TheCodeBreakers
right craft. Instead they decided to intercept him in the air.
Their plan depended upon Yamamoto's punctuality and required
careful timing of its own: Ballale was near the limit of range of the twin-
engined P-38 Lightnings that the pilots flew, so there would be little fuel
for waiting. Though the Japanese message specified arrival at Ballale at 8
a.m. after a two-hour flight from Rabaul, calculations showed that the
two-motored Mitsubishi (Betty) attack bombers would reach Ballale in an
hour and 45 minutes; this was partially confirmed by the estimated
hour-and-40-minute return time from the slightly closer Buin. This
meant that Yamamoto would arrive at Ballale about 7:45 a.m. Though he
would be escorted by six fighters, Mitchell and Lanphier decided to
attack him about 35 miles up the Bougainville coast to avoid the planes
that buzzed around Kahili airstrip not far from Buin. This pushed the
annaabi.ee 
