After the Battle of the Bismark Sea in New-Guinea Yamamoto wants to see for himself how things are going on the front and so he fly there with 300 other planes (from the bridges of the 6 carriers parked at Truk). These new planes take part with the 11th japanese air fleet in the attack on Guadalcanal April 8th and on Port Moresby April 14th. But the japanese pilots, young and without experience, reported much more inflicted losses than really made: they told Yamamoto that one cruiser, 2 destroyers, 25 transports and 150 aircrafts had been destroyed. In truth only 25 aircrafts, one tanker, 2 transports, one escort and one destroyer had been damaged. In the battles the Japaneses had lost 40 airplanes against only the 25 lost by the Americains, but Yamamoto didn't knew that otherwise he would have discovered that his Zeros are no more a match against the new americain Hellcats.
In April the americain spies intercept a radio-telegram which said that the Combined Fleet commander was going from Rabaul to Buin (South-East of Bougainville) on the morning of April 18th, he would take off at 8h00. Amiral Halsey is ordered to intercept the commander. Thus 18 Lockheed P-38 Lightning (bimotor fighter for long range action) take off from Henderson Field with external tanks. The squadron spots a group of planes at 9h00 over Kahili and captain Lamphey shoot down the Betty bomber aboard which Yamamoto was. Yamamoto dies from bullet wounds. The plane of counter-admiral Ugaki is also shot down but the officer survive.
This action was not chivalrous but in the mind of many the Americans had just get the revenge for Pearl Harbor where the Japaneses had been treacherous. Admiral Mineichi Koga succeeded to Yamamoto at Truk.
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