Aircraft - North American B-25 Mitchell
About the B-25 MItchell Bomber:
Crew: Six ( one pilot, one co-pilot, navigator/bombardier, turret gunner/engineer, radio operator/waist gunner, tail gunner )
Length: 52 ft 11in Wingspan: 67 ft 7in
Height: 16 ft 9 in Weight: 29,300 lbs. (maximum)
Maximum speed: 328 MPH Cruise Speed: 233 MPH
Range: 2,500 miles ( with auxiiliary tanks) Engine: Two wright R-2600s of 1,700 hp each
Length: 52 ft 11in Wingspan: 67 ft 7in
Height: 16 ft 9 in Weight: 29,300 lbs. (maximum)
Maximum speed: 328 MPH Cruise Speed: 233 MPH
Range: 2,500 miles ( with auxiiliary tanks) Engine: Two wright R-2600s of 1,700 hp each
The Doolittle Raid, also known as the Tokyo Raid, on 18 April 1942, was an air raid by the United States on the Japanese capital Tokyo and other places on Honshu island during World War II, the first air raid to strike the Japanese Home Islands. It demonstrated that Japan itself was vulnerable to American air attack, was retaliation for the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, provided an important boost to U.S. morale, and damaged Japanese morale. The raid was planned and led by Lieutenant ColonelJames "Jimmy" Doolittle, U.S. Army Air Forces.
Sixteen U.S. Army Air Forces B-25B Mitchell medium bombers were launched without fighter escort from the U.S. Navy's aircraft carrier USS Hornet deep in the Western Pacific Ocean, each with a crew of five men. The plan called for them to bomb military targets in Japan, and to continue westward to land in China—landing a medium bomber on the Hornet was impossible. Fifteen of the aircraft reached China, and the other one landed in the Soviet Union. All but three of the crew survived, but all the aircraft were lost. Eight crewmen were captured by the Japanese Army in China; three of these were executed. The B-25 that landed in the Soviet Union atVladivostok was confiscated and its crew interned for more than a year. Fourteen crews, except for one crewman, returned either to the United States or to American forces.[1][2] An estimated 250,000 Chinese civilians were killed by the Japanese during their search for Doolittle's men.[3][4]
The raid caused negligible material damage to Japan, only hitting non-military targets or missing completely—Doolitle thought immediately after the raid that the loss of all his aircraft would lead to his being court-martialled, rather than honored—but it succeeded in its goal of helping American morale and casting doubt in Japan on the ability of its 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 strategic defeat of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) by the U.S. Navy near Midway Island in the Central Pacific.
Sixteen U.S. Army Air Forces B-25B Mitchell medium bombers were launched without fighter escort from the U.S. Navy's aircraft carrier USS Hornet deep in the Western Pacific Ocean, each with a crew of five men. The plan called for them to bomb military targets in Japan, and to continue westward to land in China—landing a medium bomber on the Hornet was impossible. Fifteen of the aircraft reached China, and the other one landed in the Soviet Union. All but three of the crew survived, but all the aircraft were lost. Eight crewmen were captured by the Japanese Army in China; three of these were executed. The B-25 that landed in the Soviet Union atVladivostok was confiscated and its crew interned for more than a year. Fourteen crews, except for one crewman, returned either to the United States or to American forces.[1][2] An estimated 250,000 Chinese civilians were killed by the Japanese during their search for Doolittle's men.[3][4]
The raid caused negligible material damage to Japan, only hitting non-military targets or missing completely—Doolitle thought immediately after the raid that the loss of all his aircraft would lead to his being court-martialled, rather than honored—but it succeeded in its goal of helping American morale and casting doubt in Japan on the ability of its 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 strategic defeat of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) by the U.S. Navy near Midway Island in the Central Pacific.
