Isoroku Yamamoto

Isoroku Yamamoto (?? ??? Yamamoto Isoroku, April 4, 1884 – April 18, 1943) was the commander of the Japanese Navy for the first four years of World War II. He is generally regarded to be Japan's greatest naval strategist of the war, and among the greatest naval strategists in history.

The Battle of Midway, June 1942

Yamamoto then decided on an ambitious plan to defeat the American Pacific Fleet in a decisive battle. He chose the atoll of Midway Island as a strategic target that if the Japanese occupied it would draw out the American carriers. Yamamoto intended to draw the Americans into an ambush to destroy their carriers. Yamamoto believed that if Japan did not soon win a decisive battle, defeat was simply a matter of time.

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Yamamoto had at his disposal a massive fleet of some 250 ships, including eight carriers. Yamamoto's strategy was a very complex series of feints and diversionary attacks to trap the Americans. Unfortunately for the Japanese the Americans were well aware of the plan. Decoded intercepts of communications meant that by the end of May, the United States knew the date and place of the operation, as well as the composition of the Japanese forces.

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Compounding this there was poor communication on the Japanese side, and the commanders were inadequately prepared; in addition, the Japanese tactical disposition, dictated by outmoded doctrine which still held battleships to be the key units, was flawed. Viewing the aircraft carriers in part as protection for the battleships, they were moved forward in advance of the battleship units, which were held well back, unlike later United States doctrine, which placed battleships around the aircraft carriers—the true key units—as protection for them against attacks by ships and aircraft.

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The Battle of Midway, from June 4 to 6, 1942, was a disaster for the Japanese. They lost four carriers to the American loss of one, and 3,500 men to only around 300 American dead. The USN forces were lucky, catching the Japanese carriers just as they were rearming their aircraft for a strike against the US carriers, a factor which played a major role in the magnitude of the American victory. Some observers state that the loss of experienced aircraft pilots was more a significant loss to the Japanese forces than was the ships.

Related Topics:
Battle of Midway - June 4

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