The Plane

Doolittle, freely invoking his "Top Priority" from Hap Arnold for the "B-25B Special Project," labored to get planes and crew ready by April 1. On January 22, he ordered eighteen B-25Bs shipped to Minnesota for modification.

The Army had received only some 180 Mitchells of the 9816 airframes produced in about a dozen variants by 1945. Design of the 120 B-models had benefited from some combat experience. Top and belly gun turrets, each housing twin .50 cal. Browning machineguns, were installed just behind the bomb bay.

The single .30 cal. Browning in the nose position was retained. The tail gunner's position was eliminated and an unarmed observation station installed. The turrets lowered top speed but greatly improved firepower over prior types.

To extend their range, technicians fitted 225-gallon auxiliary fuel tanks in the planes' bomb bays. The retractable belly turret, impossible to aim and for which the low-flying raiders would have little need, was replaced with a 60-gallon tank. The gunner would refill this tank from ten five-gallon gas cans. Engineers at the Martin Aircraft Company designed a 160-gallon collapsible tank for use in the crawlway over the bomb bay. Heavy liaison radios were removed to save weight and ensure silence en route to Japan. In hopes that the Soviet Union would permit landing in Siberia, pneumatic rubber deicing boots were fitted on the leading edges of the bombers' wings and tail.

Early in February, two B-25s, stripped to their lightest weights, were loaded aboard Hornet, the Navy's newest carrier, at Hampton Roads, VA. She steamed about 100 miles offshore and turned into the snowy wind. The first Army lieutenant revved his bomber's engines, released its brakes, rolled forward and became airborne almost immediately, barely missing the carrier's island superstructure. The second B-25 launch was also successful. Frog Low's idea worked!