The Doolittle Raid

Choose an answer from the three choices and True or False offered after each question and then "Check Your Answers" at the end of the quiz.

1. The Doolittle Raid, April 18, 1942 was the first air raid by the United States to strike the Japanese home island of Honshū during World War II. The mission was notable since it was the only time in U.S. military history that United States Army Air Forces bombers were launched from a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier on a combat mission. What was the name of the aircraft carrier that the bombers flew from?

• USS Enterprise
• USS Yorktown
• USS Hornet

2. What was the bomber used for the Doolittle Raid?

• B-26 Marauder
• B-25B Mitchells
• B-23 Dragon

3. The bombers were modified to make the mission. What was NOT a modification?

• Replacement of their Norden bombsight with a makeshift aiming sight.
• Installation of three additional fuel tanks and support mounts in the bomb bay, crawl way and lower turret area to increase fuel capacity from 646 to 1,141 U.S. gallons
• Install additional liaison radio set

4. Four bombers also had cameras mounted to record the results of bombing.

• True or False?

5. On the morning of 18 April, at a distance of about 650 miles from Japan, the task force was sighted by a Japanese picket boat No. 23 Nitto Maru which radioed an attack warning to Japan. What was the name of the cruiser that destroyed the picket boat?

• USS Pittsburgh
• USS Orlando
• USS Nashville

6. With all their intensive training, how many times had Doolittle and his crew actually flown from a aircraft carrier before the launch on Tokyo?

• 0
• 6
• 12

7. None of the bombers were shot down over Japan. Immediately following the raid, Doolittle told his crew that he believed the loss of all 16 aircraft, coupled with the relatively minor damage the aircraft had inflicted on their targets, had rendered the attack a failure, and that he expected a court martial upon his return to the United States. What honor was Doolittle given?

• Court martial
• Medal of Honor
• Demoted in rank to captain and discharged from the air force

8. When the news of the raid was released, American morale soared from the depths to which it had plunged following the Pearl Harbor attack and Japan's subsequent territorial gains. It was important for Americans to know that a military response had been undertaken.

• True or False?

9. Of the 80 crew on the flight. How many died?

• 7
• 14
• 34

10. Doolittle Raider pilot Captain Ted W. Lawson, who lost a leg and suffered other serious injuries as a result of his crash landing off the coast of China, wrote a book about the mission. It as made into a movie. Spencer Tracy played Doolittle and Van Johnson portrayed Lawson. What was the book and movie’s title?

• Thirty Seconds over Tokyo
• The Purple Heart
• Lost Horizon

Check Your Answers

• 1. Hornet
• 2. B-25B Mitchells
• 3. Install additional liaison radio set
• 4. False. It was only two bombers.
• 5. USS Nashville
• 6. 0
• 7. Medal of Honor
• 8. True
• 9. 8
• 10. Thirty Seconds over Tokyo