| Aerial view of Yokosuka Naval Base, as the aircraft passes over Tomari-cho towards Kusugaura-cho. There are several ships in the background, a destroyer and another larger ship in the extreme middle foreground. Many barracks and other installations surround a parade ground or airfield. All of this would be rebuilt after the United States entered the Korean War in 1950; Yokosuka became a major supply hub. This photograph was taken during the “Doolittle Raid” from the co-pilot window of 1 of the B-25 Mitchells, 13th aircraft to launch, 40-2247 – “The Avenger” – Crew from 37th Bomb Squadron, 17th Bomb Group. It was later determined that 1 of the ships damaged in the bombing was a submarine tender being converted to the light aircraft carrier Ryuho. The damage contributed to the delay of the conversion of nearly a year. The Avenger’s Pilot was Lieutenant Edgar E. McElroy, Ennis, Texas (March 24, 1912 – April 04, 2003); Co-Pilot 2nd Lieutenant Richard A. “Knobby” Knobloch, Milwaukee, Wisconsin (May 27, 1918 – August 13, 2001); Navigator Lieutenant Clayton J. Campbell, Saint Maries, Idaho (March 14, 1917 – November 17, 2002); Bombardier Sergeant Robert C. Bourgeois, Lecompte, Louisiana (September 28, 1917 – November 13, 2001); and Engineer Gunner Sergeant Adam R. Williams, Gastonia, North Carolina (September 27, 1919 – November 30, 1993). McElroy had to find his own way to the navy base. Yokosuka was homeport for several Imperial Japanese Navy ships and contained repair docks for the fleet. The Japanese air defenses were delivering concentrated and heavy anti-aircraft artillery fire, and they zeroed in on McElroy as he passed the Tokyo area. Fortunately, his aircraft was not spotted by any pursuit aircraft. McElroy decided to quickly strike Yokosuka’s dock area. Several ships in repair occupied the dockyard. Flying at an altitude of 1,500 feet, the B-25 prepared to unleash its bomb load on the docks and support facilities. 1 bomb struck a large ship-loading crane, which collapsed, and the crew considered it destroyed. The other munitions hit a ship that appeared to be an aircraft carrier. Yokosuka dock workers had taken a submarine tender, Taigei, into the facility on December 18, 1941, and Imperial Japanese Navy headquarters authorized the conversion of it into the aircraft carrier Ryūhō. The B-25’s crew members recalled seeing the Ryuho falling to its side after the attack; a demolition bomb had hit the ship. Ironically, Ryūhō was eventually completed, but only took part in 1 major operation, the Battle of the Philippine Sea, and was scrapped in 1946. Another ship was seen burning while it was refueling. Support facilities were set alight after McElroy hit them with an incendiary bomb. The only surviving photographs from the raid came from co-pilot 2nd Lieutenant Richard A. Knobloch. Some aircraft, notably flight leader planes, had cameras installed to record the impact of the bombing raids. Unfortunately, none of the film survived except from Knobloch’s efforts. Knobloch had purchased a camera at the Sacramento Air Depot to take his own photographs and these were the only combat shots that reached home. He even took a picture of a ship 200 miles (320 kilometers) off the Japanese coast. McElroy’s crew bailed out near Poyang Lake, north of Nanchang, China, over land. The only injury was a wrenched knee suffered by Sergeant Williams. The crew arrived at Chuhshei 3 days later, thanks to help from local friendly Chinese. The entire crew remained in Indochina to fly missions for more than a year, and all 5 crew members survived the war despite an enviable record of combat missions. The “Doolittle Raid” against Japan was led by Col. James H. “Jimmy” Doolittle, the 1st bombing mission against Japan. 16 B-25’s took off from USS Hornet (CV-8) while at sea 668 miles off Tokyo. The Hornet departed from Alameda on April 2, and rendezvoused with USS Enterprise and ships of Task Force 16 (TF 16) under the command of Vice Admiral William F. Halsey (October 30, 1882 – August 16, 1959) north of Hawaii before proceeded across the Pacific. 15 of the B-25s hit targets in Tokyo, Kobe, Yokohama, and Nagoya. Since the bombers launched earlier than scheduled and were unable to reach their intended airfields in China. 15 ditch or crash and 1 landed in Soviet Union. McElroy later recalled, “Campbell, our navigator, said, ‘Mac, I think we’re going to be about sixty miles too far north. I’m not positive, but pretty sure.’ I decided that he was absolutely right and turned left ninety degrees, went back just offshore and followed the coast line south. When I thought we had gone far enough, I climbed up to two thousand feet to find out where we were. We started getting fire from anti-aircraft guns. Then we spotted Tokyo Bay, turned west and put our nose down diving toward the water. Once over the bay, I could see our target, Yokosuka Naval Base. Off to the right there was already smoke visible over Tokyo. Coming in low over the water, I increased speed to two hundred miles per hour (three hundred and twenty kilometers per hour) and told everyone, ‘Get Ready!’” “When we were close enough, I pulled up to thirteen hundred feet (four hundred meters) and opened the bomb doors. There were furious black bursts of anti-aircraft fire all around us, but I flew straight on through them, spotting our target, the torpedo works and the drydocks. I saw a big ship in the drydock just as we flew over it. Those flak bursts were really getting close and bouncing us around, when I heard Bourgeois shouting, ‘Bombs Away!’ I couldn’t see it, but Williams had a bird’s eye view from the back and he shouted jubilantly, ‘We got an aircraft carrier! The whole dock is burning!’ I started turning to the south and strained my neck to look back and at that moment saw a large crane blow up and start falling over!…Take that! There was loud yelling and clapping each other on the back. We were all just ecstatic, and still alive! But there wasn’t much time to celebrate. We had to get out of here and fast! When we were some thirty miles out to sea, we took one last look back at our target, and could still see huge billows of black smoke. Up until now, we had been flying for Uncle Sam, but now we were flying for ourselves.” | |
| Image Filename | wwii1671.jpg |
| Image Size | 1.03 MB |
| Image Dimensions | 2652 x 2169 |
| Photographer | Richard A. Knobloch |
| Photographer Title | United States Army Air Force |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | April 18, 1942 |
| Location | |
| City | Yokosuka |
| State or Province | Kanagawa |
| Country | Japan |
| Archive | Library of Congress |
| Record Number | LOT 11629 (F)-520 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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