北太平洋
Photo by U.S. Air Force | 1942-04-18 00:00:00 |
1942年4月18日清晨,北太平洋距离日本650海里处海域,美国海军大黄蜂号航空母舰 (CV-8),美国陆军航空队中校杜利特驾驶B-25B"米切尔"中型轰炸机全油门起飞前往东京执行轰炸任务,这趟大胆的单程轰炸由16架B-25B和80名机组人员组成,由杜利特中校率队指挥,以报复日本海军偷袭珍珠港。为达成这一任务,机组成员在埃格林空军基地的瓦格纳场训练了两个星期,16架B-25B也进行了适用性改装,拆除了一切不必要的设备,尽量减轻起飞重量。(USS HORNET, PACIFIC OCEAN 1942 -- Lt. Col. James "Jimmy" Doolittle performs a full-throttle takeoff from the USS Hornet 650 miles from Japan on a secret mission. The Doolittle Raid, U.S. Army Air Force special order #1 of World War II, was a daring one-way mission of 16 B-25 Mitchell medium bombers with 80 aircrew, commanded by Colonel Doolittle, to carry out America’s first offensive attack on Japan. The crews secretly trained for two-weeks and modified the B-25s at Eglin Air Force Base's Wagner Field, Auxiliary Field 1 prior to the mission.)