April 18, 1942
B-25 launching off the USS Hornet.
With Japan winning every battle, the United States Navy knew it needed to turn this war around.
America needed a bold attack. Something that would surprise and wound Japan.
They decided to bomb Tokyo, Japan’s capital city.
Today we have airplanes and weapons that can easily do that. But in 1942, this idea was considered crazy. Tokyo was thousands of miles from the nearest American air base. No bomber plane held enough fuel to fly all the way to Asia, drop its bombs on Tokyo, and still fly home to safety.
That mission would be suicide for any pilot.
However, Navy Captain Francis Low had a brilliant idea: what if the planes were launched from an aircraft carrier out in the ocean? Nobody had ever done that before.
On February 2, 1942, a B-25 bomber rumbled, waiting on the deck of the USS Hornet. The pilot pushed the engine to full throttle, then released the brake. The B25 ripped down the deck—straight for the ocean.
But at the last moment, the heavy plane lifted like a bird and cleared the water.
After that successful launch, the navy was confident this plane could complete the mission to Tokyo. Traveling at a maximum speed of 284 miles per hour, the B25 could carry a bomb load of 3,200 pounds. It also came equipped with six 50-caliber machine guns: two guns that fired forward, two that fired from the top turret, and two shooting from the tail.
For this top-secret bombing mission, Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle picked an all-volunteer group of pilots and crew. Later, these men would be known as the Doolittle Raiders, but at that time, they knew nothing about their mission. It was so top-secret it was even hidden from many people working in the military.
At Pearl Harbor, Japan had the element of surprise. Now it was America’s turn.
In mid-April, the USS Hornet was sent within about 500 miles of the Japanese home islands (see the map below). On April 19th, sixteen bombers were to launch at night, under cover of darkness, hitting military bases and supply chains in the cities of Tokyo, Yokosuka, and Osaka-Kobe. The B25 pilots would then fly south along the Japanese coast until they reached China, where they would refuel before reaching their final destination in Burma. (Remember, Burma is where Chenault led the Flying Tigers). To extend fuel capacity, the Doolittle Raiders pulled out the two tail guns and replaced them with broomsticks painted black to fool the enemy into thinking they were real guns.
Flight pattern for the Doolittle Raiders, to reach safety in China
Everything seemed ready for the raid, but on the morning of April 18th, a Japanese fishing boat spotted the American carrier task force. Radio operators stationed on the Hornet picked up the signal codes sent by the fishing boat to Japan’s Fifth Naval Fleet.
The message read: “Three enemy carriers sighted at our position 650 nautical miles east of Inubo Saki at 0630.”
That crucial element of surprise was gone.
Now the American commanders faced a terrible dilemma. Should the mission continue? The task force was close enough to Japan that Japanese bombers could hit the Americans, or shoot the American planes out of the sky.
Navy Admiral William “Bull” Halsey blinker-lit a message from the Enterprise to the Doolittle Raiders aboard the Hornet:
LAUNCH PLANES.
TO COL. DOOLITTLE AND GALLANT COMMAND: GOOD LUCK AND GOD BLESS YOU.
Now the American pilots had another serious issue. The ship was a full day away from where it was supposed to launch the planes. None of the planes would have enough fuel to reach the safe land bases in China.
Colonel Doolittle called his pilots on deck.
“If there's any of you who don't want to go, just tell me,” he said. “Because the chances of you making it back are pretty slim."
Not one pilot declined the mission.
Doolittle himself would pilot the first plane off the deck.
But at 8:15 a.m., the weather turned bad. The wind whipped. Rain poured. High waves splashed over the deck. But the crew used the challenges to their advantage. They turned the carrier into the wind, and the launch officer timed the waves that pitched the boat up and down. Then he snapped his flag.
GO!
Colonel Doolittle yanked the yoke so far back it hit his stomach. Full throttle, full flaps, he raced the bomber down the carrier’s deck just as the Hornet rose on a wave and the headwind slipped under the bomber’s wings, pushing it through the heavy rain.
All 16 planes made the launch.
Although that message from the fishing vessel supposedly reached the Japanese military, it never occurred to them that bombers would be launched from a carrier, especially in that kind of storm. Another lucky break for the Raiders was that morning Japanese cities were practicing air raid drills, so they had taken down the barrage balloons that normally floated above cities, protecting them from low-flying attacks.
So the bombers had a clear route ahead.
Each B25 dropped four 500-pound bombs on their intended targets. They inflicted damage, but it was the shock of the attack that did the most damage. Japan, like America, had now been hit on home turf.
After dropping their loads, the Doolittle Raiders headed south down the Japanese coastline, hoping to reach safety. But lack of fuel caused eleven crews to bail out, parachuting into unknown places. Four crews crash-landed. One plane wound up in Russia.
Among the eighty men who left the Hornet that morning, ten Raiders were killed. Three were executed after being captured by the Japanese. One died in a Japanese prison camp. Bailouts and crash landings killed others. But fourteen of flight crews survived.
Unfortunately, there were even more casualties besides the fallen pilots. The Doolittle Raiders who bailed out or crash-landed over China were helped by the Chinese people. In retaliation for saving American lives, Japan executed as many as 250,000 Chinese people.
But when news about the Doolittle Raid reached America, people cheered. This brave mission filled them with hope and pride. And by daring to launch planes from a ship, America proved to her to allies— particularly Great Britain—that she was in this fight to win.
For Japan, the raid inflicted tremendous psychological trauma. Japan’s government now worried that America would bomb its cities. As a result, the military was forced to bring back some elite fighting units from the front lines to defend the main islands. Now Japan felt vulnerable.
Despite all that success, Colonel Doolittle thought he was going to be court-marshaled for this mission because none of his planes made it back. Instead, he was given the Medal of Honor, and was promoted to brigadier general.
When President Roosevelt was asked where this raid launched from, his answer was coy. Back then there was a popular novel called Lost Horizon that included a fictional paradise named “Shangri-La.” So President Roosevelt joked that the planes were launched from Shangri-La. Later, the navy even named one of its aircraft carriers the USS Shangri-La.
WHO FOUGHT?
James Doolittle was already a famous pilot before he led the legendary Raid.
In 1922, he made an astounding cross-country flight in a DE Havilland DH-4, flying from Florida all the way to California. Back then, most people didn’t even drive across the country. Doolittle made only one refueling stop, completing the trip in 21 hours and 19 minutes. It was the first of his many pioneering flights, accomplishing what other pilots had not done before.
Doolittle was also influential in the aviation industry. As planes became faster and more maneuverable, pilots had trouble with disorientation. When this happens, a pilot can get confused with what he is seeing and make errors. Doolittle was among the first aviators to recognize the need for cockpit instruments to help pilots navigate through fog, storms, darkness, and anything else that could hinder a pilot’s vision.
Today, pilots can fly by instruments alone, but a hundred years ago they had only their eyes. In 1929, Doolittle was the first pilot to take off, fly, and land an airplane just using instruments with no view from outside the cockpit. He also helped develop technology that’s now used in every plane: an artificial horizon and directional gyroscope.
In 1932, Doolittle set the world's high-speed record, flying 296 miles per hour. However, after winning three air-racing trophies, he officially retired.
“I have yet to hear anyone engaged in this work dying of old age,” he said, meaning he didn’t want to die in an airplane crash.
However, in 1940, he returned to active duty with the armed forces. Leading the famous Raid, Doolittle and his crew were forced to bail out over China at night when his plane ran out of fuel, in the middle of a storm. Doolittle couldn’t locate a landing field, so he put the plane down in a rice paddy. He and his crew were helped by some Chinese guerrillas, as well as a famous American missionary named John Birch.
Later Doolittle flew more combat missions as commander of the 12th Air Force in North Africa. He was awarded four Air Medals.
When Doolittle received the Medal of Honor from President Roosevelt for planning and leading the raid on Japan, the citation read:
“For conspicuous leadership above and beyond the call of duty, involving personal valor and intrepidity at an extreme hazard to life. With the apparent certainty of being forced to land in enemy territory or to perish at sea, Lt. Col. Doolittle personally led a squadron of Army bombers, manned by volunteer crews, in a highly destructive raid on the Japanese mainland.”
FIND OUT MORE:
BOOKS
The First Heroes: The Extraordinary Story of the Doolittle Raid--America's First World War II Victory by Craig Nelson
The Doolittle Raid 1942: America's first strike back at Japan by Clayton Chun
Jimmy Doolittle - A Short Biography for Kids by Joseph Madden
INTERNET
YouTube has a wonderful five-minute clip on the Doolittle Raid.
One of the Doolittle Raiders’ son maintains a website dedicated to these brave men.
Walt Disney himself made an animated short film to explain to the American public the importance of the air battle in WW2.
Naval History & Heritage offers some great photographs of the Doolittle Raiders taking off from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet.
Here’s a link to the USS Hornet museum.
MOVIES
Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo
The Purple Heart