Operation Hailstone

Operation Hailstone

Japanese freighter Amagisan Maru being hit by a torpedo during Hailstone on February 17, 1944.

Date	February 16, 1944 – February 17, 1944
Location	Truk, Caroline Islands 7°20′21″N 151°53′05″E / 7.3393°N 151.8846°E / 7.3393; 151.8846Coordinates: 7°20′21″N 151°53′05″E / 7.3393°N 151.8846°E / 7.3393; 151.8846
Result	American victory, prevented the Japanese reinforcement of Eniwetok garrison, key Japanese warships avoided destruction

Belligerents

United States

Japan

Commanders and leaders

Marc A. Mitscher

Masami Kobayashi

Strength

5 fleet carriers,
3 light carriers,
7 battleships
45 other warships,
10 submarines,
589 planes

5 cruisers,
8 destroyers,
5 other warships,
50 merchant ships,
350 planes

Casualties and losses

1 aircraft carrier damaged,
1 battleship slightly damaged,
25 aircraft destroyed
40 killed

3 cruisers,
4 destroyers,
3 auxiliary cruisers,
2 submarine tenders,
3 smaller warships,
32 merchant ships sunk,
270 aircraft destroyed
4,500+ killed

Operation Hailstone (known in Japan as Japanese: トラック島空襲 Torakku-tō Kūshū, lit. "the airstrike on Truk Island") was a massive naval air and surface attack launched on February 16–17, 1944, during World War II by the United States Navy against the Japanese naval and air base at Truk in the Caroline Islands, a pre-war Japanese territory. Operation Hailstone is often referred to as the Japanese equivalent of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Truk was a major Japanese logistical base as well as the operating "home" base for the Imperial Japanese Navy's Combined Fleet. Some have described it as the Japanese equivalent of the U.S. Navy's Pearl Harbor. The atoll was the only major Japanese airbase within range of the Marshall Islands and was a significant source of support for Japanese garrisons located on islands and atolls throughout the central and south Pacific. The base was the key logistical and operational hub supporting Japan's perimeter defenses in the central and south Pacific.

To ensure air and naval superiority for the upcoming invasion of Eniwetok, Admiral Raymond Spruance ordered an attack on Truk. Vice Admiral Marc A. Mitscher's Task Force 58 had five fleet carriers (Enterprise, Yorktown, Essex, Intrepid, and Bunker Hill) and four light carriers (Belleau Wood, Cabot, Monterey, and Cowpens), embarking more than 500 planes. Supporting the carriers was a large fleet of seven battleships, and numerous cruisers, destroyers, submarines, and other support ships.

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