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The Great Raid On Truk — Japan’s Pearl Harbor
Operation Hailstone
In 1943, the Japanese lagoon base of Truk was shrouded in mystery and outsized expectations. Many people including high-ranking military officers and laypersons believed that Truk was an impregnable fortress. Truk is located in the Caroline islands in a strategic position astride all of the major sea lanes connecting Japan’s mainland with their recent conquests in the South Pacific. The massive lagoon was the nexus of Japanese military activity in the South Pacific for years and was the main forward operating base of the Imperial Japanese Navy’s Combined Fleet.
Papers heralded Truk as Japan’s Gibraltar. Some people compared it to Singapore. In reality, no one really knew what Truk looked like or what was there. The Joint Chiefs of Staff knew it housed the Japanese fleet and that it was likely well defended but that was all they knew. For many years Truk lay far behind enemy lines and well out of the reach of even the most experienced reconnaissance pilots. Pilots that could survey the island would likely never return or get a radio burst off in time to relay any useful findings.
The Americans assumed that Truk’s size, facilities, and development were akin to Pearl Harbor. Truk was unassailable. Truk was stocked with hundreds of terrestrial aircraft, hundreds of carrier aircraft, and…
