World War II - When Japan Got Reverse Pearl Harbored
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- čas přidán 21. 11. 2023
- Beneath the eerie waves of Truk Lagoon, the seabed spins a tale of devastation, loss, and shattered pride that spans into the world’s most haunting naval graveyard. Here rests the remains of a once powerful fleet that dared to defy the might of America’s maritime dominance.
February 17, 1944: a date that would seal the fate of over 60 Japanese vessels. Operation Hailstone was unleashed, aiming to obliterate Japanese naval prowess in the Pacific once and for all.
As engines roared and propellers churned, the sky above Truk Lagoon grew thick with American aircraft, evoking chilling memories of December 7, 1941. But this time, the tables had turned.
A fleet of dozens of American warplanes descended from their carriers, catching the Japanese off guard. Explosions lit up the horizon, metal and fire stormed from above, and vessel after vessel was consumed by the inferno. The Japanese defenses, overwhelmed and outmatched, scrambled - some in defiance, others in desperate retreat.
But for US Admiral Raymond Spruance, a retreat wasn’t an option for the enemy. With the majestic battleships Iowa and New Jersey at his command, he steamed to hunt down every last ship, hungry for a face-to-face naval confrontation. For Spruance, it was America’s chance to exact vengeance - and he would see it through, regardless of the toll.
What’s with the 60s surfer boy music?
Bizarre music choice, like a bad Beatles outtake when they were being satirical.
Any reports available on civilian casualties among the islanders?
Please remove the music. I was really enjoying listening to you. But the music is just too much.
They can't, the music keeps the videos from being killed by copyright strikes
Agreed, ruined it
I'm baffled by the surf music background.
I'm hearing Spanish guitar, maybe a bit flamenco.
🏄
v. @@user-wm3bf7pi3u
It's free.
War and mass death are harmonic
To all documentary and CZcams posters: Please do not play music whilst people are speaking in the video. It makes concentration difficult and the music is an intrusion.
I feel like Ken Burns would disagree. It's not inherently bad, it's just a matter of doing it right because when it is, you don't really notice. I do agree though, this one could have definitely done without it.
Yep.
Yes, the music was distracting.
Exactly. And, the Bluesy Rock is a miss with the narrator’s British accent.
US submarines played a pivotal role in reducing the supplies needed by the Japanese to continue warfare in the Pacific.
One thing not mentioned was that the first sweep by the Hellcats was to strafe the anti-aircraft guns.
It was sort of alluded to.
My dad was a PB2Y bomber pilot and flew against Truk, said he was never so scared in his life than flying that mission. And thank God he has good gunners since his aircraft was a large sitting duck. Flew in and dropped his bombs and flew out
PB2Y, if I remember correctly, was the Navy's version of the B-24 Consolidated Liberator. Your Dad had King sized brass balls. May he R.I.P., Semper Fidelis Soldier. 🪖
@@chrisnizer5702 thank you
Your Dad was a stud
My dad told us of a story he heard of about a Japanese spy who ordered his troops to break down and clean their guns. The US then raided and they did not have their guns assembled and only had spot lights to try and spot planes.
All the big guns and bunkers are still there in our backyards
Music in background is too loud.
What's with the music? I feel like I'm watching "Danger 5". I mean maybe because it sounds too groovy for World War Two?
I was thinking the same, like a lost surfer movie soundtrack.
I was starting to expect Unfortunate Son was about to break out.
I noticed that aswell.
You don’t dig that music? It’s outta sight! Groovy man and totally wrong.
I was expecting the Hawaii-50 theme to cut in at any minute. I eventually had to pause this video and go watch that.
Just watched the second episode of an Expedition Unknown where they discovered the first of the 42 aircraft we lost in "Operation Hailstone".
Apparently the remains of the two crewmen were still inside the SBD Dauntless dive bomber that hit the water at a high rate of speed in a vertical position.
RIP naval Aviators!
GOD ALMIGHTY HAS THEIR SOULS...✝️🙋🕊️👈
That makes it a war graves site. No one should be messing around war graves, mister.
@@randallreed9048 The remains were reported to the American authorities, but you can tell that to the Chinese who have been desecrating the remains of Allied ships for years.
In the late 1960's I was stationed in Sicily and on week-ends I scuba dove with a marine archaeologist helping his team recover sunken artifacts. We were looking for a Roman wreck with a mosaic floor aboard. We were about 20 miles south east of Sicily in about 100 feet of water and swimming a grid pattern. In the course of the search we came across a crashed airplane. It was a German Stuka with the nose and right wing partially buried in sand. We looked in the cockpit and found remains. We didn't touch the airplane further and notified our naval command. They notified our salvage unit and the German Government. Two weeks later, we returned to the site and US Navy divers and members of the new German Luftwaffe dove on the wreck and retrieved the remains. We got a letter of thanks and I still consider that dive the greatest on I have ever had.
Truk was to the Imperial Japanese Navy as Pearl Harbor was to the United States. It was a major base and hub of the Pacific. It could host large warships and conduct a lot of repairs that did not necessitate sending ships all the way back to Japan / United States. It hosted a strong garrison, too. In 1942-1943, the ships the IJN sent to go fight in the South Pacific originated from Truk as they were generally stages out here first.
The other major naval base for the Japanese in the Pacific was further south at Rabaul, much, much closer to New Zealand and Australia.
There were initially plans to assault with ground forces Rabaul, but considering the large garrison there, the Allies changed their mind and just isolated them. They did something similar to Truk. It simply was not worth an actual assault. The garrisons at Truk & Rabaul were subjected to regular bombing attacks but nothing like facing a full on assault like their comrades did in New Guinea, Tarawa, the Philippines, Saipan, China, etc. These garrisons were pretty lucky. I know for a fact that the Rabaul garrison had a lot of their troops turn to farming for self-sustenance. It worked out well for them because a lot of Japanese at the time had a background in farming. When the war was over and they surrendered to Allied forces, they were in good condition. Again, these guys were lucky considering the biggest killer of Japanese servicemen in WWII was not combat... It was starvation.
On Truk the garrison and people starved.
who thought to be a good idea to put music ???
Inappropriate music. Horribly purple prose. A shame.
The film clips are quite random… even included shots of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor
Music WAY TOO LOUD. Stopped watching. Said GOODBYE.
Great presentation, but the bed track music was MUCH too loud for much of it.
You forgot to mention USS North Carolina BB55. She had the same fire power as the bbs you mentioned. She also was awarded the most battle stars than any other Battleship in WWII.
My dad was on the North Carolina
@pauljohnston9446 that is just awesome. I remember in elementary school, we would bring pennies for the fund to get her here and set her up. I have been onboard a lot of times, planning one more trip before I go. Thank you for sharing this.
Yes, the music is too loud, had to stop
I cannot imagine what these awesome American warriors went through. I missed going into the Navy when I tried to get in shape by jogging and exercise. I permanently pulled a leg muscle that kept me from going in. I was devastated by the injury. I failed my country. I always wondered what my life would be like if I had made it in and serve our country. At age 62, I feel like I failed the USA. I am a very proud American, and love my country, and fellow citizens. God bless America, my home sweet home.
You tried your best, and through circumstances beyond your control, it just didn't work out. It happens to all of us. Don't feel bad, you did good.
I feel every word you said, Brother.
1981 (I was 17)
Went to join the Army. I got an exception for my age. Got the 2nd highest test scores the recruiter had ever had. My ROTC commander was even going to get me a stripe
It was going great.
And then the day I show up at the AFEES center, the doctor (while smoking a cigarette... I kid you not) tells me he is going to deny my enlistment.
I had an operation when I was 12 and marked me 4-F because of it.
So not only did my dad bailed when I was 7 and never came back...now my country didnt even want me.
It destroyed me for years. Completely.
So I hope this helps.... just know that THAT wasnt your path.
All of the good you have done in the life you have ended up living would not have happened.
All of the souls you touched on your journey would have been denied your presence.
All of the people who needed you? You were HERE for them.. not off somewhere else.
Good luck on the rest of your journey
I went into the Aussie navy with a hidden injury. Where there is a will, there is a way
@@toddhellyar4167 Nothing good ever started with a lie, but gratz for pulling it off
Don’t feel pregnant, they failed me for flat feet 21:42 21:44
I can almost hear that famous or infamous theme song to "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly".
Funny! I heard the music from "Kill Bill"
When a battle ship or a carrier, set high in the water> Mean> There planes are off ship, and low on fuel. For the Battle ship means> it low on fuel and AMMO
I dove Truk Lagoon in 1977. Amazing sea life growing on the sunken vessels. The water was so clear you could look down and see the sunken ships from 1--+ feet as clear as a bell.
Stop putting music in these videos. It's just ruining it.
I didn't notice it.
@avgjoe-cz7cb judging by the comments section you are literally the only person that did not notice the annoying music.
@@bryanshoemaker6120Yeah I didn't. Also I didn't mind because the so called music was not playing at an annoying level. Quite subtle. So I went back, skipped around then I heard it. Didn't quite fit did it? I guess I was more interested in the subject matter. I tuned it out I guess. Thanks for making a friendly comment.
@@avgjoe-cz7cbIt wasn't over bearing like some, I've learned to tune it out unless it's just too loud.
@@avgjoe-cz7cb I didn't notice it either.
A few things I noted missing: Most of the Naval combatant vessels were pulled out lest they be destroyed due to inadequate area to maneuver. Missing was a Japanese operation to meet the US head-on once it was determined that Truk was a target. Also, there were several other attacks on Truk after Hailstone. The Japanese were so sure that the allies would invade Truk that there was an increase in personnel to repel suck an attack. As a result of this, there were a good number of Japanese that were not fighting elsewhere. Another side not was a US bombing of Truk as a dress rehearsal to the firebombing of Tokyo. Even 80 years later, the affect of WW2 on the Chuukese is still evident.
Great video!
ATTN: You Tube videos makers. Talk or music but not both at the same time. THUMBS DOWN.
This could have been a good documentary, if it wasn't for the distracting background music. Maybe use something more ambient in the future.
Thank you for the unnecessary 60's beach dance party music
Good vbideo, maybe consider doing them without the uneeded background music.
Absolutely outstanding detail informative video. Sharing with many others. Greatly appreciate your time, dedication, hard work and passion in providing this wonderful work to the public. 👍🏻😉🙏🏻✝️🇺🇸
The Japanese stole the idea from the British attack on Taranto in 1940.
The Imperial Japanese Navy was modeled after the British Royal Navy. That's where they drew their inspiration when they created the I.J.N. The mistake was not being prepared for a long term/protracted war. They assumed the Allies would sue for peace after a year, especially when there was a "Europe First" policy in terms of priorities for troops, weapons, resources, fuel, aircraft, ships, everything.
Interesting video, but I'm not sure the '60s surfer music really fits.
The constant repetition of the same phrases made this video difficult to watch. Could have been > 10 minutes. And the music choices... oy.
They milked it out.
The music ruined it
First time viewing this..... Thank you!
The music was inappropriate for this video. Try using this horrible mix for a Vietnam documentary.
Huh? The music during the Vietnam era was generally good. The music in this video is just plain unbearable. It sounds suitable for a documentary about surfing, not about war.
Wow. I didn’t notice the music. I was so focused on the plethora of good info and sheer enjoyment of hearing American forces take revenge on the Japanese for Pearl Harbor.
Had to stop watching at halfway music is too distracting
-- *_Nicely written, narrated, and edited! _____________** Thank you, WW2 on TV!_*
One thing not mentioned is that the islands of Chuuk were subsequently bombed by various high altitude bombers almost as a bombing range for training. The remaining Japanese and Chuukese were starving to death as the island was completely cut off and all rations ran out. They even resorted to cannibalism. I've dived there and the majority of the ships were all merchant, but went down fighting as their AA guns were aimed high and empty shells were littering the decks around them.
Yes, speaking with the residents on my trip, food was scarce and the residents didn't like the Japanese stealing their catches. The decks of the ships I dove were littered with ammo.
Also thousands of chuukese Killed by American too
Now the atoll is called Chuuk
Ww2 would of went in a different direction if japan didnt kick the hornets nest with pearl harbour
Japan messed up by not working more closely with Germany/threatening invasion of Russia from the east.
It took Russia staying in the war for us to win, (Atom bomb aside)
And yes, making America mad was not a good long term plan.
There are several times in the narration where they repeat certain passages, and not just once or twice, but a bunch of times.
Right? It's a mess. 3x longer than it needs to be. Mostly fluff. 👎
3:27 I'll try again later an see if the music is gone. I'ts been three months. What'll it take? About a year?
Great information never seen before
Ty
Very well written
By the time of Operation Hailstone Truk was not much of a fortress. Most of the warships had left and the airfields help little to no aircraft. If you want an accurate description of what happened I recommend checking out the Operation Hailstone video put out by Unauthorized History of the Pacific War channel.
Thanks for the heads up my friend, I'll definitely check it out. 👍 👍
After Midway, the IJN wasn't much of a navy.
@@gaoxiaen1 Try telling that to the sailors who fought in the Solomon's Islands/Guadalcanal campaign. The one's who had to deal with the Long-Lance torpedo, the Battle of Savo Island, and the Tokyo Express. Thousands...many THOUSANDS of sailors made the ultimate sacrifice AFTER the Battle of Midway. I guarantee you not a single solitary one of the would agree that the "IJN wasn't much of a Navy." They were still deadly and proved that point several times after Midway. Midway only changed the campaign from offensive to consolidation. The IJN wasn't going on the offensive only trying to maintain/consolidate their territory.
@@chrisnizer5702 Okay, I misspoke. I meant that the IJN had no chance of victory and they knew it. It didn't mean that they weren't a threat.
Off Guadalcanal the USN lost more sailors in battle than the Marines did on the islands.
After Midway the IJN had lost the carriers, and pilots, which severly limited their offensive ability. Poor leadership in the IJN had them try to keep their heavy units safe until it was too late to make much of a difference. But the Japanese never really had a chance. The US industrial ability and distance from Japan, making attacking the mainland impossible in a meaningful way.
And example at the start of the war the IJN had 175 +/- destroyers and only built a few, if any, during the war. The US built 178 Fletcher class DDs during the war. (and that did not include the other classes built before and durig the war.)
@@chrisnizer5702
My father was on the carrier USS Monterey. President Gerald Ford was also on the Monterey. Dad told me Ford was a Leutinent at that time. He told me stories of this and other battles.
There were no major Japanese warships at Truk during this attack, only a cruiser or two and a few destroyers. The fleet had withdrawn to bases in Japan and the Netherlands East Indies before the attack. Most of the vessels sunk were merchant ships and naval auxiliaries.
I believe he mentioned the major warships were withdrawn and nothing but merchant auxiliary and a few destroyers were left
It was still much shipping tonnage they could not afford to loose. The loss of merchant ships played a huge contribution in winning the war. It was not glamorous and generally did not make headlines, but the loss of merchant shipping, in which sub warfare was a large factor was supremely important to an Island nation like Japan. They could not maintain their empire without it.
Didn't even notice the music until i read the comments. Thought it was cool
Music is too distracting.
I love your mini documentaries, but can you please change the music on this one? It just doesn't fit, sorry.
Great music
Quite a good teaser title, took my interest immediately: "Got Reverse Pearl Harbored"
Excellent.
The nice Spanish music in the background of WW2 battles makes about as much sense as wearing a swimsuit to skydive
I think skydiving in a swimsuit makes hugely more sense: goes entirely with the wacky outdoor adventure thing. A search will provide lots of examples of people wearing only bikinis, underpants, socks, nothing at all while jumping out of planes. Not that that necessarily proves anything but naked skydiving does go far better than flamenco while bombing Japanese ships. That was really silly.
The surf music is appropriate.
The narrator is heavily favoring the American perspective. The reality of Truck was that by 1944 it had been left to rot on the vine, and the wholesale evacuation following the overflight of reconnaissance bombers left very little of value for the Americans to destroy. The Japanese were forewarned and had been stripping it down for months. No major warships were anchored there, and a huge chunk of the supplies had been removed. The reason they were "caught off guard" was they'd been at high alert for weeks, expecting the attack to come much sooner, and were succumbing to fatigue from the anticipation. One could even argue that by this point the attack on Truk was militarily unnecessary, and should have been treated like the other islands that were "hopped' around. It did serve as a boost to American morale though, and it would get heavy use in the coming months as a "live fire training ground" for new fighter and bomber crews, which gives you an idea of just how neutered it had become by that point.
Two counterpoints: first, Truk WAS island hopped as it never saw an invasion force, and second, the forces at Pearl Harbor had also been on alert for over a month.
Truk is mostly cargo ships at its bottom, complete with live ammo. Popular scuba diving but only with a guide to make sure you're not there for a momento to put in your suitcase.
Well, what goes around comes around.
When i was in the Navy i was stationed on the USS Fife DD991 a Spruance class destroyer.
At least the Japanese knew they were at war. Unlike the military at pearl
Hey dodo.
Military knew about war going on, but this was attack from planes off a naval vessel!!!
Something new!
You act so smart as a Monday morning qb, when you were not there.
Study your history before you open your yapper to crulit😅icise
great channel! (can you open another one to play the music there?)
The cover picture is from Truk in 1942 when the recently completed IJN Musashi joined the fleet and became the new flagship of the Imperial Navy. The Yamato is in the foreground. By the time the US raided Truk the principal capital ships had been relocated to Indonesia closer to adequate fuel stocks although because of a lack of refinery capacity they ships were burning raw crude
I had the luxury of being in the Coast Guard, seeing Truk as part of the duty and seeing the wreckage.
seeing it in Color is far more better and no annoying music..
While I was there Jacques Cousteau was doing research dives..
then along came a sailboat with Playboy Bunnies doing a photoshoot ...
also I was in Pohnpei where I got to Meet Admiral Yamamoto's Mistress, she owned a Restaurant/bar named Pohnpei Rose I believe she was 72 at the time..
she stated she was the South Pacific's version of Tokyo Rose.
one of the better times in my life.
OMG. Thank you for getting the pronounciation of 'Truk' correct.
By February 1944, Japan's navy was a shell of its former self.
You might say that Japan effed around and found out.
One of the ships mentioned was the light aircraft carrier Monterrey. One of the officers on that ship was a young lieutenant by the name of Gerald Ford.
Always said what goes around comes around only time is unkown
I dove Trukk in dec 2022, was great and if im ever stationed i Guam, I'll go a lot (only >2 hour flight)
I saw the Jacques Cousteau
Documentary a while back and it was terrifying! Piles upon piles of bones when they were inside the ships! It was something out of a horror movie.
😱☠️😱
10:48 I think that is the battlecruiser CB-1 USS Alaska.
couldn't watch because of the background music. I see I'm not alone in this.
Everyone in this comment section gotta be kids. Y’all act as if no one knows about WW2 and your comments are soooo informative
Take a shot every time he says “Truc Lagoon”
ALCOHOL POISONING WARNING!!!
😂😂😂🥃🥃🥃😵💫🥴
I like how he said "TROOK" when referencing the Japanese, but migrated to "TRUCK" when speaking of the Americans.
@@grisslebear I only know its “Trook” because I work with a woman named Truc
The light music wasn't that bad, a little distracting at most, otherwise great depiction of an epic battle. Happy Thanksgiving, this was a treat.
I read where our submarines had Japanese destroyers and other escort vessels as primary targets. Japan couldn’t build more to make up from the losses that occurred. This made their convoys more and more vulnerable.
Can edit and upload without the music, or music at 40% volume?
I do not think the music was loud at all. Perhaps the music had been turned down by now.
Agreed with previous comments about the music. I stopped watching at 2:18 and searched for other videos about Truk.
As simplistic as this sounds, I really hope the world doesn't have another world war. I know it's speculated but I have no desire to see it happen.
Reverse Pearl Harbor is when you build a naval base by surprise.
How can it be said Japan was reversed Pearl Harbored when the largest ship sunk was a pair of Japanese light cruisers?
Actually that was one of the smaller ships. some of the transport ships are over 500 ft long.
@@Wild1BillS What was sunk at Pearl Harbor?
For those who found the soundtrack distracting, simply mute and read the CC…
The Battery operated Battleship game helped reduce the stress while blowing up your opponent
The Japanese capital ships (cruisers, battleships, and surviving carriers) had already left Truk Lagoon before this attack. The graveyard consists of mostly cargo ships and destroyers.
Calling the operation a reverse Pearl Harbor is a bit of the stretch. Like was said the Japanese knew the US was coming and the navy's heavy units had gone. The destroyer mentioned sunk was an obsolete DD that had been converted to a transport ship. The light cruiser sunk, the Katori, was built as a cadet training ship and was being used as a headquarters ship. The headquarters staff had left and the ship had little combat use, it could only do 18 knots.
The US admiral ran his BBs and other ships around the islands just so they could get some target practice and pad their "war record", than any other reason.
At that point in the war Truk had little use for the USN as it was out of their advance line, though a threat to it. It was the main IJN forward base even before the war.
The IJN submarine sunk in harbor sank itself. When the attack started all the officers were ashore in a "comfort house". So whe the attack started the crew did the normal responce which was to submerge and sit on the shallow botton where they would be safe and out of sight. But the crew botched the dive by leaving the main induction valve open and flooded the ship killing them all. Later some explosives were set to destroy the boat so it would not be captured, it blew the conning tower mostly off the boat.
The Japanese went back some years later and recovered some bodies. And I still think they give some support to the islands. The people on the island are quite poor and making a living is hard. They used to recover explosives from the wrecks and us it to fish with, and lost body parts in accidents. There was also a rumor that the ships bridges had safes with gold in them so the locals blew some of them open to look for it.
Pre-Treaty battleships with cage masts were not present during Operation Hailstone. Yet there they are at 18:20 in the video. I doubt that any of the pre-Treaty battleships still had their cage masts by 1944.
What are the arrows for?
I was wondering if YT could fit any more commercials in this somewhat short clip?
WOW
Surfs up! Music?
the one big difference between Pearl Harbor and Truk Lagoon is that the USA was not at war with Japan but was attacked before the declaration was delivered . That was dishonorable !
There’s nothing wrong with the music sounds like kill bill lmao 🤣
The U.S. navy set themselves up in Ulithi lagoon in 44 and 45. It was similar to what the Japanese had had at Truk.
Is this from "Victory at Sea," or some other 1960s TV show?
Carrier Enterprise left 9 days prior on a ferry mission(12 planes to Wake), and Carrier Lexington left 2 days prior to the attack on another ferry mission(18 planes to Midway). No doubt spotters on or near Japan noticed the 4 Carriers and a monster amount of support ships missing(entire fleet put to sea). 100% believe Roosevelt knew! At least he did pull our Carriers. The people did not want to get involved, FDR had to let it happen to anger the people to let him enter into the war. I do not believe we elected our President to deceive us into WW2. If we let Japan know we were waiting for them, would they have cancelled? Still not buying the incompetence of the officer that told the radar station to ignore the inbound swarm either.
I've read elsewhere that the IJN's damage control training wasn't as good as the USN's damage control training. The IJN lost several ships that might have been saved with better equipped and better trained damage control crews.
Rabaul, 3 months earlier, is arguably more of a 'Pearl Harbour' than Truk. Aside from the obvious, which is that Japan was at war and expected attacks.
Just like Pearl Harbor -- except the Japanese evacuated their capital ships before the attack. So the analogy falls short.
Curious - Who narrated this? Thanks
Many content creators are now using AI for narration.
Two ads now on each break.