Raid on Truk (You Tube)
Walter Cronkite is narrating this material.
Lifts bring up bombs and ammunition to load onto the planes.
Likewise, planes are brought up on lifts.
The American planes close in on Truk. The Japanese plane strength matches that of the Americans.
The Americans are using the Hellcat, the Japanese the Zero. The Hellcat can't maneuver as well, but it's more rugged, and can out-climb and out-dive the Zero.
The Japanese fuel tanks would blow up easily once they were hit. A lot of the planes hit in the footage have almost exactly the same type of explosion.
The American planes begin strafing the base.
Once the fighters have aerial supremacy, the dive bombers begin their attack.
The planes go after any ships in the lagoon. 200,000 tons of shipping were sunk in one day.
Some planes crash land on the carrier.
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