Doolittle Raid

Doolittle Raid
Part of Air raids on Japan during the Pacific War of World War II
Jimmy Doolittle and his B-25 Mitchell prior to taking off from the USS Hornet for the raid
Date 18 April 1942 Location Greater Tokyo Area and other Japanese cities Result U.S. propaganda victory; U.S. and Allies' morale improved, Japanese industries and morale damaged Total loss of U.S. strike force 250,000 Chinese civilians killed in follow-up Japanese campaign
Belligerents
United States  China[1][2]	Japan
Commanders and leaders
James H. Doolittle	Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni
Strength
16 B-25 Mitchell medium bombers 80 airmen (52 officers, 28 enlisted) 2 aircraft carriers 4 cruisers 8 destroyers	Unknown number of Kawasaki Ki-61 Hien fighters and anti-aircraft artillery[3]
Casualties and losses
16 B-25s lost (15 destroyed, 1 interned in the Soviet Union) 3 killed 8 captured (4 lived to be rescued and 4 died in captivity: 3 executed, 1 by disease)	50 killed 400 injured (including civilians)[citation needed] 5 sailors captured 5 patrol boats sunk One nearly converted aircraft carrier damaged

The Doolittle Raid, also known as Doolittle's Raid, as well as the Tokyo Raid, was an air raid on 18 April 1942 by the United States on the Japanese capital Tokyo and other places on Honshu during World War II. 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 December 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor, and provided an important boost to American morale. The raid was named after 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 the 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. Damage to Japanese military and industrial targets 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.^[4] 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. The consequences of the Doolittle Raid were most severely felt in China: in reprisal for the raid, the Japanese launched the Zhejiang-Jiangxi campaign, killing 250,000 civilians and 70,000 soldiers.^[4][2]

Of the 16 crews involved, 14 returned to the United States or reached the safety of American forces, though one man was killed while bailing out.^[5][6] Eight men were captured by Japanese forces in eastern China (the other two crew members having drowned in the sea), and three of them were later executed. All but one of the 16 B-25s were destroyed in crashes, while one of the planes landed at Vladivostok in the Soviet Union.

Because the Soviet Union was not officially at war with Japan, it was required, under international law, to intern the crew for the duration of the war, and their B-25 was confiscated. However, within a year, the crew was secretly allowed to leave the Soviet Union, under the guise of an escape—they returned to the United States or to American units elsewhere by way of Allied-occupied Iran and North Africa.

Doolittle initially believed that the loss of all of his aircraft would lead to his court-martial^[7]—instead he received the Medal of Honor and was promoted two ranks to brigadier general.