Doolittle Raids Over Tokyo in World War II

After Pearl Harbor, it took the United States several months to rebuild and mobilize its Pacific Fleet. While America was preparing to challenge Japan for control of Southeast Asia, some American officers wanted to do something to boost the morale of the American people and to score a psychological victory against the Japanese. One of their proposals was to bomb Tokyo itself using long range bombers launched from the deck of an aircraft career. It was a dangerous mission, since nothing like it had ever been done before. Nevertheless, Lt. Colonel James H Doolittle and his volunteer pilots successfully bombed the Japanese capital on April 18, 1942.

Bombing Japan was a logistical problem because the United States did not control any islands within striking distance of Japan. That meant that the bombers had to be launched from an aircraft career. All the bombers in the US Air Force were designed for runways much longer and wider than the deck of an aircraft carrier, however, so it was difficult for the bombers to take off from them. After extensive training at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, the crews of the 16 bombers became proficient at taking off in extremely short distances. Even once the Air Force overcame the problems of launching the aircraft, they had problems with fuel. The B-25 bombers had to be highly modified to maximize fuel economy and fuel capacity. Even still, it was not possible for the bombers to return. The plan was for them to land in China after dropping their bombs over Tokyo.

Of course, the mission required complete secrecy. In early April of 1942, the bombers were loaded onto the USS Hornet for the journey to Japanese waters. No one was told the destination of the ship until it was well out to sea. The Hornet joined the USS Enterprise and the two continued to within 600 miles of Japan when the battle group was spotted by a Japanese patrol boat. The boat was sank, but not before sending word to the Japanese. Fortunately, the warning was not headed because the Japanese command thought it must be a joke. Fearing that the Japanese would prepare a defense against the bombers, they were ordered to take off at once even though they were 200 miles from where they had planned to begin the mission.

The bombers flew low and avoided any Japanese antiaircraft defenses. Around noon on April 18th, they dropped their bombs onto the unprepared city of Tokyo. The Japanese military and people were stunned because they did not think an attack was possible. After dropping their payloads, the bombers flew over China, but could not see their landing sites. 15 of the crews parachuted or crash landed over China while one crew made it to a Russian airstrip. Only eight crew members were captured by the Japanese. Of these, three were executed, one died in a POW camp, and the rest survived the war as POWs.

Though the raid did not do much physical damage to Tokyo, it did tremendous psychological damage. The official in charge of the air defense of Tokyo committed suicide and the Japanese stationed four fighter squadrons there to prevent future attacks. The raid also greatly boosted the morale of the American people. For their success, Doolittle was promoted to General and awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.