Truk Lagoon: Japan’s Pearl Harbor in Reverse

🎖️This video tells the story of Operation Hailstone, the massive U.S. Navy assault on Truk Lagoon, Japan’s most powerful naval base in the Pacific. Once considered the “Gibraltar of the Pacific,” Truk was the heart of Japan’s defensive empire — a fortress harboring battleships, cruisers, and hundreds of aircraft. In February 1944, American carrier forces launched a devastating surprise attack that turned this stronghold into a graveyard of steel. Through stunning aerial footage, detailed mission reports, and eyewitness accounts, the film retraces how two days of relentless bombing and torpedo strikes crippled Japan’s Pacific fleet, destroyed over 250 planes, and sank more than 40 ships. Operation Hailstone stands as one of the most decisive and destructive air-sea strikes of World War II — the day the Pacific fortress fell.

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