Night Raid on Truk

Bill Martin, Joe Doyle, VT-10, and the First US Navy Nighttime Carrier Raid

By: Patrick Weadon

Narrated by: Ray Bader

On 17 February, 1944, as part of Operation Hailstone, 12 pilots and air crews of the USS Enterprise’s Torpedo Squadron, VT-10 took off from the deck of the USS Enterprise (CV-6). That was not unusual, men had been taking off from the decks of US Navy ships for two decades. The reason the 12-merit special attention is that for that for the first time, they were attempting to conduct a low-level radar-guided bombing attack under the cover of darkness. Previously there had been efforts by U.S. Navy pilots to conquer the night, but on 17 February, the 12 pilots who were catapulted off the deck of the USS Enterprise were attempting something unprecedented. The nocturnal raid was the culmination and bringing to fruition of an idea formulated by a true aviation pioneer, Bill Martin, whose overall creative vision, and inventive uses of technology, would mesh with the courage and bravery of his men to make US Naval and aviation history.

In 2009, Cliff Largess, one of the 12, at a Veteran’s Day ceremony in his hometown of Jamestown New York, noted “We took off in the dead of night… The results were spectacular…We had the evidence that night flights could be done successfully…The approach caught on, and within a year, most of the aircraft could fly at night. “We were the pioneers.” Indeed they were.

Night Raid on Truk covers the ground-breaking events of that night as well as the individuals, events, implements of war and technology that led to the success of the raid. In addition, it utilizes the oral histories of Martin, whose vision and hard work brought the mission to fruition and Joseph Doyle, one of the 12 pilots who participated in the raid to bring the events of that night to life.

©2022 Patrick Weadon (P)2022 Patrick Weadon