Admiral Yamamoto was Japan’s mastermind behind Pearl Harbor, and he was a top target in the war that followed. In 1943, US codebreakers cracked the secret of Yamamoto’s flightplan for a forthcoming visit to Rabaul. Nevertheless after Admiral Yamamoto was shot down Japan didn’t suspect their radio codes were compromised.
Why?
‘The US used a cover story that Yamamoto’s plane had been spotted by Australian coast watchers. They also after the assassination sent P-38’s in the same area to give the impression that it was a regular route for the USAAF,’ says Brent Cooper, an aviation expert, on Quora.
‘Yamamoto, then 59, was one of the most hated men in America. Not only had he planned the attack on Pearl Harbor; almost as galling, he had reportedly bragged that he was “looking forward to dictating peace to the United States in the White House.” In reality, he had never made this boast. It was a product of Japanese propaganda, but Americans took it as the gospel truth.
