American codebreakers read a Japanese radio signal in April 1943 and, five days later, sixteen P-38 Lightnings met Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto's bomber over Bougainville. Two bombers, six Zeros, one admiral. The Imperial Japanese Navy would never again have a Yamamoto.
This documentary follows the ambush from its origin in the basement of Station HYPO at Pearl Harbor to the coast of Bougainville. It covers the JN-25 naval code, Joseph Rochefort, Edwin Layton and Admiral Nimitz's decision, Operation Vengeance, the P-38G Lightnings of the 339th Fighter Squadron flying from Henderson Field, Major John Mitchell's navigation, and the Mitsubishi G4M bombers carrying Yamamoto and Vice Admiral Ugaki. It runs from Pearl Harbor and Midway through Guadalcanal and Operation I-Go to the Battle of the Philippine Sea, and it names the four factors that closed the trap.
Every date, aircraft designation, and unit in this film is drawn from after-action reports, squadron records, and the histories of the Pacific codebreaking effort. Where accounts disagree, including the long dispute over who fired the fatal burst, the script says so.
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