April 18 of this year marks the 71st anniversary of Lt. Col. Doolittle’s raid on Japan in 1942. So in April I will post a series of the raid photos that are less frequently seen. We begin the series with the US Navy, without which this daring mission would have been impossible.
In the top photo, the Navy blimp L-8 is hovering over the deck of USS Hornet (CV-8) to deliver parts for the B-25 bombers. The blimp rendezvoused with Hornet off the coast of California two days after the aircraft carrier left San Francisco Bay. In the photo below, the blimp is seen without the underslung cargo crate. So this photo must have been taken after the rendezvous. L-8 was involved in a mysterious crash on August 16, 1942. Two men onboard were never found, including the pilot who flew the Hornet delivery mission, Lt. Ernest DeWitt Cody. The mystery is referred to as the “Ghost Blimp”.
The following is a view of the aft deck of USS Hornet. The destroyer USS Gwin (DD-433) is coming alongside, with the light cruiser USS Nashville (CL-43) on the left. There are two other ships in the distance. Note that four of Hornet´s Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bombers can be seen. Two are on the left, next to the Gwin. The other two SBD, barely visible in this photo, are parked in front of the two B-25 at the far end.
These are two of the four SBD mentioned above.
USS Hornet also carried some F4F Wildcat fighters:
Navy F4F fighters with wings folded on the forward flight deck.
Two of the F4F in the above photo are being lowered by the deck elevator to the lower deck in preparation for take-off of the B-25 bombers.
