How the architect of the Pearl Harbor attack fought against Russia

On December 7, 1941, the people of the United States experienced a severe shock – Japanese aircraft dealt a powerful blow to their Pacific Fleet at the Pearl Harbor naval base in the Hawaiian archipelago.

For Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, the author of this devastating attack, dealing painful blows to great powers was nothing new. During the Russo-Japanese War, Yamamoto served on the ‘Nissin’ armored cruiser and took part in the defeat of the Russian squadron in the ‘Battle of Tsushima’ on May 27-28, 1905.

During the battle, the ‘Nissin’ was hit 11 times and the future admiral also got his share: “With a deafening roar, the shell crashed into the remaining 8-inch bow gun… Poisonous smoke enveloped the bow of the ship and I was almost blown away by the force of the violent explosion. I hobbled a few steps – and then discovered that… two fingers of my left hand had been torn off and were hanging by just skin.”

Isoroku was incredibly lucky. If he had lost another finger in addition to his middle and index fingers, he would have been immediately dismissed from the armed forces.

In the end, the injuries did not prevent Yamamoto from making a successful military career in the navy and the Russo-Japanese War became good combat training for him.

Credit: Public Domain

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