[hchutch]

I disagree. I think it rattled Yamamoto enough that he set up the Battle of Midway to finish off the American carriers.

Of course, thanks to Joe Rochefort and Edwin Layton, we were able to ambush Kido Butai and rip the heart out of Japanese naval aviation. Their intel was so good, that we managed to win the battle even though Frank Jack Fletcher was the guy in tactical command (eventually, Yorktown was hit, and he turned over command to Spruance).

Of course, a year after the Tokyo raid, Tom Lanphier managed to settle the score with the mastermind of Pearl Harbor.

[Poohbah]

It didn't rattle Yamamoto--IIRC, he was already committed to the Midway operation (necessary to draw out the US carrier force) by the time the Doolittle Raid took place.

However, it DID evaporate a lot of opposition--the Army jumped on board because they (wrongly) believed that the bombers came from Midway, and the Navy because they recognized the need to extend the Japanese defense perimeter out as far as feasible, to prevent further raids from getting the free ride that the Hornet raid had.