18 April 1942,sixteen B-25B Mitchell bombers were launched from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet deep within enemy waters. The plan called for them to hit military targets in Japan, and land in China.The raid was planned and led by Lieutenant Colonel James "Jimmy" Doolittle.

Conceived in January 1942 in the wake of the devastating Japanese surprise attack on Oahu, the “joint Army-Navy bombing project” was to bomb Japanese industrial centers, to inflict both “material and psychological” damage upon the enemy. Planners hoped that the former would include the destruction of specific targets “with ensuing confusion and retardation of production.”

In the picture the USS Hornet and Enterprise were sailing to the mission spot.