Isoroku Yamamoto

Sailor / Military Leader / World War II Figure

Born: 4 August 1884
Died: 18 April 1943 (shot down by U.S. forces)
Birthplace: Nagaoka, Japan
Best known as: Japanese admiral who planned the attack on Pearl Harbor

Name at birth: Isoroku Sadayoshi

Isoroku Yamamoto studied at Harvard from 1919 to 1921, and returned to the United States in 1925 on a diplomatic mission. He didn't want to go to war with the United States, but when called upon by his country Yamamoto planned the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor and then led the Japanese navy to its early victories in World War II. When the U.S. decoded a Japanese message in 1943 that included Admiral Yamamoto's itinerary, they ambushed his plane in the south Pacific and killed him.

Extra credit: Extra credit: Yamamoto lost two fingers on his left hand during the Battle of Tsushima in 1905.

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