At the end of February 1942, the crew of the Benson-Livermore class destroyer USS Meredith DD434 were enjoying liberty ashore in Norfolk, VA. Their Destroyer Divison, consisting of Gwin, Meredith, Grayson, and Monssen, had just been relieved of their 6 month deployment operating as part of the North Atlantic convoy duty force off Iceland searching and hunting the German U-boat. Scuttlebutt had it that the USS Meredith would be leaving the Atlantic Ocean and heading for all points West; more specifically the South Pacific.

On 4 March 1942, USS Meredith DD434 escorted six troop transports ,loaded with Marines, out of Cheaspeake Bay. Here she was joined by a formidable task group consisting of carrier USS Hornet, cruisers USS Nashville and Vincennes, tanker USS Cimmaron, and destroyers USS Grayson DD435, USS Gwin DD433, USS Monssen DD436, USS Ellyson DD454, USS Manley, USS Sturtevant, USS Stringham, and USS Standbury to form Task Force 18. The Task Group headed South and sailed for the Panama Canal. Rumors immediatley began to circulate that this task group was heading to bombard, bomb, and invade a Japanese held Pacific island. The spirit that prevailed among the crew was one described as, " Here we come- let us at 'em".

After transitting the Panama Canal and having entered the Pacific Ocean, the task force split into two groups whereas destroyers Stringham, Ellyson, Stansbury, Manley, Sturtevant, and the six transports of marines broke from the main task group. Hornet, Nashville, Vincennes, Meredith, Grayson, Monssen, and Gwin meanwhile headed North. Around Noon of 12 March, the accidental firing of a torpedo on Meredith wounded three sailors:: Louis Massella, Wesley LaDuron, and Joseph Durik. The injured men were transferred to the Hornet for immediate medical attention. Unfortunately, Joseph Durik died the next day and was buried at sea. The Task force dipped their colors and saluted a Apprentice Seaman with less then three months service. As a tribute to this sailor who refused all medical attention so that his shipmates might live, DE-666 was named in his honor.

Pulling into San Francisco, Robinson went aboard the Hornet at Naval Air Station, Alameda, to check on the status of his wounded shipmates. While aboard, he saw B-25 bombers being loaded onto the deck. A few minutes later, a bus drove up and began unloading the Army Air Force crews to board the Hornet. The next day on April 2, the task force reformed and headed Northwest. April 6 brought about the rescue of Seaman M.T. Haines from the USS Vincennes, who had been thrown overboard by a plane catapault. April 9 brought about the same type of event as Meredith rescued Seaman P.D. Williams from the oiler Cimmaron, who fell overboard during refueling operations. Luckily, no injuries were reported during these two incidents.

On April 13,the Hornet group sighted a large group of ships which included the USS Enterprise, cruisers USS Northhampton and Salt Lake City, destroyers Balch, Benham, Ellet, Fanning, and tanker USS Sabine. The two groups formed up together to become Task Force 16. Adhering to radio silence, Task Force 16 steamed Northwest. Chief Robinson helped the Navigator keep track of the Task Force course which was heading toward Japan. Now the Scuttlebutt really flowed with speculation that this could be the first air strike against Japan proper. Morale grew higher and higher as the task force neared its fate with history. Thoughts were directed to the question of how close could we get without being detected? A caricature of Tojo was painted on the nose of a torpedo with the phrase, "Sap a Jap".

April 17 brought about the splitting of the task force again whereas Hornet, Enterprise, Northampton, Salt Lake City, Vincennes, and Nashville sped at top speed onward for Japan. With the limited cruising range of the destroyers, the tankers and destroyers headed East. April 18, 1942 set its place in history with the successful launching of B-25's from the deck of the carrier USS Hornet, 400 miles from Japan. Though the group was spotted by a small Japanese vessel, they quickly sank it and attacked Japan under complete surprise. President Roosevelt announced the raid as having been launched from a secret base called "SHANGRA-LA". The group rejoined together at 0500 on the 19th of April and headed for Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

Being the first time into Pearl for Meredith, their was hardly a dry eye as one looked upon the remains of our battered Pacific fleet.

Marked for Revenge

Scuttlebutt around the fleet stated that Japan has targetted Hornet, Nashville, Vincennes, Meredith, Monssen, and Grayson for destruction for their participation in the Tokyo raid. Of the original task force that left San Francisco, CA on April 2, 1942, only USS Grayson DD435 and USS Nashville would survive the war.

This is the story of the Doolittle raid on Tokyo as seen by USS Meredith sailor, Robert Robinson CQM.

Information was provided by Robinson and Richard Angelini This is a service provided by the USS Mayo Group. Please ask to use any information contained within these pages. Thank you.