T1-323 was the tail number

Tail number

A tail number refers to an identification number painted on an aircraft, frequently on the tail.Tail numbers can represent:* An aircraft registration number * United States military aircraft serials-See also:...

 (T1 = "705 Kokutai") of the plane carrying Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto

Isoroku Yamamoto

was a Japanese Naval Marshal General and the commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet during World War II, a graduate of the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy and a student of Harvard University ....

 on an inspection tour throughout the South Pacific

Oceania

Oceania is a region centered on the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean. Conceptions of what constitutes Oceania range from the coral atolls and volcanic islands of the South Pacific to the entire insular region between Asia and the Americas, including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago...

 when he was shot down and killed

Death of Isoroku Yamamoto

Operation Vengeance was carried out to assassinate Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto on April 18, 1943, during the Solomon Islands campaign in the Pacific Theater of World War II. Isoroku Yamamoto, commander of the Combined Fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy, was killed on Bougainville Island when...

 by American fighter aircraft during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. On 18 April 1943, T1-323, a Mitsubishi G4M

Mitsubishi G4M

The Mitsubishi G4M 一式陸上攻撃機, 一式陸攻 Isshiki rikujō kōgeki ki, Isshikirikkō was the main twin-engine, land-based bomber used by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service in World War II. The Allies gave the G4M the reporting name Betty...

1 (model 11) "Betty" long-range bomber

Bomber

A bomber is a military aircraft designed to attack ground and sea targets, by dropping bombs on them, or – in recent years – by launching cruise missiles at them.-Classifications of bombers:...

, and a sister craft departed from Rabaul

Rabaul

Rabaul is a township in East New Britain province, Papua New Guinea. The town was the provincial capital and most important settlement in the province until it was destroyed in 1994 by falling ash of a volcanic eruption. During the eruption, ash was sent thousands of metres into the air and the...

, were headed to Bougainville

Bougainville Island

Bougainville Island is the main island of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville of Papua New Guinea. This region is also known as Bougainville Province or the North Solomons. The population of the province is 175,160 , which includes the adjacent island of Buka and assorted outlying islands...

 in the Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...

 off New Guinea

New Guinea

New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...

, when a task group of P-38s

P-38 Lightning

The Lockheed P-38 Lightning was a World War II American fighter aircraft built by Lockheed. Developed to a United States Army Air Corps requirement, the P-38 had distinctive twin booms and a single, central nacelle containing the cockpit and armament...

 intercepted and downed the planes over Buin, a large Japanese army base in southern Bougainville.

In addition to Yamamoto, commander of the Japanese Navy

Imperial Japanese Navy

The Imperial Japanese Navy was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1869 until 1947, when it was dissolved following Japan's constitutional renunciation of the use of force as a means of settling international disputes...

, T1-323 carried the following passengers and crew on that day:

• Warrant Officer Takeo Koyani (pilot)
• Commander Ishizaki (Yamamoto's secretary)
• Commander Toibana (senior air staff officer)
• Rear Admiral Kitamura (fleet financial officer)
• Rear Admiral Takata (fleet medical officer)

The wreck of T1-323 remains as a tourist attraction in the Bougainville jungle near Moila Point, a few kilometers off the Panguna-Buin road. Signposts can be found near the village of Aku, 24 km outside Buin. A path to the wreck has been cut through the jungle, an hour's walk from the road. Other artifacts from the crash site, including the outer wing panel and the Admiral's seat, reside at the Isoroku Yamamoto Memorial Hall & Museum in Nagaoka

Nagaoka, Niigata

is a city located in the central part of Niigata Prefecture, Japan. It is the second largest city in the prefecture, behind the capital city of Niigata...

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

.

See also

• Operation Vengeance, the secret operation conducted by the United States Army Air Force to "get Yamamoto", on orders from President Franklin D. Roosevelt

External links

• Images of the wreck site and tourist information