The full story of 80 brave men It is all there with incredible photos. Take a look. Doolittle Raider 80 Brave Men The Doolittle Raid, 18 April 1942 was the first air raid by the United States to strike the Japanese home island of Honshū during World War II. The mission was notable since it was the only time in U.S. military history that United States Army Air Forces bombers were launched from a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier on a combat mission. The Doolittle Raid demonstrated that the Japanese home islands were vulnerable to Allied air attack, and it provided an expedient means for U.S. retaliation for Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. The raid was planned and led by Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle, already a famous civilian aviator and aeronautical engineer before the war. The raid, however, had its roots in the mind of Navy Captain Francis Low, who early in the war predicted that, under the right conditions, twin-engined Army bombers could be successfully launched from an aircraft carrier. Requirements for the aircraft were for a cruising range of 2,400 miles (3,900 km) with a 2,000 pound (900 kg) bomb load. The B-26 Marauder and B-23 Dragon were also considered, but the B-26 had questionable takeoff characteristics from a carrier deck, and the B-23's wingspan was nearly 50% greater than the B-25's, reducing the number that could be taken aboard a carrier and posing risks to the ship's island. Subsequent tests with three North American B-25B Mitchells at Norfolk indicated it could be launched from a carrier, hit military targets in Japan, and fly on to land in China. Negotiations with the Soviet Union to land in Siberia, shortening the flight by 600 miles (970 km), were fruitless.[1]
Hhahah. You sound like a real stick in the mud Spidge. It was kickin' some Jap arse. The way they are going down here with killing the humpback whales we might just have to kick some more.
I have two things against the Japanese. They have not apologised for their ww2 atrocities! And they hunt whales and dolphins.
That'd be about my prob with them too, Spidgeman and TA. Wonderful country though, amazing place...well, what two full on days can imprint on me anyway!
I've got a lot more than two. After they apologise for their WW2 atrocities, I'd still like to pilot the next Enola Gaye.
I don't blame the children for the sins of their fathers! I let my daughter eat sushi for Christ's sake.
I think it'd be fair to say that we all hope there won't be another one. If it got to that stage, we're all screwed.
:focus: Ok, back to the serious stuff, another boring question from Adrian: The site is great on the men involved, but unless I haven't looked hard enough, I couldn't find much on the aircraft. What did they carry in the way of gun armament? I believe that normally a B25B carried a dorsal and ventral turret with twin fifties, and a 0.30 in the nose. I can see dorsal turret in the photos: were the ventral turrets retained or were they removed to save weight? One of the crew was designated an engineer/gunner so presumably there must have been some guns retained. Given that weight reduction was important, both for max range and to get off the flight deck, I'm a little surprised that they needed two pilots and a separate navigator and bombardier. Can any of you elaborate on why this was necessary?
AR, I thought they were unarmed other than the black painted broomsticks in the tail! Looking at the pic posted by TA, it would appear the dorsal turret may have been the one with the broomsticks as there does not appear to be a tail position.
I had to look back to see what the question was about Adrian. I thought it was seafood. The aircraft were modified by: Removal of the lower gun turret Installation of de-icers and anti-icers Steel blast plates mounted on the fuselage around the upper turret Removal of the liaison radio set Installation of three additional fuel tanks and support mounts in the bomb bay, crawl way and lower turret area to increase fuel capacity from 646 to 1,141 U.S. gallons (2445 to 4319 litres) Mock gun barrels installed in the tail cone, and Replacement of their Norden bombsight with a makeshift aiming sight. Two bombers also had cameras mounted to record the results of bombing. On 1 April, the 16 modified bombers, their five-man crews and Army maintenance personnel were loaded onto the USS Hornet at Alameda. Each aircraft carried four specially-constructed 500-pound (225 kg) bombs. Three of these were high-explosive munitions, while the other was a bundle of incendiaries. The incendiaries were long tubes, wrapped together in order to be carried in the bomb bay, but designed to separate and scatter over a wide area after release. To decrease weight (and thus increase range), the bombers' armament was reduced. Each bomber launched with two .50-calibre (12.7 mm) machine guns in an upper turret and a .30-caliber (7.6 mm) machine gun in the nose. Two wooden, simulated gun barrels mounted in the tail cones were intended to discourage Japanese air attacks from that direction, and were cited afterward by Doolittle as being particularly effective. In the picture below, Navy Capt. Marc A. Mitscher, skipper of the USS Hornet chats with Lt. Col. James Doolittle and the boys before takeoff.
