Doolittle Raid

The Doolittle Raid (also known as Doolittle's Raid or the Tokyo Raid) was an air raid by the United States on the Japanese capital of Tokyo and other places in Honshu during World War II. Launched on April 18, 1942, it was the first American air operation to strike the Japanese archipelago. Although the raid caused comparatively minor damage, it demonstrated that the Japanese mainland was vulnerable to American air attacks. It served as an initial retaliation for the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and provided an important boost to American morale. The raid was named for Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle, who planned and led the attack. It was one of six American carrier raids against Japan and Japanese-held territories conducted in the first half of 1942. Under the final plan, 16 B-25B Mitchell medium bombers, each with a crew of five, were launched from the US Navy aircraft carrier USS Hornet, in the Pacific Ocean. There were no fighter escorts. After bombing military and industrial targets, the crews were to continue westward to land in China. On the ground, the raid killed around 50 people and injured 400. The physical damage was minimal, but the raid had major psychological effects. In the United States, it raised morale. In Japan, it raised fear and doubt about the ability of military leaders to defend the home islands, but the bombing and strafing of civilians created a desire for retribution—this was exploited for propaganda purposes. The raid also pushed forward Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto's plans to attack Midway Island in the Central Pacific—an attack that turned into a decisive defeat of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) by the US Navy in the Battle of Midway in June 1942. The consequences of the Doolittle Raid were most severely felt in China:...