The Doolittle Raid on Japan in WorldWar II seventy-seventh anniversary.

4/1/2019 2 Comments

The Doolittle Raid on Japan in WorldWar II seventy-seventh anniversary.

Since April 18, 1942, is the seventy-seventh anniversary of the Doolittle Raid on Japan in World
War II, it is appropriate to have a narrative on this remarkable mission. It was the only time
medium bombers (two motors) were ever used to take off from an aircraft carrier. The planes
were too large to be landed back on the carrier (USS Hornet, which was later sunk) and so after
taking off about 600 miles from Japan, the planes flew on to China, an ally of ours at the time.
The decision of which of our bombers to use and how it was to be made to take off from a tiny
carriers’ deck was left to Jimmy Doolittle, a very unusual person. It is rare in history to have a
person who combines such diverse qualities as he had: he was a daredevil pilot, had a Ph.D.
from Stanford in Aeronautical Engineering, and later proved he had the administrative skills to
command our gigantic 8th Air Force in England.
There being to no catapults as there were later to “throw” planes into the air from a carrier,
and with the 16 planes crowding the deck, the problem Doolittle faced was that it was
impossible for a medium bomber to roll down the deck and build up enough speed to get off by
itself. Doolittle solved this by examining each of our medium bombers and adding a lot of
ingenuity as he reports in his book, “I Could Never Be So Lucky Again.”
It came down to the North American company’s B-25 and the Marin B-26. He had to discount
the B-26 because it required a take-off speed of close to its landing speed of 90 mph. The B-25
was the choice. It had a stalling speed of 58 mph. While he knew that a loaded B-25 could not
reach nearly that speed in its roll down the deck, he took more into his calculation. If it was a
windy day on the Pacific, which it was, and if the carrier was headed into the wind at full speed
(30knots) there would be plenty of lift under the wings.
It worked beautifully. All 16 planes got off and all struck one of the five designated cities.

Jon Stafford

2 Comments

larhellyer@aol.com

4/4/2019 02:01:19 pm

Mr Stafford: You certainly have an excellent grasp of your subject matter. I shall seek out your first book. I love history and I love films. I hope you'll continue with your blog. And, with regard to my interests, might you, with your knowledge of Doolittle, have any thoughts regarding the actors who have played him in films? The 2 I can recall are Spencer Tracy and Alec Baldwin. But I am sure there have been others. Any comments or am I too off the wall?

Jon Stafford link

5/17/2019 05:02:19 am

Hello fellow historian,

So nice to get your note! You asked an interesting question which is hard to answer due to the complexity of Doolittle.
As I say in the blog, he was all of the following: a daredevil pilot, highly educated, and a great administrator. The daredevil Doolittle is well told by his piloting of planes such as the GB-Racer in the early thirties. As that is somewhat lengthy, I would like to save that for another blog. Another story works just as well and is taken from his autobiography I cited in the blog, “I Could Never Be So Lucky Again,” chapter 3. He was flying along as a young lieutenant and saw two men on a road. In buzzing them just for fun, he came too close and when one dropped to the ground, he thought that he might have killed him. Immediately, he became a humanitarian, staged a very risky landing in which the plane was destroyed, dashes over to the man, who was shaken but unhurt.
The big-time administrator Doolittle can be told in fewer words. He was a great friend of Franklin Roosevelt, who saw to it that Doolittle was both the planner and lead pilot for the raid named after him. There was literally no one else considered. I’ve read somewhere that Doolittle’s jump from civilian pilot to general in the Army Air Corps (there being no U.S. Air Force until 1947), which rankled many in the beginning, was a real success: he called George Patton, a real stuffed shirt, “Georgie.”
So, in answer to your question, about Alec Baldwin (Pearl Harbor, a terrible picture historically) and Spencer Tracey (30 Seconds over Tokyo, a great film) in their portrayals of Doolittle, I would say neither worked very well. Baldwin is known for his sense of humor, which Doolittle had, and Tracey was not. Baldwin is a giant compared to Doolittle (5’-4”?), and Tracey is so serious in the movie as to be dour.
This is about as much as I know.
Jon

Author Jon Stafford

Jon Stafford was born in Michigan, the third of four children, and grew up outside of Chicago, attending college close to home. He ventured south to Alabama for his master’s degree in Civil War history and worked toward his PhD at the University of South Carolina. Jon now lives in Columbia, South Carolina, and, after retiring from a thirty-year career teaching history to high schoolers, now spends his time as a residential building contractor, rehabbing houses. When not writing, Jon can be found spending time with his two daughters and grandchild, reading history tomes, and watching classic movies. Nostalgic for a time now gone, Jon is always rooting for the good guy: The good guys always win!

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The Doolittle Raid on Japan in WorldWar II seventy-seventh anniversary.

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Author Jon Stafford