And Then They Prayed. Barry Loudermilk
decision. In the final analysis, it’s up to each pilot and, in turn each man to decide what he will do.”
After the mission briefing dismissed, Sergeant Joe Manske returned to the flight deck to continue his task of checking out his aircraft. Joe, like many of the other mechanics, rarely left the aircraft since they had been moved into their final staging positions on the flight deck. He would often sleep on the deck near his aircraft, if the weather permitted.
On the evening of April 17, the weather turned from bad to worse; the task force was now facing excessive winds and rough seas. Thirty foot swells washed over the Hornet’s deck, sending seawater rushing down the runway, threatening to wash anything not secured to the ship, into the ocean.
On the morning of April 19, Lt. Colonel Doolittle was on the bridge of the Hornet when one of the other ships signaled they had spotted a Japanese vessel about eleven miles out, and they believed the task force had been sighted by the enemy. The USS Nashville was ordered to sink the vessel, and the USS Hornet received the message: “Launch Planes. To Colonel Doolittle and Gallant Command. Good Luck and God Bless You”
Doolittle left the bridge and called to his men, “OK Fellas, this is it, Let’s go!” At the same time, the ships klaxon sounded, followed by the announcement “Army personnel man your airplanes and take off immediately!”
Joe Manske hurried to the deck to begin the preparations for takeoff. His plane would be the fifth to depart, and he had to ensure both wing tanks and the special crawlway tank was filled with fuel. Manske had taken the crawlway tank out of the plane the day before to repair a leak, and refilled it with fuel. He filled the right wing tank while a sailor filled the left tank, but Manske did not double check the tank after the sailor finished. When the pilot, Captain Jones, ran through the startup procedure, he noticed the left tank was thirty gallons short, and ordered Mankse to top off the tank. A sailor passed him a fuel hose, but because the ship was at battle stations, all fuel pumps had been shut off.
By now the first plane, with Lt. Colonel Doolittle at the controls, was being readied for takeoff. As the lead plane in the line of sixteen B-25s, crammed closely together on the deck, Doolittle had the shortest amount of available runway, only about four hundred fifty feet. All eyes were on the lead plane, as Doolittle moved his throttles to full power and rolled toward the end of the carrier’s deck. With a thirty knot headwind, Doolittle’s plane lifted into the air with runway to spare.
The second and third planes also successfully departed, and now it was time for Captain Jones to start his engines. Several naval personnel on deck were yelling for Jones to get going, so he ordered Manske back into the plane and started the engines.
At the direction of one of the deckhands, Captain David Jones revved the engines and taxied his B-25 into position on a specially painted line that ran the length of the runway. With only six feet of clearance between the planes right wing and the ship’s tower, Jones would have to keep his left wheel on the line to avoid hitting the tower and ripping off his right wing.
Jones and the other pilots had practiced numerous short field takeoffs during their special training for this mission. But this would be his first real carrier takeoff, and now he not only had to concentrate on keeping the plane from hitting anything on the deck, but his takeoff had to be timed so that he reached the end of the deck as the ship was on top of one of the huge waves; otherwise, he may get airborne only to fly into a rising wall of seawater.
As the Hornet’s deck crew pulled the chocks from under the wheels of the bomber, Jones pressed heavily on the breaks. He then turned to a navy signalman, Lieutenant Edgar G. Osborne, and gave him a thumbs-up, indicating that all instruments were in the “green” and the aircraft and crew were ready for takeoff. Osborne began swinging a checkered flag in a large circle, a signal for Jones to advance the throttles forward. Jones, pressing firmly on the brakes, pushed both throttles to full power. As the brakes strained to hold back the powerful aircraft, Osborne began swinging the flag in faster and faster circles.
Co-pilot, Lieutenant Ross “Hoss” Wilder kept his eyes forward, looking down the short runway, as the carrier pitched downward and the spray from another wave came blowing over the bow. Water rushed down the deck toward the plane as deckhands held on to keep from being washed into the sea or a spinning propeller. Just as the ship began pitching upward, Osborne signaled to “go!” Jones released the brakes and the B-25 began slowly moving down the runway.
To Jones, it appeared as though the plane would fly right into the middle of one of the massive waves, but as they progressed down the flight deck, the bow began to rise. Osborne’s signal to “go” was carefully timed so that when they reached the end of the runway, the ship’s bow would be high upon a wave. At least that had worked for the first four aircraft that proceeded Captain Jones and his crew. However, Jones knew that there were too many factors in this operation that had to go just right and the takeoff would prove to be the easiest part of this mission. As the aircraft reached its minimum takeoff speed, Jones pulled slightly back on the yoke, and the B-25 lifted off the carrier’s deck and into the air.
The navigator, Lieutenant Eugene McGurl, called out coordinates, and Captain Jones and Co-Pilot, Lieutenant Ross Wilder, set a course for the mainland of Japan. By nine twenty in the morning, the last of the sixteen planes had left the USS Hornet. Now Lt. Colonel Doolittle and his Raiders were all alone, in enemy territory.
Around twelve fifteen in the afternoon, the lead plane piloted by Lt. Colonel Doolittle had reached the Island of Japan and had the city of Tokyo in its sites. Doolittle climbed to an altitude of twelve hundred feet, lined up with a factory, and released his bombs. Within a short time, the other Raiders would follow, striking pre-selected targets across the Island of Japan. Amazingly, the Raiders met little resistance. While there was some anti-aircraft fire, it was much less than expected, and they were surprised at the lack of fighter aircraft, which had been expected in much greater numbers. After releasing their bombs, every pilot dove down to treetop level until they reached the ocean where they set a course directly towards China.
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