Last update: 14 August 2023

Crew 04

Fourth plane to take off from the USS Hornet on 18 April 1942

Datasheet

- Aircraft Squadron:	95th Bombardment Squadron
- Serial number plane:	40-2282
- Name of the plane:	The plane had no name - no individual markings
- Take off date:	18 April 1942
- Take off time:	Take off @ 08.33 am ship time USS Hornet
- Place in line to take off:	4th
- Take off direction:	Take off @ about 35 40 N 153 40 E
- Bombs on board:	1 cluster incendiary + 3 demolition bombs
- Bombed area in Japan:	Tokio (but bombs dropped in the Sagamy Bay)
- Bombing of Japan - local time:	12:45 pm
- Fate crew - 18 april 1942:	Bailed out above China - 09.50 pm
- Fate plane - 18 april 1942:	Crash south of Shangrao, China

The Crew

95th Bombardment Squadron

Target

Tokio (but bombs dropped in the Sagamy Bay)

The story of Crew 04

All four bombs were dropped above the Sagamy Bay @ 35 17 14 N 139 34 46 E

The plane never flew over Japan. The rear turret was inoperative from the moment firs tested after the take off from the USS Hornet. Reaching Japan over the Sagamy Bay the plane was reportedly attacked by four Japanese fighterplanes. The machine gun in the forward turret was the aircraft's only protection. The pilot chose certainty over uncertainty. Dropped its bombs over the Sagamy Bay and flew towards China following the Japanes coast. And so the plane never flew over the main island of Japan.

The plane flew over the South China Sea direction China. While the crew were discussing and wanted to use a raft to get to the Chinese mainland via a landing on the water, they received unexpected help from a strong tailwind that, so to speak, carried them straight to the Chinese mainland. Other aircraft of crews participating in the raid on Japan also experienced this unexpected tailwind. If it had not been for this, many planes would have crashed into the sea en route to mainland China. That's at least what many crew members of different crews say in their memoirs anyway.

The crew bailed out in the Fujian province in occupied China near Shangrao @ about 27°54'11.1"N 117°59'12.8"E Close to Wuyishan 27°46'01.7"N 118°01'18.2"E No crew member was injured after bailing out.

Picked up by the Chinese resistance. Arrived in Chongqing, China between 25 and 30 april 1942.

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Picture 1 : Doolittle raiders Edward Saylor, Thomas Robert White, Don Smith, Griffith Williams and Howard Sessler with local civilian and military leaders in Sanmen County, Zhejiang Province, China, 23 Apr 1942.

Picture 3 : Doolittle Raiders Frank Kappeler, Charles Greening, Kenneth Reddy, Lucian Youngblood, Eugene McCurl, Jacob Manch, Waldo Bither, and Rodney Wilder @ Chongqing, China, 29 Jun 1942 .

All pictures copyright @ nara-usa - public domain

Crew picture : copyright @nara-usa - public domain - colored by : Our colorful history @ https://www.facebook.com/historyrestored - used with permission - Thank you so much for the wonderful crew pictures.