#32, P-38 Lightning: Killed Admiral Yamamoto
On April 18, 1943, sixteen P-38 Lightnings flew a 435-mile intercept mission over the Solomon Islands to shoot down the transport carrying Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, the architect of the Pearl Harbor attack. It was the longest fighter intercept mission of the war and one of the most precisely planned aerial assassinations in military history. The P-38 was the only American fighter with the range to reach the target, and its twin-engine reliability made the over-water mission feasible.
America's two highest-scoring aces, Richard Bong (40 kills) and Thomas McGuire (38 kills), both flew P-38 Lightnings in the Pacific. The aircraft's twin-boom, twin-engine design was unmistakable and highly effective, combining heavy nose-mounted armament with long range and excellent high-altitude performance. The Lightning also served as a photo reconnaissance platform, dive bomber, and night fighter. German pilots called it "der Gabelschwanz-Teufel", the fork-tailed devil. It was one of the most distinctive and versatile American fighters of the war, and its role in the Yamamoto mission alone earns it a place in aviation history.
