The killer section moved toward the bombers.
Japanese pilots spotted the threat.
Surprise was ending.
The Zeros Had One Immediate Advantage
They were already escorting the bombers and were flying near friendly territory.
They did not need to conserve fuel for a journey back to Guadalcanal.
They knew their responsibility.
Protect the senior officers.
The Zero remained an extremely dangerous fighter in skilled hands.
It was agile.
Its low-speed maneuverability could be excellent.
Japanese naval aviators had built formidable reputations earlier in the war.
The P-38 pilots did not want to become trapped in slow turning fights if they could avoid it.
The Lightning possessed advantages of its own.
Speed.
Power.
High-altitude performance.
Concentrated armament.
The Americans needed to use those strengths while remembering the only objective that mattered.
The bombers.
This was not a fighter sweep.
Every minute spent chasing a Zero gave Yamamoto more time to reach the airfield.
The Japanese Bombers Began Descending
The flight was nearing its destination.
That made the American timing even more critical.
If the G4Ms reached the runway area, the P-38s would face ground defenses and a rapidly changing situation.
They needed to attack now.
The killer fighters separated toward the bombers.
One of the American pilots most closely associated with what happened next was First Lieutenant Rex Barber.
Another was Captain Thomas Lanphier Jr.
Their later claims over who exactly shot down Yamamoto's bomber became controversial for decades.
That dispute is important historically because wartime air combat rarely produces the perfect clarity later storytelling wants.
Two pilots can fire at the same aircraft.
Visibility can be limited.
Targets maneuver through jungle-covered terrain.
A pilot may believe he saw one aircraft crash when another observer interprets it differently.
Official credit can be assigned before all evidence is available.
The central outcome is undisputed.
Yamamoto's bomber was shot down.
Who deserved exclusive credit became far less simple.
Barber Moved Toward the Bombers
The Japanese formation reacted.
Zeros turned toward the attackers.
The P-38s accelerated.
The combat became compressed immediately.
There was no time for a long aerial duel.
Barber found himself pursuing one of the G4Ms at low altitude.
Bougainville's dense jungle rose below.
The Japanese bomber attempted to escape.
The Lightning's nose guns gave Barber concentrated fire.
He closed.
Fired.
The engagement lasted moments.
Rounds struck the bomber.
A large twin-engine aircraft at low altitude has little room to recover once critically damaged.
The G4M descended toward the jungle.
The aircraft carrying Yamamoto crashed on Bougainville.
There were no survivors aboard that bomber.
Japan's Combined Fleet commander was dead.
The Americans did not know with complete certainty yet.
They only knew a target aircraft had gone down.
The Second Bomber Was Also Attacked
Yamamoto was traveling with other senior personnel.
The second G4M carried members of his staff, including Vice Admiral Matome Ugaki.
It was attacked as well and came down near the coast or water.
Ugaki survived.
This mattered later because Japanese survivors could reconstruct what had happened.
From the American perspective during combat, however, the second bomber was simply another priority target.
The mission called for ensuring the admiral did not escape because the attackers had guessed wrong about which aircraft contained him.
Both had to be engaged.
The P-38 pilots pressed their attacks despite the Zero escorts.
The combat expanded across low altitude near the island.
The Fight With the Zeros Became Dangerous Immediately
The Americans had achieved the interception, but surviving it remained uncertain.
Japanese escorts pursued.
P-38 pilots used speed and power to avoid becoming trapped in turning engagements.
One American fighter was lost during the mission.
Lieutenant Raymond Hine did not return.
His disappearance is sometimes overshadowed because the mission achieved its extraordinary objective.
It should not be.
Operation Vengeance was not costless.
For Hine's family, the destruction of Yamamoto's bomber did not bring him home.
Every celebrated mission contains somebody for whom the outcome remains personal rather than strategic.
The surviving American pilots still had a long journey ahead.
They had expended fuel during combat.
Some had dropped external tanks.
Hundreds of miles of ocean separated them from Guadalcanal.
The mission could still claim more of them.
The Americans Did Not Circle to Confirm Yamamoto's Death
That would have been reckless.
The Japanese had fighters nearby.
More aircraft could launch.
Fuel was limited.
The mission objective was to intercept the flight, not occupy the sky over Bougainville.
Once the bombers had been hit, the P-38s needed to escape.
This created uncertainty.
Had Yamamoto really been aboard the crashed aircraft?
Had he survived the crash?
Had the Americans attacked the correct flight?
Intelligence could answer those questions later.
Survival came first.
The Lightnings turned toward the long route home.
The Return Flight Was Another Navigation and Fuel Test
Combat destroys careful fuel planning.
Pilots use high power.
Climb.
Dive.
Accelerate.
Turn.
External tanks may be dropped before the ideal moment.
An engine operating harder burns fuel faster.
The P-38 pilots now had to calculate whether their remaining fuel could carry them back.
The same Pacific that had hidden their approach now became the obstacle separating them from safety.
There was no triumphant shortcut.
They had to cross it again.
Engine reliability mattered.
Navigation mattered.
Weather mattered.
The pilot's ability to resist unnecessary throttle movement mattered.
They had completed one of the most remarkable fighter interceptions of the war.
A dry fuel tank fifty miles from Guadalcanal could still kill them.
The Pilots Could Not Celebrate Yet
This is true of nearly every long-range mission.
The dramatic moment happens over the target.
The dangerous work continues afterward.
Cockpits that had been full of adrenaline became quiet again.
Pilots checked gauges.
Counted aircraft.
Noticed who was missing.
Hine was not with them.