Commander Dutch
Sworn to support and defend the Constitution
Eighty years ago today, on April 18th, 1942, LTC James H. Doolittle led 16 B-25 bombers from the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier Hornet in both an aviation first and the first American attack on the Japanese home island.
Up to that point, the war was going great for the Japanese and not so good for the Americans. The victory at Midway was still almost two months in the future. Most of American Pacific fleet was at the bottom of Pearl Harbor. America needed a morale booster. In January, a month after Pearl Harbor, "U.S. Navy Capt. Francis S. Low approached Adm. Ernest King with the idea of launching U.S. Army Air Forces bombers from the deck of an aircraft carrier. King’s staff briefed U.S. Army Air Forces commander Henry (“Hap”) Arnold, and, with Arnold’s approval, “Special Aviation Project No. 1” became a joint Army-Navy operation. Arnold tapped Doolittle to handle planning on the Army side, and both Doolittle and Low agreed that the only aircraft in the American arsenal that could possibly work would be the B-25. On February 3, 1942, Doolittle and Low demonstrated the feasibility of the plan when they launched two B-25 Mitchell bombers from the deck of the carrier USS Hornet while it was at sea off the coast of Norfolk, Virginia."
The raid itself caused only minor damage but the psychological effect upon the Japanese was tremendous. It revealed the invincible Japanese Empire was vincible. It caused the Japanese to pull back military assets to defend the home islands instead of using them on the frontlines. It gave America the morale boost it needed to push back against the Axis powers.
https://www.britannica.com/event/Doolittle-Raid
http://www.navsource.org/archives/04/043/0404334.jpg
Up to that point, the war was going great for the Japanese and not so good for the Americans. The victory at Midway was still almost two months in the future. Most of American Pacific fleet was at the bottom of Pearl Harbor. America needed a morale booster. In January, a month after Pearl Harbor, "U.S. Navy Capt. Francis S. Low approached Adm. Ernest King with the idea of launching U.S. Army Air Forces bombers from the deck of an aircraft carrier. King’s staff briefed U.S. Army Air Forces commander Henry (“Hap”) Arnold, and, with Arnold’s approval, “Special Aviation Project No. 1” became a joint Army-Navy operation. Arnold tapped Doolittle to handle planning on the Army side, and both Doolittle and Low agreed that the only aircraft in the American arsenal that could possibly work would be the B-25. On February 3, 1942, Doolittle and Low demonstrated the feasibility of the plan when they launched two B-25 Mitchell bombers from the deck of the carrier USS Hornet while it was at sea off the coast of Norfolk, Virginia."
The raid itself caused only minor damage but the psychological effect upon the Japanese was tremendous. It revealed the invincible Japanese Empire was vincible. It caused the Japanese to pull back military assets to defend the home islands instead of using them on the frontlines. It gave America the morale boost it needed to push back against the Axis powers.
https://www.britannica.com/event/Doolittle-Raid
http://www.navsource.org/archives/04/043/0404334.jpg