Battle of Truk, 1944
After the Kwajalein Campaign in the Marshall Islands, Admiral Raymond Spruance's Fifth Fleet moved on to the invasion of the Eniwetok Atoll, 380 miles to the northwest. To cover the Eniwetok operation, Spruance dispatched a carrier attack group (Operation Hailstone) of battleships, cruisers, and destroyers to neutralize Truk. The Truk attack was considered risky, the relatively small U.S. Navy Fast Carrier Task Force (or TF 58) against the reputed impregnable Japanese fleet base, compared to Pearl Harbor or Gibraltar. Reconnaissance flights over Truk on 4 February 1944 (top photo) showed the large Japanese fleet at anchor along with an array of strategic support installations.
Vought OS2U-3 "Kingfisher" piloted by Lt. JG Denver F. Baxteris is recovered by USS Baltimore (CA-68) after rescue of Lt. JG George M. Blair from Truk Lagoon. Blair's F6F "Hellcat", of Fighting Squadron Nine from USS Essex (CV-9), had been shot down during the dawn fighter sweep over Truk, 18 February 1944. Radioman ARMC Reuben F. Hickman, is on the wing, preparing to attach the plane so it can be hoisted on board.
The Japanese knew the U.S. Navy was coming and withdrew their principal ships from Truk around 10 February, leaving the rest as a decoy. In two days and one night of attacks, 17-18 February 1944, Task Force 58 attacked Truk systematically, sinking or incapacitating most of the ships and aircraft they found there. Japanese losses at Truk included 200 planes destroyed on the ground and 41 ships sunk.
The Battle of Truk was one of the most significant air battles of World War II. The Japanese losses were a record for any one action in the war. The submarine USS Tang (SS-306) rescued 22 Navy pilots who had been shot down, a rescue record unsurpassed until near the end of the war. The action was also the first combat role for the battleship New Jersey (BB-62), serving as Spruance's flagship. Task Force 58 returned to the Marshalls 19 February.
A second massive raid on 29-30 April 1944 eliminated anything militarily significant on Truk, taking out the navy yard, aircraft service facilities and other military targets that had survived. US Army Air Force B-24s and B-29s from island bases pounded the island with bombs. Ground installations were reduced to rubble. The attacks were so successful that there was no need to invade the island and Truk was bypassed for the remainder of the war, although routine bombing continued. For example, on 28 October 1944, when B-29s began operating from airstrips in the Marianas, their first raid was a 14-plane "shake down" mission against Truk.
On 2 September 1945, the remaining Japanese at Truk surrendered to U.S. Navy officers aboard USS Portland (CA-33).
Recommended Books about Truk
- Ghost Fleet of the Truk Lagoon: An Account of Operation Hailstone, February, 1944
- World War II Wrecks of the Truk Lagoon
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