American attack on Truk Lagoon during World War II
Operation Hailstone
was a massive
United States Navy
air and surface attack on
Truk Lagoon
on 17?18 February 1944, conducted as part of the American offensive drive against the
Imperial Japanese Navy
in the
Pacific Ocean theatre
.
Background
[
edit
]
The Caroline Islands
The Japanese occupied
Micronesia
, including the
Caroline Islands
, in 1914 and established Truk as a base as early as 1939. The lagoon was first built up to house the
Imperial Japanese Navy
's
4th Fleet
, its "South Seas Force". After the outbreak of war with the United States, the 4th Fleet was put under the command of the Combined Fleet, which continued to use Truk as a
forward operating base
into 1944. In addition to anchorages for warships and port facilities for shipping between the
home islands
and the Southern Resources Area, five airfields and a seaplane base were constructed at Truk, making it the only major Japanese airfield within flying range of the
Marshall Islands
.
Despite the impressions of
U.S. Navy
leaders and the American public concerning Truk's projected fortifications, the base was never significantly reinforced or protected against land attack. However, the development of Truk began in earnest in late 1943, with defensive measures being taken against a potential U.S. invasion. Airfields were extended and shore batteries were erected.
Because aircraft stationed at Truk could potentially interfere with the upcoming
invasion of Eniwetok
, and because Truk had recently served as a ferry point for the resupply of aircraft to
Rabaul
, Admiral
Raymond Spruance
ordered Vice Admiral
Marc Mitscher
's
Fast Carrier Task Force
, designated TF 58, to carry out air raids against Truk. Three of TF 58's four carrier task groups were committed to the operation. Their total strength consisted of five fleet carriers (
Enterprise
,
Yorktown
,
Essex
,
Intrepid
, and
Bunker Hill
) and four light carriers (
Belleau Wood
,
Cabot
,
Monterey
, and
Cowpens
), carrying more than 500 warplanes. Supporting these aircraft carriers was a task force of seven battleships and numerous heavy cruisers, light cruisers, destroyers, and submarines.
The Japanese, meanwhile, understood the weakness of their position at Truk. The
IJN
had begun withdrawing fleet units from its anchorages as early as October 1943. The effective abandonment of Truk as a forward operating base accelerated during the first week of February 1944, following Japanese sightings of U.S. Marine Corps
PB4Y-1 Liberator
reconnaissance planes sent to reconnoiter the area.
Attack
[
edit
]
1944 U.S.
newsreel
describing the attack
The three carrier task groups committed to
Hailstone
moved into position and began launching their first fighter sweep 90 minutes before daybreak on 17 February 1944. No Japanese air patrol was active at the time, as the IJN's 22nd and 26th Air Flotillas were enjoying shore leave after weeks on high alert following the Liberator sightings.
Similarly problematic for the Japanese, radar on Truk was not capable of detecting low-flying planes?a weakness probably known and exploited by Allied intelligence organizations. Because of these factors, U.S. carrier aircraft achieved total surprise.
Japanese pilots scrambled into their cockpits just minutes before TF 58 planes arrived over Eten, Param, Moen, and Dublon Islands. Though more than 300
Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service
(IJNAS) and
Imperial Japanese Army Air Service
(IJAAS) planes were present at Truk on the first day of attacks, only about half of them were operational compared with over 500 operational aircraft among the carriers of TF 58. U.S. Navy fighter pilots in their
Grumman F6F Hellcats
, with the advantages of speed, altitude, armor, and surprise, achieved a one-sided victory against IJNAS pilots flying the outdated
Mitsubishi A6M Zero
. As many as 30 of the 80 Zeros sent up in response to the fighter sweep were shot down, compared with four Hellcats reported lost. Only token aerial resistance was encountered for the rest of the morning; almost no Japanese aircraft were present by the afternoon.
Due to the lack of air cover or warning, many merchant ships were caught at anchor with only the islands' anti-aircraft guns for defense against the U.S. carrier planes. Some vessels outside the lagoon already steaming towards Japan were attacked by U.S. submarines and sunk before they could make their escape. Still others, attempting to flee via the atoll's North Pass, were bottled up by aerial attack and by Admiral Spruance's surface force, Task Group 50.9, which circumnavigated Truk, bombarding shore positions and engaging enemy ships.
Torpedo bomber
and
dive bomber
squadrons from the carrier air groups (CAGs) were responsible for the bulk of the damage inflicted on Japanese ground facilities. Early on the first day of
Hailstone
,
Grumman TBF Avenger
torpedo bomber squadrons from
Enterprise
'
s Carrier Air Group 10 (CAG-10) and
Intrepid
'
s CAG-6 dropped fragmentation and incendiary bombs on runways at
Eten Island
and the seaplane base on
Moen Island
. Dozens of aircraft were damaged or destroyed, further blunting any possible response by the Japanese to the strikes. Subsequent joint attacks by dive bombers
[nb 2]
and Avenger torpedo bombers cratered runways and destroyed hangar facilities.
Morning strikes were also launched against shipping targets in the lagoon. Lieutenant Commander
James D. Ramage
, commanding officer of Dive Bombing Squadron 10 (VB-10), is credited with sinking the previously damaged
merchant tanker
Hoyo Maru
.
Lieutenant James E. Bridges and his crew in one of
Intrepid
'
s Torpedo Squadron 6 (VT-6) Avengers scored a direct hit on the ammunition ship
Aikoku Maru
. The bomb blast set off a tremendous explosion which immediately sank the ship and apparently engulfed the plane as well, killing all three men inside.
Japanese ammunition ship
Aikoku Maru
exploding after a torpedo hit, 17 February 1944.
By the second and third shipping strikes of the day, CAG action reports listed the apparent enemy mission as "escape".
Those ships able to make for open sea steamed for the North Pass exit from the lagoon while weathering repeated aerial attacks. One particular group of warships ? cruiser
Katori
, auxiliary cruiser
Akagi Maru
, destroyers
Maikaze
and
Nowaki
, and minesweeper
Shonan Maru
? was given special attention by carrier bombers. Multiple air groups attacked these ships, inflicting serious damage.
Yorktown
'
s dive- and torpedo-bombing squadrons claimed two hits on
Katori
and hits on another cruiser and multiple destroyers;
Essex
bombers claimed five hits on a
Katori
-class
cruiser
, stating that the ship was stopped dead in the water after the attack.
Akagi Maru
was sunk by air attacks.
[18]
Katori
sinking by the stern following fatal damage from
Iowa's
main guns.
At this point, reports reached Admiral Spruance concerning the group of warships fleeing through North Pass. Spruance was so adamant on engaging in ship-to-ship combat that his carrier commander, Admiral Mitscher, ordered his CAGs to stop attacking
Katori
and her companions. Spruance put himself in tactical command of Task Group 50.9, made up of four destroyers, heavy cruisers
Minneapolis
and
New Orleans
, and the new battleships
Iowa
and
New Jersey
, which he personally led in a surface engagement against the previously damaged Japanese ships.
The battered Japanese ships did not stand much of a chance against Task Group 50.9, though members of his staff saw Spruance's decision to engage in surface action when aircraft likely could have achieved similar results as needlessly reckless. Indeed, the Japanese destroyer
Maikaze
managed to fire torpedoes at the battleship
New Jersey
during the engagement. Fortunately for Spruance, the torpedoes missed, and the "battle" ended with predictably one-sided results. The U.S. Navy surface combatants incurred virtually no damage, and it was the only time in their careers that
Iowa
and
New Jersey
had fired their main armament at enemy ships.
Meanwhile,
New Jersey's
5-inch (127 mm) guns combined fire with U.S. cruisers to sink
Maikaze
and
Shonan Maru
, while
Iowa
targeted and sank
Katori
with numerous hits from her main battery.
Nowaki
was the only Japanese ship from this group to escape, only suffering very minor damage at the hand of a straddle from a High Capacity 16-inch (406 mm) round from
Iowa
.
[18]
Retaliation for the day's strikes arrived late at night in the form of small groups of Japanese bombers probing the task groups' defenses. From roughly 21:00 on 17 February to just minutes past midnight on 18 February, at least five groups of between one and three enemy planes attempted to sneak past screening ships to strike at the fleet carriers. One such plane, a
Nakajima B5N2
"Kate" bomber, managed to evade night fighter planes protecting the U.S. task force and dropped its torpedo on Task Group 58.2. The torpedo struck
Intrepid
on the starboard quarter of the ship, damaging steering control and killing 11 sailors.
Intrepid
was forced to retire to the U.S. for repairs and did not return to combat until August 1944.
Aftermath
[
edit
]
Truk, like so many other Japanese bases, was left to itself without hope of resupply or reinforcement. Army forces which had arrived at the atoll before the U.S. attacks put increasing strain on available foodstuffs and medical supplies. Dwindling ammunition even limited the ability of shore batteries to fend off intermittent attacks by Allied forces, including experimental raids by
Boeing B-29 Superfortresses
and attacks by Allied carrier aircraft.
Losses at Truk were severe. Some 17,000 tons of stored fuel were destroyed by the strikes.
Shipping losses totaled almost 200,000 tons, including precious resources in
fleet oilers
.
This represented almost one-tenth of total Japanese shipping losses between 1 November 1943 and 30 June 1944.
Moreover, the isolation of this whole area of operations by submarine and air attack began the effective severance of Japanese shipping lanes between empire waters and critical fuel supplies to the south. The ultimate effect of such a disconnect was later seen during the
Battle of Leyte Gulf
, when IJN forces had to
sortie
separately from Japan and
Lingga Roads
because of fuel constraints.
The neutralization of Truk and the seizure of
Eniwetok
paved the way for the upcoming
invasion of Saipan
, which for the first time put U.S. land-based heavy bombers within range of the Japanese home islands.
Japan started to rebuild Truk as a bomber air base and increased its anti-aircraft defenses. Spruance sent in carrier planes again on 29 April and destroyed the defenses and bombers parked at airports. British forces attacked again in June 1945. No significant naval buildup occurred at Truk after Operation Hailstone.
[
citation needed
]
Truk is renowned today as a tourist destination for divers interested in seeing the many shipwrecks left in the lagoon, many of which were sunk in Operation
Hailstone
.
List of ships in Truk at the time of attack
[
edit
]
Warships
[
edit
]
List derived from Jeffery's
War Graves, Munition Dumps and Pleasure Grounds
(2007)
Sunk
[
edit
]
- Cruiser (CL)
- Destroyer (DD)
- Submarine chaser
- Auxiliary submarine chaser
Shonan Maru
#15 (第15昭南丸), 355 tons
- Motor torpedo boat #10, 85 tons
Damaged
[
edit
]
- Repair ship
Akashi
(明石) 10,500 tons
- Seaplane tender
Akitsushima
(秋津洲) 4,650 tons
- Destroyer (DD)
- Submarine
- Submarine chaser
CHa-20
- Target ship
Hakachi
(波勝) 1,641 tons
Merchant ships
[
edit
]
List derived from Jeffery's
War Graves, Munition Dumps and Pleasure Grounds
(2007)
Sunk
[
edit
]
- Auxiliary cruiser
- Navy transport
- Hoki Maru
(伯耆丸) 7,112 tons
- Yamagiri Maru
(山霧丸) 7,112 tons
- Fujikawa Maru
(富士川丸) 6,938 tons
- Navy transport/freighter
San Francisco Maru
(桑港丸) 5,831 tons
- Reiyo Maru
(麗洋丸) 5,446 tons
- Seiko Maru
(西江丸)? 5,385 tons
- passenger/cargo ship
Kensho Maru
(乾祥丸) 4,862 tons
- freighter
Hanakawa Maru
(花川丸) 4,739 tons
- passenger/cargo ship
Sankisan Maru
or
Yamakisan Maru
(山鬼山丸) 4,776 tons
- freighter
Hokuyo Maru
(北洋丸) 4,217 tons
- freighter
Momokawa Maru
(桃川丸) 3,829 tons
- Navy water carrier/passenger/cargo ship
Nippo Maru
(日豊丸) 3,764 tons
- freighter
Unkai Maru #6
(第六雲海丸) 3,220 tons
- Taiho Maru
(大邦丸) 2,827 tons
- freighter
Shotan Maru
(松丹丸) 1,999 tons
- freighter
Gosei Maru
(五星丸) 1,931 tons
- Freighter
Taikichi Maru
or
Tachi Maru
(泰吉丸) 1,891 tons
- Army transport
- Gyoten Maru
(?天丸) 6,854 tons
- freighter
Nagano Maru
(長野丸) 3,824 tons
- Yubae Maru
(夕映丸) 3,217 tons
- Submarine tender
- Heian Maru
(平安丸) 11,614 tons
- Rio de Janeiro Maru
(リオデジャネイロ丸) 9,626 tons
- Oiler
- Fleet oiler
Shinkoku Maru
(神?丸) 10,020 tons
- Oil tanker
Fujisan Maru
(富士山丸) 9,524 tons
- Auxiliary oil tanker
- whaler
Tonan Maru #3
(第三?南丸) 19,209 tons
- Houyou Maru
or
Hoyo Maru
(?洋丸) 8,691 tons
- passenger/cargo ship
Amagisan Maru
(天城山丸) 7,620 tons
Damaged
[
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]
- Cargo ship
S?ya
(宗谷) 3,800 tons
See also
[
edit
]
- ^
Deaths included 29 aircrew from assorted carriers plus 11 sailors aboard
Intrepid
. Aircraft losses included 12 fighters, seven torpedo-bombers, and 6 dive-bombers.
[1]
- ^
All dive bomber squadrons with the exception of
Bunker Hill
'
s VB-17 flew the
Douglas SBD Dauntless
at this time. VB-17 was the first squadron to use the newer
Curtiss SB2C Helldiver
, which later replaced the Dauntless as the US Navy's standard dive bomber.
[10]
Notes
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- Astor, Gerald (2007).
Wings of Gold: The U.S. Naval Air Campaign in World War II
. Random House Publishing Group.
ISBN
978-0-307-41777-0
.
- Hornfischer, James (2016).
The Fleet at Flood Tide: America at Total War in the Pacific, 1944?1945
. Random House Publishing Group.
ISBN
978-0-345-54870-2
.
- Jeffery, William (2007).
"War Graves, Munition Dumps and Pleasure Grounds"
(PDF)
.
Research Online @JCU
. James Cook University
. Retrieved
3 November
2017
.
- Jeffery, William (2003).
"War in Paradise: World War II in Chuuk"
.
National Park Service
. Chuuk Historical Preservation Office
. Retrieved
5 October
2017
.
- Morison, Samuel Eliot
(1961).
Aleutians, Gilberts and Marshalls, June 1942 ? April 1944,
History of United States Naval Operations in World War II
. Boston:
Little, Brown and Company
. ASIN B0007FBB8I.
- Ofstie, Ralph
(1946).
"The Campaigns of the Pacific War, Chapter 9: Central Pacific Operations"
.
HyperWar
. Naval Analysis Division, Government Printing Office
. Retrieved
5 October
2017
.
- Prados, John (1995).
Combined Fleet Decoded: The Secret History of American Intelligence and the Japanese Navy in World War II
. Naval Institute Press.
ISBN
978-1-55750-431-9
.
- Prados, John (2016).
Storm Over Leyte: The Philippine Invasion and the Destruction of the Japanese Navy
. Penguin Publishing Group.
ISBN
978-0-451-47361-5
.
- Rems, Alan (February 2014).
"Two Birds with One Hailstone"
.
Naval History Magazine
. Vol. 28. U.S. Naval Institute
. Retrieved
5 October
2017
.
- Tillman, Barrett (1997).
Helldiver Units of World War 2
. Bloomsbury USA.
ISBN
978-1-85532-689-7
.
- Toll, Ian
(2015).
The Conquering Tide: War in the Pacific Islands, 1942?1944: War in the Pacific Islands, 1942?1944
. W. W. Norton.
ISBN
978-0-393-24820-3
.
- Trumbull, Robert (30 April 1972).
"The Graveyard Lure of Truk Lagoon"
.
New York Times
. Retrieved
5 October
2017
.
- Williams, Jessica (21 June 2000).
"Torpedo Damage Report"
.
Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum
. Retrieved
29 October
2017
.
- Wilmott, H.P. (2005).
The Battle of Leyte Gulf: The Last Fleet Action
. Indiana University Press.
ISBN
0-253-00351-2
.
Primary sources
[
edit
]
- Gardner, M.B. (1944).
"Action Report, USS Enterprise Air Group 10, 16?17 February 1944"
.
National Archives and Records Administration
. Retrieved
27 May
2020
.
- Harrison, Harry (1944).
Action Report, USS Intrepid Air Group 6, 16?17 February 1944
. Series: World War II War Diaries, Other Operational Records and Histories, ca. 1/1/1942 - ca. 6/1/1946.
National Archives and Records Administration
. Archived from
the original
on 21 October 2021
. Retrieved
27 May
2020
.
- Jeter, T.P. (1944).
Action Report, USS Bunker Hill Air Group 17, 16?17 February 1944
. Series: World War II War Diaries, Other Operational Records and Histories, ca. 1/1/1942 - ca. 6/1/1946.
National Archives and Records Administration
. Archived from
the original
on 17 February 2022
. Retrieved
27 May
2020
.
- Sprague, Thomas
(1944).
Action Report, Intrepid Air Operations Against Truk Atoll, 16?17 February 1944
. Series: World War II War Diaries, Other Operational Records and Histories, ca. 1/1/1942 - ca. 6/1/1946.
National Archives and Records Administration
. Archived from
the original
on 17 February 2022
. Retrieved
27 May
2020
.
- White, Ogden (1944).
Action Report, USS Essex Air Group 9, 16?17 February 1944
. Series: World War II War Diaries, Other Operational Records and Histories, ca. 1/1/1942 - ca. 6/1/1946.
National Archives and Records Administration
. Archived from
the original
on 17 February 2022
. Retrieved
27 May
2020
.
Further reading
[
edit
]
- Bailey, Dan E. (1992).
World War II: Wrecks of the Kwajalein and Truk Lagoons
. North Valley Diver Publications.
ISBN
0-911615-05-9
.
- Brown, David (1990).
Warship Losses of World War Two
. Naval Institute Press.
ISBN
1-55750-914-X
.
- Brown, Herbert C. (2000).
Hell at Tassafaronga
. Ancient Mariners Pr.
ISBN
0-9700721-4-7
.
-Firsthand account of Operation Hailstone by a crewmember of USS
New Orleans
.
- Cressman, Robert J. (2000).
The Official Chronology of the U.S. Navy in World War II
. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press.
ISBN
1-55750-149-1
.
- Ito, Masanori (1986).
The End of the Imperial Japanese Navy
(reissue ed.). Jove.
ISBN
0-515-08682-7
.
- Lacroix, Eric; Linton Wells (1997).
Japanese Cruisers of the Pacific War
. Naval Institute Press.
ISBN
0-87021-311-3
.
- Lindemann, Klaus (2005).
Hailstorm Over Truk Lagoon
: Operations Against Truk by Carrier Task Force 58, 17 and 18 February 1944, and the Shipwrecks of World War II
. Oregon: Resource Publications.
ISBN
1-59752-347-X
.
- Peattie, Mark
(1992).
Nan'Yo: The Rise and Fall of the Japanese in Micronesia, 1885?1945 (Pacific Islands Monograph Series)
. University of Hawaii Press.
ISBN
0-8248-1480-0
.
- Stafford, Edward P. (2002).
The Big E: The Story of the USS Enterprise
(reissue ed.). Naval Institute Press.
ISBN
1-55750-998-0
.
- Stewart, William Herman (1986).
Ghost Fleet of the Truk Lagoon: An Account of "Operation Hailstone", February, 1944
. Pictorial Histories.
ISBN
0-933126-66-2
.
- Wright III, Burton.
Eastern Mandates
. The U.S. Army Campaigns in World War II.
United States Army Center of Military History
. Archived from
the original
on 22 September 2013
. Retrieved
20 August
2010
.
- United States Strategic Bombing Survey (1947).
The Reduction of Truk
. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office.
OCLC
44738732
.
- Young, Edward M. (2015). "A Hard Rain: Operation Hailstone: The US Navy Raid on Truk Lagoon, February 17?18, 1944".
The Aviation Historian
(13): 76?89.
ISSN
2051-1930
.
- Zolandez, Thomas (2006). "Question 12/03: Japanese Facilities at Truk Lagoon".
Warship International
.
XLIII
(2): 152?153.
ISSN
0043-0374
.
Video
[
edit
]
- Quest for Sunken Warships: "Operation Hailstone"
, 2007, documentary, Military Channel
External links
[
edit
]
- Crowl, Philip A.;
Edmund G. Love
(1955).
Seizure of the Gilberts and Marshalls
. United States Army in World War II ? The War in the Pacific.
Office of the Chief of Military History
, Department of the Army. CMH Pub 5-6
. Retrieved
23 January
2007
.
- Jeffery, William (November 2006).
"A CRM Approach in Investigating the Submerged World War II Sites in Chuuk Lagoon"
(PDF)
.
Micronesian Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences, Volume 5
. James Cook University, Townsville, Australia
. Retrieved
23 January
2007
.
- Muir, Dan.
"Order of Battle, Raid On Truk 17?18 February 1944"
. NavWeaps
. Retrieved
29 September
2017
.
- Ramage, James
.
"James Ramage, Executive Officer of USS Enterprise's Bombing Squadron 10 (VB-10), Recalls Strikes On Truk"
. Retrieved
29 September
2017
.
- "Truk Lagoon Area Study"
. National Park Service. Archived from
the original
on 6 November 2012.