The Doolittle Raid; also known as the Tokyo Raid; on 18 April 1942; was an air raid by the United States on the Japanese capital Tokyo and other places on Honshu island during World War II; the first air raid to strike the Japanese Home Islands. It demonstrated that Japan itself was vulnerable to American air attack; served as retaliation for the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941; and provided an important boost to U.S. morale while damaging Japanese morale. The raid was planned and led by Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle.

Sixteen U.S. Army Air Forces B-25B Mitchell medium bombers were launched without fighter escort from the U.S. Navy's aircraft carrier USS Hornet deep in the Western Pacific Ocean; each with a crew of five men. The plan called for them to bomb military targets in Japan; and to continue westward to land in China鈥攍anding a medium bomber on Hornet was impossible. Fifteen of the aircraft reached China; and the other one landed in the Soviet Union. All but three of the crew survived; but all the aircraft were lost. Eight crewmen were captured by the Japanese Army in China; three of these were executed. Pictures From History Pictures From History