22. Clockwork Precision
Operation Vengeance went like clockwork. The P-38 Lightnings skimmed the ocean at 50 feet to avoid detection – a need that also necessitated swinging wide of the islands between Guadalcanal and Bougainville and the watchers therein. The Lightings arrived at the planned interception point within one minute of Yamamoto. The American fighters, armed with 20mm cannon and .50 caliber machine guns, attacked. While a kill team of four P-38s fell upon the two medium bombers carrying the admiral and his staff, the remaining Lightnings took on the escorting Zeros and flew cover to fend off any fighters scrambled from local airfields.
Within minutes, both Japanese bombers were sent spiraling in flames to crash into the jungle below, with no survivors. The P-38s then broke off contact. Avoiding detection no longer a necessity, they flew a 400-mile straight line flight back to Guadalcanal, which they reached after completing a 1000 miles long mission. The Japanese located Yamamoto’s crashed bomber the following day, and his corpse was recovered from the wreckage.
