He commanded the fleet from until his death in , overseeing the start of the Pacific War in and Japan's initial successes and defeats before his plane was shot down by U.
His experiences convinced him that naval power depended on access to oil and industrial capacity, and that Japan thus had little hope to defeat the U. He was one of the first naval leaders to conclude that naval aviation and aircraft carriers would play a decisive role in any future conflict. In , Yamamoto was appointed navy vice minister, and opposed Japan's alliance with Germany in the Tripartite Pact of In , he was appointed commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet, and was tasked with creating a strategy for war with the U.
In the early months of the war, the Japanese fleet scored a series of decisive naval victories. These gains were halted at the Battle of Midway in June , in which four Japanese carriers were sunk.
Yamamoto committed to the defense of the Solomon Islands in the Guadalcanal campaign , but was unable to prevent their capture. In April , Yamamoto was killed after American code breakers intercepted his flight plans, enabling the United States Army Air Forces to shoot down his aircraft. In , Isoroku was adopted into the Yamamoto family another family of former Nagaoka samurai and took the Yamamoto name.
It was a common practice for samurai families lacking sons to adopt suitable young men in this fashion to carry on the family name, the rank and the income that went with it. Isoroku married Reiko Mihashi in ; they had two sons and two daughters. Yamamoto graduated from the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy in , ranking 11th in his class. He was wounded at the Battle of Tsushima , losing his index and middle fingers on his left hand, as the cruiser was hit repeatedly by the Russian battle line.
