On April 18, 1942, Americans retaliated for the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. While nervous sailors watched, 16 8-25 Mitchell medium bombers with five-man crews took off, one after another, from the wooden deck of the aircraft carrier USS Hornet (CV 8). Beginning with the lead bomber piloted by Lt Col James 'Jimmy' Doolittle, each B-25 roared down the carrier deck, plunged briefly from view as if to collide with the wave tops, and then reappeared in a slow, deliberate climb. Powered by two-1,700hp Wright R-260071 radial piston engines - straining to overcome gravity at maximum weight, flying a little sluggishly - the 27,1001b (12,290kg) bombers pulled skyward setting course for Japan.
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