Changes

Gathering volunteer air crews for an unspecified, but admittedly dangerous mission, Doolittle embarked on a vigourous program of special training for his men and modifications to their planes. The new carrier USS ''Hornet'' was sent to the Pacific to undertake the Navy's part of the mission. So secret was the operation that her Commanding Officer, Captain [[Marc A. Mitscher]], had no idea of his ship's upcoming employment until shortly before sixteen B-25s were loaded on her flight deck (Most of Doolittle's men also had no idea what they were doing, even as they were being trained by a Naval officer on short take-offs prior to their arrival in Alameda). On 2 April 1942 Hornet put to sea and headed west across the vast Pacific.   

Gathering volunteer air crews for an unspecified, but admittedly dangerous mission, Doolittle embarked on a vigourous program of special training for his men and modifications to their planes. The new carrier USS ''Hornet'' was sent to the Pacific to undertake the Navy's part of the mission. So secret was the operation that her Commanding Officer, Captain [[Marc A. Mitscher]], had no idea of his ship's upcoming employment until shortly before sixteen B-25s were loaded on her flight deck (Most of Doolittle's men also had no idea what they were doing, even as they were being trained by a Naval officer on short take-offs prior to their arrival in Alameda). On 2 April 1942 Hornet put to sea and headed west across the vast Pacific.   

Joined in mid-ocean on 13 April by Vice Admiral [[William F. Halsey]]'s flagship USS ''Enterprise'', which would provide air cover during the approach, Hornet steamed toward a planned 18 April afternoon launching point some 400 miles from Japan. However, before dawn on 18 April, enemy picket boats were encountered much further east than expected. These were evaded or sunk, but got off radio warnings, forcing the planes to take off around 8 AM, while still more than 600 miles out.

Joined in mid-ocean on 13 April by Vice Admiral [[William F. Halsey]]'s flagship [[USS ''Enterprise'']], which would provide air cover during the approach, Hornet steamed toward a planned 18 April afternoon launching point some 400 miles from Japan. However, before dawn on 18 April, enemy picket boats were encountered much further east than expected. These were evaded or sunk, but got off radio warnings, forcing the planes to take off around 8 AM, while still more than 600 miles out.

Most of the sixteen B-25s, each with a five-man crew, attacked the Tokyo area, with a few hitting [[Nagoya]]. Damage to the intended military targets was modest, and none of the planes reached the Chinese airfields (though all but a few of their crewmen survived). However, the Japanese high command was deeply embarrassed. Three of the eight American airmen they had captured were executed. Spurred by Combined Fleet commander Admiral [[Isoroku Yamamoto]], they also resolved to eliminate the risk of any more such raids by the early destruction of America's aircraft carriers, a decision that led them to disaster at the [[Battle of Midway]] a month and a half later.

Most of the sixteen B-25s, each with a five-man crew, attacked the Tokyo area, with a few hitting [[Nagoya]]. Damage to the intended military targets was modest, and none of the planes reached the Chinese airfields (though all but a few of their crewmen survived). However, the Japanese high command was deeply embarrassed. Three of the eight American airmen they had captured were executed. Spurred by Combined Fleet commander Admiral [[Isoroku Yamamoto]], they also resolved to eliminate the risk of any more such raids by the early destruction of America's aircraft carriers, a decision that led them to disaster at the [[Battle of Midway]] a month and a half later.