Isoroku Yamamoto of Japan (1884-1943)

Yamamoto, the top naval officer in Japan during World War II, launched an attack on Pearl Harbor, a U.S. naval facility, on December 7, 1941. Isoroku Yamamoto, a graduate of the Japanese Naval Academy, took part in the Russian-Japanese Battles of Tsushima. He finished his aviation school in 1926 and was dispatched to the United States to work as an admiral's aide. Yamamoto oversaw the technological division of the Japanese Naval Corps, which produced fighter planes and several naval advancements.

While preparing Japan for future battles, he oversaw the First fleet in 1938 and the Combined fleet in 1939. He campaigned for war against the United States as a senior admiral in the Japanese fleet after invading countries in Southeast Asia. Emperor Hirohito approved his views, thus Yamamoto initiated preparations for assaults.

Yamamoto commanded the Imperial Japanese Navy in a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 to devastate American forces before talks with Japan. Although he achieved tactical success, he was oblivious of the repercussions. Americans were outraged by the attack, so they attacked Hiroshima and Nagasaki with the atom bomb, the deadliest nuclear weapon ever. He passed away in April 1943 when his aircraft was shot down. He was a well-known naval officer from Japan who made sure that long-range naval assaults were successful.