The Doolittle Raiders April 18 th, 1942

The Doolittle Raid President Roosevelt wanted to find a way to get back at the Japanese for Pearl Harbor  Wanted to surprise the Japanese  Boost morale in the United States  Prove the U.S. was capable of striking back.

Lt. Col. James H. “Jimmy” Doolittle Born in CA, raised in Alaska Flight instructor during WWI Test Pilot and aeronautical engineer between the wars  Earned the Distinguished Flying Cross Helped develop instrument flying Set world’s speed record at 296 mph ▼

The Doolittle Raid 16 B-25 bombers took off from the U.S.S. Hornet  Attacked 5 major cities in Japan, including Toyko Launch point was 450 miles from Japan  A Japanese fishing boat discovered them 200 miles before their launch point

Plane Modifications Removal of the lower gun turret Installation of de-icers and anti-icers Steel blast plates mounted on the fuselage around the upper turret Removal of the liaison radio set Installation of three additional fuel tanks and support mounts in the bomb bay, crawl way and lower turret area to increase fuel capacity from 646 to 1,141 U.S. gallons (2,445 to 4,319 litres)U.S. gallonslitres Mock gun barrels installed in the tail cone Replacement of their Norden bombsight with a makeshift aiming sight.Norden bombsight

Cont. All 16 planes hit their target cities The early launch forced all crews to either bail out early or ditch their plane in the ocean  15 planes headed for China  1 to Vladistok, Russia  3 died, 8 captured, 4 of which died/killed Of the 50 who parachuted, 49 reached the ground safely

Results Japanese killed 250,000 Chinese civilians looking for the downed airmen Attack did little actual damage, but boosted morale in U.S. and forced Japan to defend their home island  Japanese thought the U.S. had developed a new long range aircraft.

Crew Every participant received Distinguished Flying Cross  2 received Silver Star  Doolittle received the Medal of Honor  Doolittle received Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1989.

U.S.S. Hornet