The Bombing Run That Was Never Supposed to Land

Just four months after Pearl Harbor, America needed a morale-boosting strike on Japan itself. The plan was almost impossible: launch Army bombers from a Navy carrier that couldn’t land them back. Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle trained his crews for the shortest takeoffs of their careers. On April 18th, 1942, sixteen B-25 bombers launched early from the USS Hornet after the task force was spotted by a Japanese picket boat. After striking their targets, fifteen crews flew on to China; one crew landed near Vladivostok and was interned in the Soviet Union for roughly thirteen to fourteen months. The physical damage to Japan was modest, but the boost to American morale was significant — and historians commonly link the raid to Japan’s decision that led toward Midway.

Sources:
• Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC)
• National Museum of the U.S. Air Force

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