Soemu Toyoda
Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto had grown wary of this strategy, but he was killed in Operation Vengeance on April 18, 1943. The following day, Admiral Mineichi Koga succeeded Yamamoto as commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet, and Koga wanted the Imperial Japanese Navy to engage the American fleet in the "single decisive battle" in early 1944. On March 31, 1944, Admiral Koga was killed when his aircraft (a Kawanishi H8K) flew into a typhoon and crashed. A new Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet, Admiral Soemu Toyoda, was appointed, and he finalized the Japanese plans known as Plan "A-Go" or Operation A-Go. The plan was adopted in early June 1944. Within weeks, an opportunity arose to engage the American fleet now detected heading for Saipan.