 In February 1942 , following the squadron 's transfer to Columbia Army Air Base in January , Farrow volunteered to participate in the Doolittle Raid , an attempt to retaliate against the Japanese as a result of their attack on Pearl Harbor . At the time , however , the mission was secret and its target unknown to the volunteers . On 1 April 1942 , after training in various places around the United States , the crews and their respective aircraft departed from San Francisco aboard the USS Hornet ( CV @-@ 8 ) . The mission took place on 18 April . The B @-@ 25 which Farrow piloted , named Bat out of Hell , was the sixteenth and final aircraft to depart from the Hornet . After the aircraft 's targets in Nagoya , which included an oil tank and aircraft factory , had been bombed , Farrow intended to land in Chuchow . However , the Japanese had deactivated the beacon that Farrow was using for direction . 
