THE SECRETS OF TRUK LAGOON

Project Recover locates three missing World War II aircraft

- DEBRA CLEGHORN

Ninety minutes before daybreak on February 17, 1944, Operation Hailstone was launched from three U.S. aircraft carrier groups in the South Pacific. Hundreds of American warplanes ravaged the Japanese-held island airfields and harbors of Truk Lagoon, one of the most formidable Japanese naval air bases in the Pacific.

The low-flying torpedo bombers and dive bombers did not show up on Japanese radar, and so were a complete surprise to the Japanese forces, with many of their personnel on shore leave. Over the next two days, Operation Hailstone stormed the Japanese defenses, shot down and destroyed more than 250 warplanes, and sank nearly 50 Japanese merchant vessels in addition to the few fighting ships that were left. An important victory for the United States, Operation Hailstone also resulted in the loss of 30 U.S. aircraft and 23 missing aviators and crew members.

Seventy-six years later, Project Recover has found three of these missing 30 planes: one TBM/F-1 Avenger torpedo bomber, and two SBD-5 Dauntless dive bombers that flew from the aircraft carriers USS Intrepid and USS Enterprise. These three aircraft, missing in action since 1944, are associated with seven missing servicemen. “Finding these three aircraft was only possible with the dedication and tireless efforts of our team members and the support of the host country,” said Mark Moline, co-founder of Project Recover, expedition leader, and director of the School of Marine Science and Policy at the University of Delaware. “While the discovery of these sites is exhilarating and validating, these feelings are mixed with the humbling emotions of the sacrifices made by these service members and their families in protecting our freedoms.”

Expedition Chuuk