CA-35
Senior Member
It was 75 years ago to this day that (16) B-25B Mitchell medium bombers were launched WITHOUT fighter escort from the U.S. Navy's aircraft carrier USS Hornet (CV-8) commanded by William "Bull" Halsey, each with a crew of five men for a total of 80 airmen (52 officers, 28 enlisted). Fifteen aircraft reached their targets, (13) aircraft ran out of fuel and crashed and (1) was ditched at sea after dropping their payload of bombs. The 15th landed at Vladivostok in the Soviet Union. All but three of the 80 crew members initially survived the mission. Eight airmen were captured by the Japanese Army in China; three of those were later executed by firing squad. The B-25 that landed in the Soviet Union was confiscated and the crew imprisoned for more than a year.
Only one of the 80 is still alive today; Col. Richard E. Cole and he is 101.
An interesting side note the tail number pictured below was aircraft 40-2242 which was the one aircraft that landed in Russia.
Only one of the 80 is still alive today; Col. Richard E. Cole and he is 101.
An interesting side note the tail number pictured below was aircraft 40-2242 which was the one aircraft that landed in Russia.