Operation Vengeance: The Astonishing Aerial Ambush That Changed World War II
Written by Dan Hampton
Narrated by John Pruden
4.5/5
()
About this audiobook
The New York Times bestselling author of Viper Pilot delivers an electrifying narrative account of the top-secret U.S. mission to kill Isoroku Yamamoto, the Japanese commander who masterminded Pearl Harbor.
""Operation Vengeance is colorful, intimate, eye-popping history, delivered at a breakneck pace. I loved it."" –Lynn Vincent
In 1943, the United States military began to plan one of the most dramatic secret missions of World War II. Its code name was Operation Vengeance. Naval Intelligence had intercepted the itinerary of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, the Commander-in-Chief of the Japanese Combined Fleet, whose stealth attack on Pearl Harbor precipitated America’s entry into the war. Harvard-educated, Yamamoto was a close confidant of Emperor Hirohito and a brilliant tactician who epitomized Japanese military might. On April 18th, the U.S. discovered, he would travel to Rabaul in the South Pacific to visit Japanese troops, then fly to the Japanese airfield at Balalale, 400 miles to the southeast.
Set into motion, the Americans’ plan was one of the most tactically difficult operations of the war. To avoid detection, U.S. pilots had to embark on a circuitous, 1,000-mile odyssey that would test not only their skills but the physical integrity of their planes. The timing was also crucial: the slightest miscalculation, even by a few minutes—or a delay on the famously punctual Yamamoto’s end—meant the entire plan would collapse, endangering American lives. But if these remarkable pilots succeeded, they could help turn the tide of the war—and greatly boost Allied morale.
Informed by deep archival research and his experience as a decorated combat pilot, Operation Vengeance focuses on the mission’s pilots and recreates the moment-by-moment drama they experienced in the air. Hampton recreates this epic event in thrilling detail, and provides groundbreaking evidence about what really happened that day.
Dan Hampton
Lieutenant Colonel (Ret.) Dan Hampton flew 151 combat missions during his twenty years (1986–2006) in the United States Air Force. For his service in the Iraq War, Kosovo conflict, and first Gulf War, Col. Hampton received four Distinguished Flying Crosses with Valor, a Purple Heart, eight Air Medals with Valor, five Meritorious Service medals, and numerous other citations. He is a graduate of the USAF Fighter Weapons School, USN Top Gun School (TOGS), and USAF Special Operations School. A frequent guest analyst on CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC discussing foreign affairs, military, aviation, and intelligence issues, he has published in Aviation History, the Journal of Electronic Defense, Air Force Magazine, Vietnam magazine, and Airpower magazine, and written several classified tactical works for the USAF Weapons Review. He is the author of the national bestsellers Viper Pilot and Lords of the Sky, as well as a novel, The Mercenary.
More audiobooks from Dan Hampton
Lords of the Sky: Fighter Pilots and Air Combat, from the Red Baron to the F-16 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Valor: The Astonishing World War II Saga of One Man's Defiance and Indomitable Spirit Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Related to Operation Vengeance
Related audiobooks
The Red Line: The Gripping Story of the RAF’s Bloodiest Raid on Hitler’s Germany Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Pacific Thunder: The US Navy's Central Pacific Campaign, August 1943–October 1944 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa (1942-1943) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5U.S.S. Seawolf: Submarine Raider of the Pacific Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Lucky 666: The Impossible Mission Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Tin Can Sailor: Life Aboard the USS Sterett, 1939-1945 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Pegasus Bridge Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Miracle at Midway Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5One Damned Island After Another: The Saga of the Seventh Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Sink ‘Em All: Submarine Warfare in the Pacific Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Twilight of the Gods: War in the Western Pacific, 1944-1945 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943-1944 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Frozen Chosen: The 1st Marine Division and the Battle of the Chosin Reservoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Countdown to Pearl Harbor: The Twelve Days to the Attack Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Stormjammers: The Extraordinary Story of Electronic Warfare Operations in the Gulf War Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Hurricane Squadron Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Enola Gay: Mission to Hiroshima Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Operation Chastise: The RAF's Most Brilliant Attack of World War II Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pearl Harbor: From Infamy to Greatness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Clash of the Carriers: The True Story of the Marianas Turkey Shoot of World War II Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Enemy Coast Ahead: The Illustrated Memoir of Dambuster Guy Gibson Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Crew Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Nimitz at War: Command Leadership from Pearl Harbor to Tokyo Bay Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Thunder Run: The Armored Strike to Capture Baghdad Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5D-Day with the Screaming Eagles Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tanker Pilot: Lessons from the Cockpit Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Guadalcanal Diary: 2nd Edition Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Black Hawk Down Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Wars & Military For You
Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/577 Days of February: Living and Dying in Ukraine, Told by the Nation’s Own Journalists Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of September 11, 2001 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel: Genius, Power, and Deception on the Eve of World War I Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Korean War: A History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Code Name: Lise: The True Story of the Woman Who Became WWII's Most Highly Decorated Spy Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Nazi Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Book of Five Rings Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5You're Stepping on My Cloak and Dagger Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Last Kingdom Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Valiant Women: The Extraordinary American Servicewomen Who Helped Win World War II Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ghosts of Honolulu: A Japanese Spy, A Japanese American Spy Hunter, and the Untold Story of Pearl Harbor Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Rape of Nanking: The History and Legacy of the Notorious Massacre during the Second Sino-Japanese War Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Four Battlegrounds: Power in the Age of Artificial Intelligence Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Making of the Atomic Bomb: 25th Anniversary Edition Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Dirty Tricks Department: Stanley Lovell, the OSS, and the Masterminds of World War II Secret Warfare Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Diary of Anne Frank Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5On Palestine Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin - Book Summary: How U.S. Navy SEALS Lead And Win Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Invisible Generals: Rediscovering Family Legacy, and a Quest to Honor America's First Black Generals Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Kill Anything That Moves Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Countdown 1945: The Extraordinary Story of the Atomic Bomb and the 116 Days That Changed the World Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Watchmaker's Daughter: The True Story of World War II Heroine Corrie ten Boom Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Saved: A War Reporter's Mission to Make It Home Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for Operation Vengeance
40 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Incredible story
I always love that P38 lightning one of my favorite planes, afternoon this book even more. Exciting listening to storie from WW 2 had me rewinding parts to here again . - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Covered. A. Lot. About. wW2. At. The. Top. Level. Plus. Flying. In. The. Pacific