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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

10. Turning to an Aviation Pioneer

Doolittle - Jimmy Doolittle aboard his Curtis R3C-2 racer airplane, with which he won the 1925 Schneider Cup Trophy — Jimmy Doolittle aboard his Curtis R3C-2 racer airplane, with which he won the 1925 Schneider Cup Trophy. Disciples of Flight

On January 10^th, 1942, Captain Low, Assistant Chief of Staff for antisubmarine warfare, took his idea to Admiral Ernest J. King, Commander in Chief of the US Fleet. King thought that the idea had some potential, so he ran it by Henry “Hap” Arnold, Commanding General of the US Army Air Forces. Arnold liked the idea, so plans were begun for a top secret mission to launch long-range Army bombers from an aircraft carrier to hit Japan. To organize the raid, Arnold picked Lieutenant Colonel James Harold “Jimmy” Doolittle, who had been a famous test pilot, airplane racer, and aeronautical engineer before the war. Among other things, Doolittle had revolutionized aviation when he pioneered instrument flying, which allowed pilots to takeoff, fly, and land airplanes regardless of visibility.

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.