The Doolittle Raid of April 18, 1942 was the first U.S. air raid to strike the Japanese home islands during WWII. The mission is notable in that it was the only operation in which U.S. Army Air Forces bombers were launched from an aircraft carrier into combat. The raid demonstrated how vulnerable the Japanese home islands were to air attack just 4 months after their surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. While the damage inflicted was slight, the raid significantly boosted American morale while setting in motion a chain of Japanese military events that were disastrous for their long-term war effort.

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Japanese political leadership and senior military commanders were stung by the Doolittle Raid of April, 1942 when sixteen U.S. aircraft bombed Tokyo and other major cities. The raid, while militarily insignificant, showed the existence of a gap in the defenses around the Japanese home islands. Sinking America’s aircraft carriers and seizing Midway Island, the only strategic island besides Hawaii in the eastern Pacific, was seen as the best means of eliminating this threat. Fleet Admiral Yamamoto was tasked with creating a plan to invade and hold the island. His invasion plan was complex and included a second operation against the Aleutian Islands near Alaska, dividing his naval forces. Due to battle damage following the Battle of Coral Sea, his Carrier Strike Force consisted of only four fleet aircraft carriers guarded by just a handful of cruisers and destroyers. Achieving complete surprise over the Americans was his key prerequisite for success. Unfortunately for Yamamoto, the U.S. Navy had broken a key Japanese naval code (JN-25) and was aware of his invasion plans.

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During September and October, both the Japanese and the American forces on and around Guadalcanal had escalated the fighting in an almost piecemeal fashion, with reinforcements pouring in on both sides. The stakes became improbably high for this remote island and it became a national test of willpower. US military planners were determined to keep the supply lines open with Australia while the Japanese were just as determined to cut them.

There had been many smaller naval clashes in the Solomon Islands area but in late October, the Japanese decided to launch a major offensive. Their tactical goals were to gain control of Henderson airfield on Guadalcanal, eliminate the 10,000 American troops on the island and destroy all allied warships in the Solomons area. On October 11, a massive naval force left Truk to provide cover for the invasion forces with four aircraft carriers, four battleships, ten cruisers, and 30 destroyers.

Unfortunately for them, VADM “Bull” Halsey had just been given command of the US South Pacific Force. On October 24, Enterprise (CV-6) and South Dakota (BB- 57) arrived from Pearl Harbor along with their escorts, in effect doubling the firepower of the US Navy in the area. The US now had two aircraft carriers, one battleship, six cruisers, and fourteen destroyers in their strike team – the odds were only 2 to 1 against them, which was not bad by 1942 standards. Halsey immediately ordered this force to move north of the Santa Cruz Islands to intercept the IJN fleet and keep them from supporting the invasion force.

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