In early 1942, America was reeling from a string of devastating defeats across the Pacific. The nation needed a morale boost, and the military needed to demonstrate that Japan was vulnerable. The answer was a raid so audacious that many considered it suicidal: launch Army B-25 medium bombers from an aircraft carrier—something that had never been done before.
Lieutenant Colonel James "Jimmy" Doolittle led 80 volunteer airmen in 16 B-25B Mitchell bombers. The aircraft were modified to carry extra fuel, and the crews trained on short-takeoff techniques. The plan called for launching from USS Hornet at about 400 miles from Japan, bombing targets in Tokyo and other cities, then flying to airfields in China.
Everything went wrong. The task force was spotted by a Japanese picket boat 650 miles from Japan—200 miles farther than planned. The decision was made to launch immediately, knowing the extra distance made it nearly impossible to reach China. On April 18, 1942, Doolittle's B-25 was the first off the deck, taking off in heavy seas with the carrier pitching wildly.
All 16 aircraft reached Japan and bombed their targets. The physical damage was minor, but the psychological impact was enormous. Japan had been told its homeland was invulnerable; the raid shattered that illusion. The Japanese military was so shaken that they diverted resources to homeland defense and accelerated the Midway operation—which would prove to be the decisive naval battle of the Pacific War.
Of the 80 raiders, 69 eventually survived the mission. Three were killed in action, eight were captured by the Japanese (three were executed; one died in captivity), and several were killed in crashes in China. Many were aided by Chinese civilians and soldiers, for which Japan exacted terrible revenge: an estimated 250,000 Chinese civilians were killed in reprisals. Doolittle, who had expected to be court-martialed for losing all his aircraft, was instead promoted and awarded the Medal of Honor.