{"product_id":"truk-194445-9781472845856","title":"Truk 194445","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA fully illustrated history of how the US Navy destroyed Truk, t\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003ehe greatest Japanese naval and air base in the Pacific,\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cb\u003ewith Operation \u003ci\u003eHailstone, \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003ehow B-29 units and the carriers of the British Pacific Fleet kept the base suppressed until VJ-Day.\u003c\/b\u003eIn early 1944, the island base of Truk was a Japanese Pearl Harbor; a powerful naval and air base that needed to be neutralized before the Allies could fight their way any further towards Tokyo. But Truk was also the most heavily defended naval base outside the Japanese Home Islands and an Allied invasion would be costly. Long-range bombing against Truk intact would be a massacre so a plan was conceived to neutralize it through a series of massive naval raids led by the growing US carrier fleet. Operation \u003ci\u003eHailstone \u003c\/i\u003ewas one of the most famous operations ever undertaken by American carriers in the Pacific.This book examines the rise and fall of Truk as a Japanese bastion and explains how in two huge ra\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eINTRODUCTION  CHRONOLOGY  ATTACKER'S CAPABILITIES  Long-range air power in 1944  DEFENDER'S CAPABILITIES  The ‘Gibraltar of the Pacific’  CAMPAIGN OBJECTIVES  Keystone of the Pacific War  Allied objectives and plans  Japanese objectives and plans  THE CAMPAIGN  From feared bastion to the Allies’ punchbag  Background: 1939-January 1944  Operation \u003ci\u003eHailstone\u003c\/i\u003e: February 1944  April Showers: April 1944  Truk Besieged: March 1944–June 1945  Operation \u003ci\u003eInmate\u003c\/i\u003e: June 14-15, 1945  AFTERMATH AND ANALYSIS  Surviving Aircraft  FURTHER READING  INDEX","brand":"Bloomsbury Publishing PLC","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48867219374423,"sku":"9781472845856","price":14.24,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781472845856.jpg?v=1722282267","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/truk-194445-9781472845856","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}