

I-Go to bougainville

[@copper_himselfgaming619]

Lmao dude that's fcked up

[@momchilandonov]

Epic and underrated comment! :D

[@sethzielasko6898]

The Operations Room that was fantastic! Very informative.

[@fastfreddy19641]

Love the way the description of battles is told through voice and animation. 👍

[@samarmstrong9227]

Buddy hine went is from my hometown. Wild to have someone who participated in such an impactful Mission come from my small town

[@JacksonDavis]

Yo

[@CountryWolf_TX]

Awesome. Thank the lawdy for reruns

[@raygamino6687]

My grandpa told he witnessed dog fights between Japanese zeroes and P-38 lightning’s over the Aleutian Islands in 1942.

[@kimmer6]

My dad served on an US Navy Attack Transport in the Aleutian invasions. His battle station was as a loader on an Oerlikon 20mm anti aircraft gun. His ship was strafed and a Japanese shell exploded in his gun tub taking off the gunner's head. My dad was bent over picking up another 60 round ammo drum. He was peppered with steel shrapnel and he thought all of the blood was his. It got him in the right arm and both legs. His knee always bothered him and he was always massaging it without thinking. The funny part about it was that he could predict rain when his knee stated hurting right up until he died. I have his Purple Heart on my wall from that incident.

[@Ender-Corbin]

My grandfather was in the 5th UAAF in the Aleutians. Never knew him as he died before I was born.

[@BTHobbies]

I love all the little details about the individuals involved in the actions depicted in these videos. I knew *of* this raid, but I never had a sense of the challenges of navigation, timing, and focus that went into executing it. Goof stuff!

[@TheOperationsRoom]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@pauld6967]

I still have on my bookshelf a book I got in the 1970's about the P-38 Lightning. This mission is detailed in that book and while descriptions and still photos are good to have, it is nice to see it animated. Thank you.

[@pekkakoski6595]

A great one again. Thank you!

[@TheOperationsRoom]

Thanks again!

[@adamlury6443]

commenting to help algorithm as he told me to

[@TheOperationsRoom]

thanks!

[@randommadness1021]

The old "viewers of this channel also viewed this" recommendations we all get.

[@spaceghost786]

👍

[@amyclas]

Hi algorithm!

[@kennyj4366]

What a wonderful way to teach history. Always enjoy your content. Plus, I never realized that the mission was pay back for Pearl.

[@B-A-L]

And the Doolittle raid, Hiroshima, Nagasaki etc. American revenge makes the Roman Empire look tame!

[@marcolian]

As always, excellent work! Thank you for the time and effort you put into each video.

[@TheOperationsRoom]

Thank you very much!

[@FlexBeanbag]

kzbin.infoBmc9NFfhx74?feature=share

[@TristanVash38]

I come to watch these videos for the history lessons, the ambience of his speaking voice, synchronousity with the background music at a perfect volume level.

[@jennaa7751]

Interesting video. Thanks The Operations Room!

[@TheOperationsRoom]

Thanks mum xx

[@samschellhase8831]

such an unceremonious end for Yamamoto I also can't imagine the terror of seeing the rest of your group fly on and then having a lone enemy plane focus you from behind. Hines' death is really depressing to me

[@CoAndCoLaptopAccount]

Fantastic video as always!

[@TheOperationsRoom]

Thanks again!

[@alanOHALAN]

This is an amazing operation. Everything had to work out like clock-work. I am surprised there is not a Hollywood movie of this operation.

[@Macto5]

This channel is so good! I can't get enough...

[@billace90]

Yes Admiral, the sleeping giant woke up....

[@BigStrap]

Just know that's not a real Yamamoto quote, it's from Tora Tora Tora 😉

[@Questknight12]

And he raged.

[@model-man7802]

They said he was found by the natives dead in his seat still strapped in and killed by a head shot from the p38.

[@ForTehNguyen]

he was still clutching his katana too

[@habe1717]

@@ForTehNguyen I find it very hard to believe that a person that took a .50cal or 20mm round to the head and then crashed managed to hold on to their sword like a badass from a story.

[@johnharris6655]

If you want to see a good portrayal of Yamamoto, watch "The Gallant Hours "Where Jimmy Cagney plays Admiral Halsey. There is almost as much time spent on Yamamoto as Halsey.

[@6h471]

That's a good movie, Cagney's best IMO. Taking and holding Guadalcanal was a tough job, and the movie explains it well.

[@ttrestle]

I always get so excited when operations room posts a new video!

[@TheOperationsRoom]

More to come!

[@mljesus7743]

I went to the Mcarther Museum in Brisbane recently and I got to see the cockpit steering mount (wheel) of Yamamoto’s G4 m1 Betty. Very cool to have it right in front of me, no idea how they got it though.

[@drgonzo305]

This is probably one of the most important missions in the Pacific, the rest of the war would have probably been alot harder if Yamamoto's sneaky ass was directing the Japanese side. The fact that he got hit in a sneak attack is just the best, I hope he realized the irony as his Betty plummeted down in flames. "Never wake a sleeping dragon" ~Confucius

[@Crashed131963]

No, here was the hard math of it all www.combinedfleet.com/economic.htm 4 Japans were not beating the US. Even if the US lost at Midway it did not matter. The war was lost when Japan sail to Pearl Harbour.

[@patricktruchon9153]

The war in the Pacific was lost when the Carriers were not at Pearl during the sneak attack. That was so important! The West Coast would have been in in far more danger if the Carriers were in port. . Makes one wonder! .

[@119jle]

A sleeping giant, not dragon. And that’s Chinese not Japanese. Nice try.

[@perotekku]

P-38 has been my favourite plane since forever. Even before I saw one in person at the Smithsonian, not sure why, but something about it just speaks to me.

[@takebetterphotos2927]

Because it's awesome. One of the best of the war.

[@josiahzabel8596]

they're striking, they stand out A LOT, in a way that makes them look REALLY MEAN

[@valuedhumanoid6574]

After watching Isoroku Yamamoto The Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet, which is the Japanese view on Pearl Harbor and WW2, there's a scene that shows what his death probably looked like in real life. Very realistic.

[@flyingcod14]

Another great video. Harley Earl saw a test flight of the P-38 and liked the twin rear fins, so he decided to put them on a Cadillac. Hence why we got tail fins on cars.

[@TheOperationsRoom]

Very cool!

[@jackied.v.carson6059]

Incredible work as always! Thank you for this contribution

[@TheOperationsRoom]

Our pleasure!

[@NSResponder]

The mission was made possible by Charles Lindberg's discovery of the range-extending method that we know today as "running lean of peak".

[@ramal5708]

Lindbergh wasn't even officially in service with the USAAF but as a private contractor or worker and he probably managed to combat few Japanese aircraft

[@jmace5964]

Iv read he shot one down then got sent home

[@Bartonovich52]

Not running LOP. You can’t on a P-38. Carb and no multiple EGT probes. Physically impossible to run LOP. Even on a fuel injected engine it would have to have matched injectors unless it was direct injection.. which in USAAF service was only the larger radials like the R-3350 and R-4360. It was probably just ROP with some cylinders running peak and some LOP rather than Auto Rich like most of them ran before. It was a liquid cooled engine.. so no sodium exhaust valves to worry about. They also had service lives of about 200 hours before being shot down, damaged by enemy fire, damaged in landing accidents, or being worn out from so much abuse. And if you run LOP on your aircraft, it’s a false economy. You’ll never amortize your engine analyzer in fuel savings because of the extra maintenance of chasing and replacing errant probes.... and the amount of jugs you will change because the readings aren’t exactly matched which on a single point you’d never know and it would continue along happily to TBO.... and you go slower and airframe time (overhaul reserves, maintenance reserves, oil, etc) always costs more than fuel.

[@sigmaforge5088]

@@Bartonovich52 extending range on combat aircraft was a operational mandate and had nothing to do with savings. And the combination of Lindbergs settings did cause it to run lean, which is why everyone warned they would overheat. But after 2 weeks of Lindbergs settings and a engine breakdown there was no damage.