Operation Hailstone
In mid-February 1944, Operation Catchpole, the invasion of Eniwetok in the Marshall Islands, was imminent. To clear the way, Task Force 58 would attack Truk, Japan's major anchorage in the Carolines. Marine PB4Ys (B-24s) reconnoitered Truk on February 4th. Because Truk was becoming untenable as a base, most major naval units soon withdrew to the Palaus. Over 300 aircraft still based there, although many were not operable. A good number of merchant vessels and warships remained, as well.
Three TF 58 task groups, based on nine carriers (five fleet and four light) with over 500 planes, attacked Truk beginning 17 February. TG 58.4, the other carrier group, went on to support the Eniwetok invasions.
Knowing Truk's radar wasn't effective against low-flying aircraft, the initial fighter sweep approached at daybreak "on the deck." The Japanese weren't operating a combat air patrol, so surprise was complete, their pilots scrambling into cockpits as the attack started. By mid-morning, most aerial opposition was over. Although Truk had over 40 large-caliber anti-aircraft guns, an American sub had sunk a ship bringing fire-control radar, so defensive fire was less effective than it could have been.
Attacks continued another day, including a night bombing strike by twelve radar-equipped TBFs from
USS Enterprise. Nearly 500 tons of ordnance were dropped during 1250 sorties. About 4500 Japanese died. About 250 Japanese aircraft were destroyed, and Truk's seaplane and submarine bases, airfields, supply dumps, and port facilities were heavily damaged. Nearly fifty ships were sunk, including two cruisers, four destroyers, several naval auxiliaries, and more than two dozen merchant ships, some sunk by American surface ships as they fled port. The day prior to the attack, submarine
USS Skate had sunk
IJN Aganoand killed about 175 of her crew (not included in the above losses) after departing Truk. Destroyer
IJN Oite rescued 523 of
Agano's crew and turned back, but all died when
Oite was torpedoed and sunk by TBF Avengers as she arrived at Truk.
This was the one time
USS Iowa and
USS New Jersey used their main batteries in surface action. American losses amounted to 40 dead and 25 aircraft lost, plus damage to
USS Intrepid, torpedoed by a B5N Kate, and to
USS Iowa by a near miss.
Future president Gerald Ford served as assistant navigator and anti-aircraft battery officer on USS Monterey (CVL-26) during these actions. USMC Major Gregory "Pappy" Boyington, who had been shot down and captured the prior month, was on Truk, preparatory to transportation to Japan. The aircraft that had brought him to Truk had landed just as the attack began: Boyington witnessed its destruction from a nearby trench.
NOTE: Captions are from the original site, with minor variations in some cases. Some original captions incorrectly place these actions as being on 16-17 February 1944.
Truk Atoll, Caroline Islands.
Aerial reconnaissance photo of Japanese facilities at Truk, taken by a Marine Corps PB4Y-1 patrol bomber, from Bougainville, on 4 February 1944. Dublon Island is at bottom left, and Fefan Island is in lower right. In center is the Eten Island Air Base. Two aircraft carriers are visible at right, and several other warships and merchant vessels are present.
Catalog #: 80-G-208972
Marine aviators who made the first reconnaissance mission over the Japanese naval base at Truk on 4 February 1944. The men are posed with their PB4Y-1 patrol bombers, probably at Bougainville soon after their two-thousand mile combat mission.
Catalog #: 80-G-208975
NOTE: The nose turret is an Erco model, not the standard turret seen on Army B-24s.
USS Cowpens (CVL-25) Grumman F6F Hellcat fighters warming up on the flight deck, while the carrier was operating with Task Group 58.3 during raids on the Marshall Islands, circa January 1944. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.
Catalog #: 80-G-K-100
A VF-9 "Hellcat" (Grumman F6F-3) is given the go-ahead for takeoff from USS Essex (CV-9) on the first day of operations.
Catalog #: 80-G-217587