The B-25 Bombers: The Bombing Of Pearl Harbor

320 airplanes storm over like a bundle of bees bombing pearl harbor with no warning. Nearly 2,500 deaths with many injuries and a giant step back in our naval forces. The U.S. wanted revenge according to Kennedy Hickman the President at the time Franklin D. Roosevelt issued a directive to attack Japan as quick as possible (Hickman 1). The attack ended up being a success but with some obstacles in the way.

The bombing of Pearl Harbor shocked America and frightened the country. The U.S. needed to come up with a plan but it was very difficult without an Air Force base in Asia close enough to attack Japan. Finally Captain Francis Low Assistant Chief of staff thought of the idea of launching B-25 bombers off of an aircraft carrier. The B-25 bombers were light enough to take off within a short distance of an aircraft carrier but also travel with a reasonable bomb load and fly the 2,000 miles the mission would require. The idea finally reached to General Arnold, Head of The U.S. Army Air Force and appointed Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle as the project officer.

The sixteen B-25 bombers were loaded onto the USS Hornet with each bomber containing 4, 500 pound bombs, 2 .50 caliber guns in an upper turret, 1 .30 caliber located in the nose and an extra fuel tank.

The bombers were also fitted with 2 dummy wooden machine gun barrels to save weight but in hope to discourage enemy fighter attacks from the direction of the point. On April 18, 1942 at 8:20 am Jimmy Doolittle was the first to take off with the timing of the waves just right so as the wave came and lifted the ship up it pushed the plane into the air. The bombing took no more than 30 seconds and the planes having almost no signs of damage. Everything was going smoothly until they were flying back to

China.

On the way back to China to land the weather was rapidly deteriorating and fuel was running scarce. The crew realized the situation and had to make a decision since they were not going to make it to the intended base in China. The crew could either bail out over eastern China or crash land along the Chinese coast. The crew who flew to Russia landed but their plane was confiscated and the crew interned until escaping in May 1943 (USS Hornet 1). Fifteen planes were destroyed in the crashes with 3 crew member deaths. As for the members left in China they were hidden from the Japanese by civilians. According to USS.Hornet.org nearly 250,000 civilians were killed by Japanese soldiers while looking for Doolittle's men('The Doolittle Raid' 1). 8 men ended up being captured with three shot by their captors, one died in captivity and four spent their time in prison but survived the war.

As the raid did little material damage the raid did significantly boosted American morale and support for the war. The raid had a strategic impact on the war and provoked Admiral Yamamoto to do a strike against Midway Islands. The raid was the first by the U.S. in WWII and gave Jimmy Doolittle the Medal of Honor for his courageous and brave actions. The Doolittle Raid gave Americans their pride back in which they had lost in Pearl Harbor.