USS Hornet Makes a Special Delivery
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On the Morning of
April 18th, 1942, the silhouette of a two Aircraft Carriers broke
the horizon as they steamed west. One was the USS Enterprise, acting as an
escort to the other. The other silhouette was abnormal. It did not carry the
normal complement of Dauntless Dive Bombers and F4f Wildcat Fighter planes.
This Carrier had an impressive fleet of 16 B-25 Mitchell Medium Bombers on its
deck. The Carrier was the USS Hornet,
the newest Aircraft Carrier in the American Navy.
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The B-25s were the greatest size plane any Aircraft Carrier had
on her flight deck up to that point in the War. In fact, the B-25s were so
large that it was impossible for them to land on the Hornet. However, the
orders to launch these bombers from the Hornet. It was a monumental task and a
great Bombing Squadron Leader would be necessary to accomplish the task. That
man was Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle.
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First, Lt. Col. Doolittle’s pilots had to make a shortened
take off of 500 feet. Engineers calculated the maximum payload and loaded it
the correct number and weight of bombs. Meanwhile, pilots trained on Air Bases
in San Diego before they were loaded onto the Hornet at the Naval Air Base in
San Diego for the two-week trip across the Pacific.
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The launch had not
been scheduled until just before sunset on the 18th, however, a
small Japanese patrol boat had spotted the American Task Force. Although the Light
Cruiser USS Nashville quickly sunk the Patrol Boat, Vice Admiral William “Bull”
Halsey decided rather than risk being caught with planes on the Hornet’s deck
(as well as 32,000 pounds of bombs), they should launch immediately. Lt.
Colonel Doolittle informed his men and preparations got underway.
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