Russell, David Lee Early U.S. Navy Carrier Raids, February-April 1942. Five Operations That Tested a New Dimension of American Air Power

After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, America's fast carrier task forces, with their aircraft squadrons and powerful support warships, went on the offensive. Under orders from Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King, the newly appointed Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, as the Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Fleet, took the fight to the Japanese, using island raids to slow their advance in the Pacific. Beginning in February 1942, a series of task force raids led by the carriers U.S.S. Enterprise, U.S.S. Yorktown, U.S.S. Lexington and U.S.S. Hornet were launched, beginning in the Marshall Islands and Gilbert Islands. An attempted raid on Rabaul was followed by successful attacks on Wake Island and Marcus Island. The Lae-Salamaua Raid countered Japanese invasions on New Guinea. The most dramatic was the unorthodox Tokyo (Doolittle) Raid, where 16 carrier-launched B-25 medium bombers demonstrated that the Japanese mainland was open to U.S. air attacks. The raids had a limited effect on halting the Japanese advance but kept the enemy away from Hawaii, the U.S. West coast and the Panama Canal and kept open lines of communications to Australia.

From February 1942, a series of raid-like attacks were carried out by the American aircraft carrier battle groups, beginning with the attacks on the Marshall and Gilbert Islands. An attempted raid on Rabaul was followed by successful attacks on Wake Island and Marcus Island. The Lae-Salamaua attack countered the Japanese invasion of New Guinea. Most dramatic was the unorthodox air raid on Tokyo, the so-called "Doolittle-Raiud", in which 16 carrier-launched B-25 medium bombers showed that the Japanese mainland was not protected from American air attacks. These operations had only a limited effect on containing the Japanese advance, but kept the enemy away from Hawaii, the west coast of the USA and the Panama Canal, and kept the lines of communication to Australia open.