Operation Hailstorm

In World War II, Operation Hailstorm was a massive naval air attack launched on 16 & 17 February, 1944 against the Japanese naval facility on Truk in the Caroline Islands. American dive and torpedo bombers sunk fifteen warships and twenty-five merchantmen. Over 250 Japanese aircraft were destroyed, mostly on the ground.

The attackers lost only twenty-five aircraft. This attack was conducted in support of the invasion of Eniwetok Atoll (Operation Catchpole) and has often been compared to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.