Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo - Plot

Plot

In February 1942, the United States Army Air Forces plan to retaliate for the Pearl Harbor attack by bombing Tokyo and four other Japanese cities. Lt.Col. James Doolittle (Spencer Tracy), the leader of the mission, assembles a volunteer force of aircrews, who begin their top-secret training by learning a new technique to make their North American B-25 Mitchell medium bombers airborne in the short distance of 500 feet or less, to simulate taking off from the deck of an aircraft carrier. After depicting the squadron's 10 weeks of hazardous training at Eglin Field, Florida and Naval Air Station Alameda, the story goes on to describe the raid and it's aftermath.

While en route to Japan, the Hornet's task force is discovered by a Japanese submarine, which has radioed their position. It is sunk, and the bombers are forced to take off 12 hours early at the extreme limit of their range. After their successful attack on Japan, all but one of the B-25s run out of fuel before reaching their recovery airfields in China. As a result, their crews are forced to either bail out over China or crash-land along the coast. Lawson's B-25 unexpectedly crashes in the surf while trying to land on a beach in darkness and heavy rain. He and his crew survive, badly injured, but then face more tremendous hardships and danger while being escorted to American lines by friendly Chinese. Enroute, Lawson's injuries require the mission's flight surgeon to amputate one of his legs. The story ends with Lawson being reunited with his wife Ellen in a Washington, D.C., hospital.