ИСТОРИЧЕСКИЙ СПРАВОЧНИК

Lieutenant Colonel James H. Doolittle, USAAF (left front), leader of the raiding force, talks with Captain Marc A. Mitscher, USN, Commanding Officer of USS Hornet (CV-8), on board "Hornet" sometime before the 18 April 1942 launch of the raiding airplanes. Members of the Army Air Forces flight crews, and the wing of one of their B-25B bombers, are in the background.
Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the U.S. National Archives (photo # 80-G-41190).

North American B-25B's tied down to "Hornet's" deck, April 15th, 1942. Aircraft # 02298 was the 6th B-25 to take off and was flown by Lt. Dean E. Hallmark. All 16 of these aircraft were built in Inglewood, California.

Doolittle's own aircraft (Sr. No. 02344) lashed to "Hornet's" deck, April 16th, 1942.

B-25s prepare to take off from USS Hornet (CV-8) on April 18, 1942. The Americans bombed the cities of Tokyo, Nagoya and Kobe.
Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the U.S. National Archives (photo # 80-G-324199).

Army Lieut. Col. James H. Doolittle, taking off from USS "Hornet" (CV 8), Capt. Marc A. Mitscher commanding, bombed Tokyo, the first American air strike against the Japanese homeland. "Hornet's" mission was kept an official secret for a year; until then President Roosevelt referred to the origin of the Tokyo raid only as "Shangri-La."

April 18, 1942 photo shows the "Hornet" encountering rough seas while preparing to launch B-25 bombers for the Doolittle Raid on Japan. The cruiser on her port is the USS Vincennes (CA-44). Both ships were transferred from the Atlantic Fleet specifically for the Doolittle Raid.

Enlarged version of photo above.