On what date did Apollo 12 launch toward the Moon?

Apollo 12 launched toward the Moon on 14 November 1969.

The Saturn V lifted off from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 16:22 UTC. The launch occurred during a rainstorm, and lightning struck the vehicle shortly after liftoff, but the spacecraft continued safely after engineers confirmed that its critical systems remained operational.

Apollo 12 was commanded by Charles Conrad, with Alan Bean as lunar module pilot and Richard Gordon as command module pilot. The crew reached the Ocean of Storms and made NASA's second crewed lunar landing.

The date is sometimes confused with Apollo 11's 16 July launch or Apollo 13's 11 April 1970 launch. Apollo 12 demonstrated that a lunar landing could be targeted accurately rather than achieved only in a broad region.