The Doolittle Raiders

76 years ago today, The daring Doolittle Raid, also known as the Tokyo Raid,(April 18, 1942) was launched. It was the first air raid by the United States to strike the Japanese Home Islands (specifically Honshu) during World War II.

By demonstrating that Japan itself was vulnerable to American air attack, it provided a vital morale boost and opportunity for U.S. retaliation after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. The raid was planned and led by Lieutenant Colonel James "Jimmy" Doolittle, U.S. Army Air Forces. Doolittle would later recount in his autobiography that the raid was intended to bolster American morale and to cause the Japanese to begin doubting their leadership, to which it succeeded:


At 07:38 on the morning of 18 April, while the task force was still about 650 nautical miles from Japan, it was sighted by the Japanese picket boat No. 23 Nittō Maru, a 70-ton patrol craft, which radioed an attack warning to Japan. The boat was sunk by gunfire from USS Nashville; The chief petty officer who captained the boat committed suicide rather than be captured, but five of the eleven crew survived when they were picked up by Nashville. Doolittle and Hornet skipper Captain Marc Mitscher decided to launch the B-25s immediately—10 hours early and 170 nautical miles farther from Japan than planned. After respiting to allow for engine start and run ups, Doolittle's aircraft had 467 feet of takeoff distance. Despite the fact that none of the B-25 pilots, including Doolittle, had ever taken off from a carrier before, all 16 aircraft launched safely between 08:20 and 09:19. (The 16th B-25 had been included only as a reserve, intended to fly along as an observation and photographic platform, but when surprise was compromised, Doolittle decided to use all 16 aircraft in the attack.) This was the only time that United States Army Air Forces bombers were launched from a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier on a combat mission.


The raid caused negligible material damage to Japan only hitting non-military targets or missing completely, but it succeeded in its goal of helping American morale and casting doubt in Japan on the ability of the Japanese military leaders. It also caused Japan to withdraw its powerful aircraft carrier force from the Indian Ocean to defend their Home Islands, and the raid contributed to Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto's decision to attack Midway—an attack that turned into a decisive rout of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) by the U.S. Navy near Midway Island in the Central Pacific.

In 1959, 80 silver goblets were presented to the Doolittle Raiders by the city of Tucson, Arizona. Each silver goblet had the Raiders’ names engraved twice, the second upside-down. During the ceremony, white-gloved cadets presented each of the three with their personal goblets and their longtime manager poured the 1896 Hennessy VS cognac, with its vintage matching Doolittle’s birth year. Each anniversary the Doolittle Raiders' that had flown west had their goblets are turned upside-down.

One year ago, Lieutenant Richard E. Cole, Jimmy Doolittle’s co-pilot, and the last remaining Raider, commemorated the 75th anniversary of the Doolittle Raid by raising the last remaining upright silver goblet and toasting his fallen comrades. 




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