Video: 'The Doolitte Raid on Tokyo (1942): The US Strikes Back | Battle 360 | History'

(Saturday, April 18, 1942, about noon Japan Standard Time; during the Doolittle Raid, part of the Pacific War of World War II) — Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle led a squadron of B-25 bombers today in a surprise raid against the Japanese capital Tokyo and other places on Honshu in response to the Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. It was the first air operation to strike the Japanese archipelago.

Although the raid caused comparatively minor damage, it demonstrated that the Japanese mainland was vulnerable to American air attacks and provided an important boost to American morale.

Video: '138 - America Strikes Back - Tokyo in Flames - WW2 - April 18 1942' (Doolittle Raid at 1:51)

Under the final plan, 16 B-25B Mitchell medium bombers, each with a crew of five, were launched from the US Navy aircraft carrier USS Hornet, in the Pacific Ocean, 650 miles east of Japan. There was to be no fighter escort. After bombing military and industrial targets in Japan, the B-25 crews were to continue westward to land in China.

The raid on Japan killed about 50 people and injured 400, including civilians.

Video: 'The World at War: Japan: 1941-1945 (22 of 26)' (Doolittle Raid at 19:23)

Of the 16 USAAF crews involved, 14 complete crews of five returned to the United States or to U.S. forces elsewhere, except for one who was killed in action. Eight aviators were captured by Japanese forces in Eastern China and three of these were later executed. All but one of the B-25s were destroyed in crashes, while the 16th landed at Vladivostok, in the Soviet Union.