Doolittle Raid: The First Audacious US Strike on Tokyo in WWII
The Doolittle Raid saw 16 US B-25 bombers hit Tokyo and other targets in Japan on 18 April 1942. This was the first time that Japan's home islands had been bombed since Japan's infamous attack on Pearl Harbor the previous December, an act of aggression which had brought the United States into the Second World War (1939-45). Although the damage of the Doolittle Raid was slight in the grand scheme of the Pacific War, it had demonstrated a feature common to most theatres of a conflict already three years old: that no cities and no civilians anywhere were safe from air attacks.
Revenge for Pearl Harbor
Japan launched a devastating surprise attack on the US Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. A few hours later, Japan declared war on the US. The next day, another Japanese raid destroyed the majority of the 35 B-17 Flying Fortress aircraft belonging to the USAAF on Luzon Island in the Philippines. The US declared war on Japan in response, but with its Pacific Fleet in tatters, launching a counterattack was out of the question for the moment. President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945), though, pushed for some sort of military reaction. The US Joint Chiefs of Staff came up with a plan to attack Japan directly. Although Roosevelt was later credited with the idea, the Doolittle Raid was, according to Admiral Ernest J. King (1878-1956), Commander-in-Chief of the US Navy, dreamt up by one of his operations officers, Captain Francis S. 'Frog' Low.
The idea of the Doolittle Raid was a surprise attack on Japan. Only one aircraft carrier needed to be committed, but by using specially adapted bombers, the ship would not have to get so close to Japan that the carrier itself could be threatened by enemy patrols. The Doolittle Raid, later named after its leader, Lt-Colonel James H. Doolittle (1896-1993), but initially simply called Special Aviation Project No. 1, would involve 16 North American B-25 Mitchell medium bombers which would take off from the aircraft carrier Hornet and strike Tokyo, then the third largest city in the world, as well as certain other targets. The strategic value of the raid would be very limited given the small number of aircraft involved, but it would demonstrate both to Japan and the US public that the US armed forces were capable of striking at the very heart of the enemy. Just like the attack on Pearl Harbor, shock value would far outweigh possible material damage.
Read More
⇒ Doolittle Raid: The First Audacious US Strike on Tokyo in WWII
