The Giant Has Awakened

[Frank Walsh]

Another historical naval painting that took so much longer to research then to actually paint but it was most enjoyable.

This painting depicts the USS Hornet departing San Francisco Bay on the morning of April 2nd, 1942. On board were 16 B25 Mitchell medium bombers with 80 airman who were on a mission to bomb Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Yokosuka, Yokohama and Kobe. This would be the first offensive strike against Japan since Pearl Harbor 4 months earlier. The raid was lead by Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle and his men ever since, are called Doolittle's Raiders. There is an academy award winning movie called Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo that does an excellent job telling the story. It is based on the book by the same name, written by then Lt. Ted Lawson who piloted the #10 B25 called the Rupture Duck.

The physical damage was minimal but the psychological boost it gave the home front was uplifting but to the people of Japan the damage was devastating. They realized Admiral Yamamoto's prediction after Pearl Harbor was correct...The Giant Has Awakened.

To read more about the this heroic mission visit my blog.

Frank


Acrylic on canvas 24x36"

[artlover55]

Very well done Frank. Great detail.
Brian

[climber-man]

It was an incredible mission Frank, from launching those planes to instantly reshaping the world with atomic weapons. This is a fantastic painting Frank for preserving a historic moment that was an incredible mix of heroism and tragedy. Thank you for sharing

[cremo]

Brilliant painting!

[rkprod]

This is fantastic, Frank. What a great tribute to our WWII heroes. If I'm not mistaken, none of those B-25s ever made it back to the ship. They were not shot down but forced to land in China as they didn't have enough fuel to get back. Several were captured by Japanese occupiers in China and were executed. One plane landed in Russia and the crew was held captive for many months. I just love your acknowledgement of this great feat.
Ron

[Frank Walsh]

Thanks Brian, sometimes I feel my desire for detail is a curse and would like to loosen up but I've been doing this for such a long time its hard to break the mold. I do get great satisfaction when someone in the know or who actually lived the moment gives it thumbs up for accuracy.

Thanks Brian, it is kind of ironic the first strike against the Japanese homeland consisted of 16 bombers dropping a total of 2000 lbs. of TNT each and at the end two planes dropped an estimate of 20 kilo tons.

Thank you cremo.

Thank you Ron, you're right none of the B25's made it back to the Hornet but that was never the plan. After launching the bombers the task force turned east at flank speed. The B25 was only able to take off of a carrier after major modifications were made and intensive training by the aircrews. The plan had called for them to continue on to China and land at designated fields. Unfortunately they had to takeoff 2 hundred miles early because the task force was detected by Japanese picket boat. Thanks to a strong tail wind, they barely had enough fuel to get to China but not enough to make the air field. A number of them ditched in the sea and others bailed out once they ran out fuel. One did make it to Russia and the crew was interned for a year. Three airman died either from ditching or bailing out, 8 were captured by the Japanese, of which 3 were executed and 1 died in captivity. In their search for Doolittle's Raiders, it is estimated 250,000 Chinese civilians were killed.

After posting the painting on my blog, I got an e-mail from the USS Hornet Museum in Alameda, Calif. inviting me to exhibit the painting this Saturday May 5th. This year marks the 70th anniversary and they are planning a major event to commemorate this daring raid. I will have the opportunity to meet three of the five surviving Doolittle Raiders who will be present as well as crewmen from the Hornet. BTW the USS Hornet CV8 was sunk 6 months later at the battle of Santa Cruz during the Guadalcanal campaign. The USS Hornet CV12 was commissioned in 1943 and is now a museum. http://www.uss-hornet.org/calendar/doolittle/

If you made it through all this, I thank you for having an interest.

Frank

[Marty C]

Excellent piece, Frank.
The history behind it is fascinating, and now to meet some of the survivors is just icing on the cake.

[skappy]

Great historical painting Frank
Robert

[randalljazz]

marvelous work! the glow lends a mythic quality, as befits the subject...

[viking57]

Hi Frank,
Excellent painting! I like all of the background detail also. As a kid "30 Seconds Over Tokyo" was one of my favorite war movies. Van Johnson and Don Defore. They gave those guys higher octane aviation gas to boost the power to the engines for take off. Not only did they bomb the japanese mainland (with minimal damage) but they also flew over the Emporers residence which really shook up the Japanese. Crews were instructed not to drop any bombs there.
That's excellent news about showing the painting at the Hornet Museum! Awesome!!
Ron

[Frank Walsh]

Thanks Marty and Robert...I'm a sucker for history.

Thank you Randal...I did take some artistic license with this painting since after finding a link to the log book for that morning, I was able to determine the weather. The departure was logged as being at 10:30 AM with foggy conditions but was burning off as they passed the gate. That gave me an opportunity to brighten things up with sun starting to peek through the fog. I also pushed the water color a tad. The photo is not very good but you get the idea.

Thanks Ron...I remember as a kid watching "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo" numerous times with my brother. BTW David Thatcher who was played by Robert Montgomery in the movie was there on Saturday.

My day on the Hornet last Saturday was wonderful. I added a post on my blog with some photos. I actually had a private meeting with two of the Raiders and they signed the back of my painting. Now I think I may just keep it in my collection.

[lathadamle]

Awesome!