ISR Tour: P-38

DAYTON, OHIO, UNITED STATES

05.23.2013

Audio by NMUSAF PA 

National Museum of the U.S. Air Force

The P-38 played a critical role in applying the decisions of national policy makers after intelligence provided critical information. On 14 April 1943, the U.S. naval intelligence effort, code-named “Magic,” intercepted and decrypted a message containing specific details regarding an upcoming inspection tour by Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, the commander of Japan’s Combined Fleet. The SIGINT collection provided arrival and departure times and locations, as well as the number and types of planes that would transport and accompany him on the journey. The message gave Yamamoto’s 18 April flight information from Rabaul to Ballale Airfield on an island near Bougainville in the Solomon Islands. When presented with the intelligence, President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox to “Get Yamamoto.” Knox instructed Admiral Chester W. Nimitz of Roosevelt’s wishes. Admiral Nimitz then authorized a mission on 18 April to intercept Yamamoto’s flight and shoot it down. Lockheed P-38 Lightnings from the 339th Fighter Squadron found Yamamoto and killed him as a result of the intelligence data that enabled policy makers to direct the attack.

• Date Taken: 05.23.2013
• Date Posted: 07.30.2015 11:26
• Category: Recording
• Audio ID: 41590
• Filename: 1507/DOD_102629167.mp3
• Length: 00:01:47
• Album: ISR Tour
• Track #: 18
• Location: DAYTON, OHIO, US