North American Aviation B-25 Mitchell
The B-25 Mitchell was named for General WIlliam 'Billy' Mitchell, who was a strong proponent of airplanes during the early 1920s. The Mitchell was developed in the late 1930s and ordered straight off the drawing board. Though the main production model, the -J wasn't put into production until early 1944, in the Pacific theater it worked quite well. The 12 strafing machine guns in the nose were a great threat to Japanese shipping. Another version, the -H, had a turret with a 75 mm cannon in it!
On April 18, 1942, Mitchells made the first bombing raid on Japan. 16 flew off the deck of the Hornet, (an Aircraft carrier) and raided Tokyo. They caused no substantial damage, but raised the American morale. The Japanese, and the rest of the world wondered how medium bombers could possibly attack Japan with no base close enough. The pilots encountered heavy winds, and all had to ditch their planes.
Not quite as big as a heavy bomber, some had glass noses with bombsights.
In addition to the 12 strafing machine guns, two protected the tail, two were waist guns, and the other two were in the top turret.
| Crew | 5 |
| Armament | 18 machine guns |
| Maximum Speed | 272 mph |
| Engine | 2 Wright R-2600-92 Cyclones |
| Other Weapons | 3,000 pounds of bombs |
| Uses | Used in the Pacific as a land-based medium/low level bomber |
