With this, the sixth release of artist William S. Phillips’ series on the Doolittle Raiders, the artist and the surviving members of the Raid pay homage the Navy’s role in the legendary raid on Japan. Sending two United States aircraft carriers to the coast of Japan in 1942 was a risk of the highest order for a fleet, and a nation, still reeling from Japan’s string of victories in the Pacific. The USS Hornet, loaded with the 16 B-25s (all that could be shipped) which would strike the Japanese mainland in the “Halsey-Doolittle Raid,” steams eastward as part of Vice Admiral Halsey’s Task Force 16. The SBD Scout Bombers circling above would have been members of VS-6 flying from the USS Enterprise.

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