Read Target Tokyo: Jimmy Doolittle and the Raid That Avenged Pearl Harbor Online
Authors: James M. Scott
Tags: #Pulitzer Prize Finalist 2016 HISTORY, #History, #Americas, #United States, #Asia, #Japan, #Military, #Aviation, #World War II, #20th Century
A number of important records chronicle the Japanese side of the raid, including the diary of Combined Fleet chief of staff Matome Ugaki. The
Osaka Mainichi
newspaper and the
Japan Times & Advertiser
published the detailed bulletins and alerts issued during the attack. Historian Gordon Prange’s papers at the University of Maryland house important interviews with many senior Japanese leaders, who provide valuable insight into how the Doolittle raid shaped military policy and led to the disaster at Midway. Other important and previously untapped Japanese sources include
Senshi S
oōsho
, a 102-volume history that tells the story of Japan’s war. Volumes 29 and 85 devote significant space to the Doolittle Raid. Also, Japanese historians Takehiko Shibata and Katsuhiro Hara published an important study of the raid in 2003 that includes excellent breakdowns on the precise damage done by each bomber, though the work fails to explore the horrific aftermath of the raid in China. There unfortunately exists no English-language translation of any of these titles. I am indebted to Terrance Young in Tokyo, who translated these records for me.
As with any topic that has been covered before, I am indebted to the authors of several previous books. Most notable are the works by Doolittle Tokyo Raiders Association historian Carroll Glines, including
Doolit
tle’s
Tokyo Raiders
,
The Doolittle Raid
, and
Four Came Home
. I likewise consulted James Merrill’s 1964
Target Tokyo
and Duane Schultz’s 1988
The Doolittle Raid
. Most of my book, however, is based on primary source materials—reports, diaries, letters, and oral histories, for which I have provided extensive endnotes. I have chosen to include only a select bibliography of the books I consulted. All quotations and dialogue come from official reports, memos, press conference and trial transcripts, cables, letters and diaries, the
Congressional Record
, ships’ logs, news stories, memoirs, both published and unpublished, and, in a few cases, from the recollections of those involved.
Place-names are rendered throughout the book as they were current in 1942. Likewise, ranks are often tricky, particularly in a fast-moving war, where promotions are frequent. As such, all raider ranks are given as they were on the date of the attack on Japan. To guarantee accuracy, I cross-referenced all ranks with Doolittle’s official report, each individual raider’s report, and documents related to post-raid promotions, which are on file with Doolittle’s papers in the Library of Congress.
Air Force Historical Research Agency, Montgomery, Ala.
American Airpower Heritage Museum, Midland, Tex.
American Catholic History Research Center and University Archives, Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C.
Australian War Memorial, Canberra, Australia
Charleston County Public Library, Charleston, S.C.
Daniel Library, The Citadel, Charleston, S.C.
Darlington County Historical Commission, Darlington, S.C.
Eugene McDermott Library, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, Tex.
Filson Historical Society, Louisville, Ky.
Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum, Hyde Park, N.Y.
Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah
Hornbake Library, University of Maryland, College Park, Md.
Hoover Institution Archives, Stanford University, Palo Alto, Calif.
Imperial War Museum, London, England
J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah
John T. Richardson Library, DePaul University, Chicago, Ill.
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Marlene and Nathan Addlestone Library, College of Charleston, Charleston, S.C.
National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Md.
National Museum of the Pacific War, Fredericksburg, Tex.
National Personnel Records Center, St. Louis, Mo.
Naval History and Heritage Command, Washington, D.C.
Naval War College Library, Newport, R.I.
Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, Falls Church, Va.
Navy Department Library, Washington, D.C.
Nicholas Murray Butler Library, Columbia University, New York, N.Y.
Robert F. McDermott Library, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo.
South Carolina Military Museum, Columbia, S.C.
South Caroliniana Library, Columbia, S.C.
Thomas Cooper Library, University of South Carolina, Columbia, S.C.
United Church of Canada Archives, Toronto, Canada
University of Texas at El Paso Library, El Paso, Tex.
U.S. Army Center of Military History, Washington, D.C.
U.S. Naval Institute, Annapolis, Md.
Vernon R. Alden Library, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio
Willis Library, University of North Texas, Denton, Tex.
ABBREVIATIONS
AFHRA | Air Force Historical Research Agency, Montgomery, Ala. |
DOMPF | Doolittle Official Military Personnel File, National Personnel Records Center, St. Louis, Mo. |
DPLOC | James H. Doolittle Papers, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. |
DPUT | James H. Doolittle Papers, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, Tex. |
DRMA | DeAndreis-Rosati Memorial Archives, Special Collections and Archives Department, DePaul University Library, Chicago, Ill. |
DTRAP | Doolittle Tokyo Raiders Association Papers |
FDRL | Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum, Hyde Park, N.Y. |
GPO | U.S. Government Printing Office |
GWPP | Gordon W. Prange Papers, University of Maryland, College Park, Md. |
HHAP | Henry H. Arnold Papers, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. |
LOC | Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. |
NARA | National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Md. |
NDL | Navy Department Library, Washington, D.C. |
NHHC | Naval History and Heritage Command, Washington, D.C. |
OF | Official File |
RG | Record Group |
USSBS | United States Strategic Bombing Survey |
PROLOGUE
1
“Hawaii is just”: Matome Ugaki diary, Dec. 6, 1941, in Matome Ugaki,
Fading Victory: The Diary of Admiral Matome Ugaki, 1941–1945
, ed. Donald M. Goldstein and Katherine V. Dillon, trans. Masataka Chihaya (Pittsburgh, Pa.: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1991), p. 38.
1
The fifty-four-year-old: Background on Nagumo comes from Gordon W. Prange with Donald M. Goldstein and Katherine V. Dillon,
At Dawn We Slept: The Untold Story of Pearl Harbor
(New York: McGraw-Hill, 1981), pp. 107–8; Hiroyuki Agawa,
The Reluctant Admiral: Yamamoto and the Imperial Navy
, trans. John Bester (New York: Kodansha International, 1979), pp. 130, 253–54.
1
“I hope he”: Matome Ugaki diary, Oct. 29, 1941, in Ugaki,
Fading Victory
, p. 17.
1
Nagumo’s anxiety: Ryunosuke Kusaka interview, March 7, 1949, Box 58, Series 5.2, Gordon W. Prange Papers (GWPP), University of Maryland, College Park, Md.; Mitsuo Fuchida interview, Feb. 25, 1948, Box 15, Series 5.2, GWPP.
1
He seemed to draw: Details of Japan’s task force are drawn from Prange,
At Dawn We Slept
, pp. 483–84; Headquarters, Army Forces Far East, “Pearl Harbor Operations: General Outline of Orders and Plans,” Japanese Monograph #97, 1958, p. 9; Ryunosuka Kusaka, “Rengto Kantai (Combined Fleet): Reminiscence of Kusaka ex-Chief of Staff,” April 1952, Box 58, Series 5.2, GWPP, p. 17; Mitsuo Fuchida, “I Led the Air Attack on Pearl Harbor,” in Paul Stillwell, ed.,
Air Raid: Pearl Harbor! Recollections of a Day of Infamy
(Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 1981), p. 4.
2
Shore batteries along with battleships: Joint Committee on the Investigation of the Pearl Harbor Attack,
Investigation of the Pearl Harbor Attack
, 79th Cong., 2nd sess., July 20, 1946 (Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1946), pp. 67–71.
2
“The fate of our empire”: Matome Ugaki diary, Dec. 7, 1941, in Ugaki,
Fading Victory
, p. 38.
2
wooden torpedo fins: Joint Committee on the Investigation of the Pearl Harbor Attack,
Investigation of the Pearl Harbor Attack
, p. 59.
2
On the eve: “Japanese Study of the Pearl Harbor Operation,” in Donald M. Goldstein and Katherine V. Dillon, eds.,
The Pearl Harbor Papers: Inside the Japanese Plans
(Washington, D.C.: Brassey’s, 1993), p. 285; Sadao Chigusa, “Conquer the Pacific Ocean aboard Destroyer
Akigumo
: War Diary of the Hawaiian Battle,” ibid., p. 173.
2
To increase: “Japanese Study of the Pearl Harbor Operation,” ibid., p. 285; Minoru Genda, “Analysis No. 2 of the Pearl Harbor Attack,” ibid., p. 38.
2
Fuel conservation: Genda, “Analysis No. 2 of the Pearl Harbor Attack,” p. 38; Chigusa, “Conquer the Pacific Ocean aboard Destroyer
Akigumo
,” pp. 180, 205–6.
3
One by one: John Toland,
The Rising Sun: The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire, 1936–1945
(New York: Random House, 1970), pp. 169–70.
3
To throw off: “Japanese Study of the Pearl Harbor Operation,” p. 282.
3
The chief communications: Walter Lord,
Day of Infamy
(New York: Henry Holt, 1957), p. 21.
3
The Japanese flooded: Kusaka, “Rengto Kantai (Combined Fleet),” p. 10; “Japanese Study of the Pearl Harbor Operation,” p. 282.
3
This charade: Chigusa, “Conquer the Pacific Ocean aboard Destroyer
Akigumo
,” p. 183.
3
War planners: Kusaka, “Rengto Kantai (Combined Fleet),” pp. 5–6; Shigeru Fukudome, “Hawaii Operation,” in Stillwell, ed.,
Air Raid: Pearl Harbor!
,” p. 62; Agawa,
The Reluctant Admiral
, pp. 250–51.
3
“Sink anything”: Toland,
The Rising Sun
, p. 171.
3
refusing to change: Prange,
At Dawn We Slept
, p. 415.
3
The graduate of Japan’s: Toland,
The Rising Sun
, pp. 171–72; Agawa,
The Reluctant Admiral
, pp. 253–54.
3
To his chief of staff: Kusaka, “Rengto Kantai (Combined Fleet),” pp. 20–21.
3
“I wonder if”: Toland,
The Rising Sun
, p. 171.
3
“
Daijobu
”: Ibid.
4
“This despatch”: CNO to CINCAF, CINPAC, Nov. 27, 1941, in
Hearings before the Joint Committee on the Investigation of the Pearl Harbor Attack
, pt. 14,
Joint Committee Exhibits Nos. 9 through 43
, 79th Cong., 1st sess. (Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1946), p. 1406.
4
His Army counterpart: Joint Committee on the Investigation of the Pearl Harbor Attack,
Investigation of the Pearl Harbor Attack
, p. 70.
4
“Japanese future”: George Marshall to Walter Short, Nov. 27, 1941, in
Hearings before the Joint Committee on the Investigation of the Pearl Harbor Attack
, pt. 14, p. 1328.
4
That Saturday night: Lord,
Day of Infamy
, pp. 4–7; Edwin T. Layton, with Roger Pineau and John Costello,
“And I Was There”: Pearl Harbor and Midway—Breaking the Secrets
(New York: William Morrow, 1985), p. 299.
4
Off-duty troops: Ibid., pp. 9–10.
4
The bustling port: “List of Ships Present at Pearl Harbor at the Time of the Japanese Attack, Dec. 7, 1941,” in
Hearings before the Joint Committee on the Investigation of the Pearl Harbor Attack
, pt. 12,
Joint Committee Exhibits Nos. 1 through 6
, 79th Cong., 1st sess. (Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1946), pp. 348–49.
5
“Isn’t that a beautiful sight”: Lord,
Day of Infamy
, pp. 6–7.
5
Pacific Fleet intelligence officer: Layton,
“And I Was There,”
pp. 299–300.
5
“Wake up, America!”: Ibid., p. 299.
5
Earlier that day: Ibid., p. 275.
5
The Japanese used: Ibid., pp. 226–30, 237–38.
5
“Unknown—home waters?”: Ibid., pp. 18, 243–44.
5
“What?”: This exchange is ibid., pp. 18, 243–44.
6
Now after months: Agawa,
The Reluctant Admiral
, p. 254.
6
The gentle Hawaiian: Lord,
Day of Infamy
, pp. 11, 26.
6
pilots would go: Thurston Clark,
Pearl Harbor Ghosts: The Legacy of December 7, 1941
(New York: Ballantine Books, 2001), p. 92.
6
Aircrews on the Japanese task force’s: Toland,
The Rising Sun
, p. 203.
6
Many had spent: Prange,
At Dawn We Slept
, pp. 386, 415; Kusaka, “Rengto Kantai (Combined Fleet),” p. 13.
6
Fighter pilot Yoshi Shiuga: Toland,
The Rising Sun
, p. 188.
6
That same fear: Chigusa, “Conquer the Pacific Ocean aboard Destroyer
Akigumo
,” pp. 188–89.
6
Many of the airmen: Toland,
The Rising Sun
, p. 203.
6
The airmen dressed: Ibid.
6
The thirty-nine-year-old: Mitsuo Fuchida interview, Dec. 10, 1963.