Crew 08
Eighth plane to take off from the USS Hornet on 18 April 1942
Datasheet plane
- Aircraft Squadron: | 95th Bombardment Squadron |
- USAAF Serial number plane: | 40-2242 |
- AAN manufacturer's serial number: | |
- Name of the plane: | The plane had no name - no individual markings |
- Take off date: | 18 April 1942 |
- Take off time: | Take off @ 08.46 am ship time USS Hornet |
- Place in line to take off: | 8th |
- Bombs on board: | 1 cluster incendiary + 3 demolition bombs |
- Bombed area in Japan: | Tokio - but flew direction Vladivistok, Russia and bombed other locations in Japan. Nishi Nasuno for example. |
- Bombing of Japan - local time: | 13;20 pm |
- Fate crew - 18 april 1942: | Captured and interned by the Russians |
- Fate plane - 18 april 1942: | Safe wheel landing at Primiori Airfied in Kraj Primorski, Russia |
The Crew
Target
The story of Crew 08
Soon after take-off from the USS Hornet, the crew quickly noticed that the plane was consuming a lot of fuel. The carbrators were not properly adjusted. The plane flew over Japan but flew not over Tokio. Due to lack of fuel, the pilot decided not to fly over the East China Sea towards China. They would crash into the sea.
They took the safe side and flew to Russia across Japan, however landing in Russia was not what was discussed. On the way to Russia they bombed another locations in Japan than foreseen. 36 52 59.5 N 139 59 17.6 E was one of these locations. Near Nishi Nasuno Station.
Finally, the plane landed north of Vladivostok. Russia was neutral in the war with Japan and interned the crew who would later escape to Iran. The plane was seized by the Russian government. Landed in Russia, as said north of Vladivostok 44 26 58 N 132 07 34 E Khorolsky District, Kraj Primorski, Russia. The only Doolittle B-25 Raider bomber that not crashed. See pictures for the plane that landed in Kraj Primorski, Russia.
The crew was interned by the Russians and the plane was confiscated by the Russian government. Later duing the war, the crew could escape to Iran.
As the plane landed in Russia, the crew was never in Chongqing, China. Complete crew arrived safely back in the United States.
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Remark : pictures of the plane landed in Russia and its bombing pictures (see picture) over Japan were in Russian hands but it seems after the war (or during the war?) these pictures came in American hands. The fate of the confiscated plane is unknown to me, however I was reading it was demolished in 1958 somewhere in Russia.
Pictures copyright @ nara-usa - public domain.
Crew picture : copyright @nara-usa - public domain - colored by : Our colorful history @ https://www.facebook.com/historyrestored - used with permission - Thank you so much for the wonderful crew pictures.
