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A Small Strike With Huge Consequences: The Doolittle Raid That Changed WWII in the Pacific

Khalid Elhassan March 12, 2025 14 min

Doolittle - A B-25 takes off from the USS Hornet, en route to Tokyo — A B-25 takes off from the USS Hornet, en route to Tokyo. US Army

5. Loading Air Force Bombers Aboard Navy Carriers

Doolittle - Doolittle and his men aboard the USS Hornet with its skipper, Captain Marc A. Mitscher — Doolittle and his men aboard the USS Hornet with its skipper, Captain Marc A. Mitscher. United States Air Force Archives

Two B-25s were destroyed in accidents during the course of training, and a third had to be written off because of mechanical problems. The rest of the bombers flew to California, and arrived at Sacramento Air Depot on March 27^th. There, they underwent final modifications and inspections, and the best sixteen B-25Bs were flown to Alameda Naval Air Station on March 31^st. The following day, the airplanes, each with four 500-pound bombs, three high explosive and one incendiary, along with their five-man crews and maintenance personnel, were loaded aboard the USS Hornet. The carrier and her escorts, Task Force 18, sailed from San Francisco on April 2^nd. North of Hawaii on the 12^th, they linked up with the USS Enterprise and Task Force 16, commanded by Vice Admiral William F. “Bull” Halsey.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.