Editing Doolittle Raid (section)

{{Short description|American bombing of Japan on April 18, 1942}}
{{redirect|Tokyo Raid|the later air raid sometimes known as Great Tokyo Air Raid|Bombing of Tokyo (10 March 1945)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}}
{{Use American English|date = March 2019}}
<!--Note to editors: the US Army Air Corps was reorganized into the US Army Air Forces a little over a month prior to the raid. This means that the training was accomplished under the USAAC, but the operation took place under the USAAF.--><!--Discuss this on the talk page if there is an issue. The information here is in error. The AAF was formed in June 1941, with the AC under it, and the US Army was reorganized a month before, with the AC ceasing to be an organization. It was incorporated into the AAF in June 1941. All of the mission took place "under" AAF.-->
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict          = Doolittle Raid
| partof            = [[Air raids on Japan]] during the [[Pacific War]] of World War II
| image             = B-25 bomber by James Doolittle took off from the USS Hornet for Doolittle Raid in 1942.jpg
| image_size        = 300px
| caption           = [[Jimmy Doolittle]] and his [[North American B-25 Mitchell|B-25 Mitchell]] prior to taking off from the {{USS|Hornet|CV-8|6}} for the raid
| date              = 18 April 1942
| place             = [[Greater Tokyo Area]] and other Japanese cities
| combatant1        = {{indented plainlist|
* {{flag|United States|1912}}
* {{flagcountry|Republic of China (1912–1949)}}{{sfn|Doolittle|Glines|1991|pp=3, 541}}{{sfn|Scott|2015}}
}}
| combatant2        = {{flagcountry|Empire of Japan}}
| commander1        = [[Jimmy Doolittle|James H. Doolittle]]
| commander2        = [[Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni]]
| strength1         = {{indented plainlist|
* 16 [[North American B-25 Mitchell|B-25 Mitchell medium bombers]]
* 80 airmen (52 officers, 28 enlisted)
* 2 aircraft carriers
* 4 cruisers
* 8 destroyers
}}
| strength2         = Unknown number of [[Kawasaki Ki-61]] Hien fighters and anti-aircraft artillery{{sfn|Chun|2006|p=60}}
| casualties1       = {{indented plainlist|
* 16 B-25s lost (15 destroyed, 1 interned in the Soviet Union)
* 3 killed
* 8 captured (4 lived to be rescued and 4 died in captivity: 3 executed, 1 by disease)
}}
| casualties2       = {{indented plainlist|
*  50 killed
*  400 injured (including civilians){{citation needed|reason=Bix "Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan", p. 457 says the bombing "killed about 50 civilians", which implies that the number of deaths quoted here is ALL civilians, which it might well have been.|date=October 2021}}
* 5 sailors captured
* 5 patrol boats sunk
* [[Japanese aircraft carrier Ryūhō|One nearly converted aircraft carrier damaged]]
}}
| campaignbox       = {{Campaignbox Second Sino-Japanese War}}
{{Campaignbox Pacific War}}
{{Japanese colonial campaigns}}
{{Campaignbox World War II}}
}}

The '''Doolittle Raid''', also known as '''Doolittle's Raid''', as well as the '''Tokyo Raid''', was an air raid on 18 April 1942 by the United States on the Japanese capital [[Tokyo City|Tokyo]] and other places on [[Honshu]] during [[World War II]]. It was the first American air operation to strike the [[Japanese archipelago]]. Although the raid caused comparatively minor damage, it demonstrated that the Japanese mainland was vulnerable to American air attacks. It served as an initial retaliation for the December 7, 1941, [[attack on Pearl Harbor]], and provided an important boost to American morale. The raid was named after Lieutenant Colonel [[Jimmy Doolittle|James Doolittle]], who planned and led the attack.  It was [[American carrier raids of 1942|one of six American carrier raids against Japan and Japanese-held territories]] conducted in the first half of 1942.

Under the final plan, 16 [[North American B-25 Mitchell|B-25B Mitchell]] medium bombers, each with a crew of five, were launched from the US Navy aircraft carrier {{USS|Hornet|CV-8|6}}, in the Pacific Ocean. There were no [[fighter escort]]s. After bombing the military and industrial targets, the crews were to continue westward to land in China.

On the ground, the raid killed around 50 people and injured 400. Damage to Japanese military and industrial targets was minimal, but the raid had major psychological effects. In the United States, it raised morale. In Japan, it raised fear and doubt about the ability of military leaders to defend the home islands, but the bombing and [[strafing]] of civilians created a desire for retribution—this was exploited for propaganda purposes.<ref name="hist reex">{{Cite web|url = http://www.historynet.com/aftermath-doolittle-raid-reexamined.htm|title = Aftermath: How the Doolittle Raid Shook Japan|date = 27 July 2015|access-date = 19 April 2018|archive-date = 19 April 2018|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180419184041/http://www.historynet.com/aftermath-doolittle-raid-reexamined.htm|url-status = live}}</ref> The raid also pushed forward Admiral [[Isoroku Yamamoto]]'s plans to attack [[Midway Atoll|Midway Island]] in the Central Pacific—an attack that turned into a decisive defeat of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) by the US Navy in the [[Battle of Midway]]. The consequences of the Doolittle Raid were most severely felt in China: in reprisal for the raid, the Japanese launched the [[Zhejiang-Jiangxi campaign]], killing 250,000 civilians and 70,000 soldiers.<ref name="hist reex" />{{sfn|Scott|2015}}

Of the 16 crews involved, 14 returned to the United States or reached the safety of American forces, though one man was killed while bailing out.<ref name="bravemen" />{{sfn|Glines|1988|pp=166–168}} Eight men were captured by Japanese forces in eastern China (the other two crew members having drowned in the sea), and three of them were later executed. All but one of the 16 B-25s were destroyed in crashes, while one of the planes landed at [[Vladivostok]] in the [[Soviet Union]].

Because the Soviet Union was not officially at war with Japan, it was required, [[Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907#Hague Convention of 1907|under international law]], to intern the crew for the duration of the war. The crew's B-25 was also confiscated. However, within a year, the crew was secretly allowed to leave the Soviet Union, under the guise of an escape—they returned to the United States or to American units elsewhere by way of [[Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran|Allied-occupied Iran]] and North Africa.

Doolittle initially believed that the loss of all of his aircraft would lead to his [[court-martial]]<ref name="James H. Doolittle">{{Cite web|url = https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/james-h-doolittle|title = James H. Doolittle|date = 9 November 2009|access-date = 31 July 2022|archive-date = 24 March 2022|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220324015051/https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/james-h-doolittle|url-status = live}}</ref>—instead he received the [[Medal of Honor]] and was promoted two ranks to [[brigadier general]].