USS Hornet (CV-12)
Encyclopedia
USS Hornet (CV/CVA/CVS-12) is a United States Navy
aircraft carrier
of the Essex class
. Construction started in August 1942; she was originally named , but was renamed in honor of the , which was lost in October 1942, becoming the eighth ship to bear the name.
Hornet was commissioned in November 1943, and after three months of training joined the U.S.
forces in the Pacific War
. She played a major part in the Pacific battles of World War II
, and also took part in Operation Magic Carpet, returning troops back to the U.S. Following World War II, she served in the Korean War, Vietnam War
, and also played a part in the Apollo program, recovering astronauts as they returned from the Moon.
Hornet was finally decommissioned in 1970. She was eventually designated a National Historic Landmark
, and in 1998 she opened to the public as the USS Hornet Museum
in Alameda, California
.
on 9 September 1940, and her keel was laid down on 3 August 1942. The seventh was sunk in the Battle of Santa Cruz
on 26 October 1942, and the CV-12 hull was renamed Hornet (the name Kearsarge is still stamped into her keel plate). She was launched on 30 August 1943 and commissioned
on 29 November 1943. Her first commander was Captain
(later Rear Admiral
) Miles R. Browning.
before departing Norfolk on 14 February 1944 to join the Fast Carrier Task Force
on 20 March at Majuro Atoll in the Marshall Islands
. After lending air support to protect the invasion beaches in New Guinea
, she conducted massive aerial raids against Japanese bases in the Caroline Islands
and prepared to support the amphibious assault for the occupation of the Marianas Islands.
On 11 June, Hornet launched raids on Tinian
and Saipan
. The following day she conducted heavy bombing attacks on Guam
and Rota
. On 15–16 June, she blasted enemy air fields at Iwo
and Chichi Jima to prevent air attacks on troops invading Saipan in the Marianas. The afternoon of 18 June, Hornet formed with the Fast Carrier Task Force to intercept the Japanese First Mobile Fleet, headed through the Philippine Sea for Saipan. The Battle of the Philippine Sea
began on 19 June, when Hornet launched strikes to destroy as many land-based Japanese planes as possible before the carrier-based Japanese aircraft came in effectively.
The enemy approached the American carriers in four massive waves, full of young and inexperienced pilots. Fighter aircraft
from Hornet and other U.S. carriers, whose veteran pilots' skills were honed to perfection, broke up and savaged all the attacks before the Japanese aerial raiders reached the task force. Nearly every Japanese aircraft was shot down in the great air battles of 19 June that became commonly known as "The Marianas Turkey Shoot". As the Japanese Mobile Fleet fled in defeat on 20 June, the carriers launched long-range airstrikes that sank and so damaged two tankers that they were abandoned and scuttled. Vice Admiral
Jisaburō Ozawa
's own flag log for 20 June 1944 showed his surviving carrier air power as only 35 operational aircraft out of the 430 planes with which he had commenced the Battle of the Philippine Sea.
Hornet, based at Eniwetok in the Marshalls, raided enemy installations ranging from Guam to the Bonins, then turned her attention to the Palaus, throughout the Philippine Sea
, and to enemy bases on Okinawa and Formosa
. Her aircraft gave direct support to the troops invading Leyte on 20 October 1944. During the Battle for Leyte Gulf she launched damaging raids on the Japanese center force in the Battle off Samar
, and hastened the retreat of the enemy fleet through the Sibuyan Sea
towards Borneo
.
In the following months, Hornet attacked enemy shipping and airfields throughout the Philippines
. This included participation in a raid that destroyed an entire Japanese convoy in Ormoc Bay
. On 30 December, she departed Ulithi
in the Carolines for raids against Formosa, Indo-China, and the Pescadores Islands. En route back to Ulithi, Hornets planes conducted photo reconnaissance of Okinawa on 22 January 1945 to aid the planned invasion of that "last stepping-stone to Japan
".
Hornet again departed Ulithi on 10 February for full-scale aerial assaults on Tokyo
, then supported the amphibious landing assault on Iwo Jima on 19–20 February.
Repeated raids were made against the Tokyo plains industrial complex, and Okinawa was hard hit. On 1 April, Hornet planes gave direct support to the amphibious assault landings on Okinawa. On 6 April, her aircraft joined in attacks which sank the mighty and her task force as it closed on Okinawa. The following two months found Hornet alternating between close support to ground troops on Okinawa and hard-hitting raids to destroy the industrial capacity of Japan. She was caught in a howling typhoon 4–5 June which collapsed some 25 ft (8 m) of her forward flight deck.
For 16 continuous months, she was in action in the forward areas of the Pacific combat zone, sometimes within 40 mi (64.4 km) of the Japanese home islands. Under air attack 59 times, she was never hit. Her aircraft destroyed 1,410 Japanese aircraft; only exceeded this record. 10 of her pilots attained "Ace in a Day" status; 30 of her 42 VF-2 F6F Hellcat
pilots were aces. In one day, her aircraft shot down 72 enemy aircraft, and in one month, they shot down 255 aircraft. Hornet supported nearly every Pacific amphibious landing after March 1944. Her air groups destroyed or damaged 1,269,710 tons (1,151,860 tonnes) of enemy shipping, and scored the critical first hits in sinking Yamato.
Hornet earned nine battle stars for her service in World War II
. Seven battle stars were earned as the sole receiver in 1944. Two were earned together as Hornet and her air groups when the Navy changed their nomenclature in 1945. She was one of nine carriers to be awarded the Presidential Unit Citation.
Following a typhoon that collapsed the forward edge of her flight deck, Hornet was routed back to the Philippines and from there to San Francisco, arriving on 7 July. Her overhaul was complete by 13 September when she departed as a part of Operation Magic Carpet that saw her return home troops from the Marianas and Hawaiian Islands. She returned to San Francisco on 9 February 1946. She decommissioned there on 15 January 1947, and joined the Pacific Reserve Fleet.
Hornet recommissioned on 20 March 1951, then sailed from San Francisco for the New York Naval Shipyard where she decommissioned on 12 May for conversion to an attack aircraft carrier CVA-12. On 11 September 1953, she was recommissioned as an attack carrier. The ship then trained in the Caribbean Sea
before departure from Norfolk on 11 May 1954 on an eight-month global cruise.
After operations in the Mediterranean Sea
and the Indian Ocean
, Hornet joined the mobile 7th Fleet
in the South China Sea
to search for survivors of a Cathay Pacific
Airways passenger plane, shot down by communist Chinese aircraft near Hainan Island. On 25 July, Hornet aircraft supported planes from as they shot down two attacking Chinese communist fighters. After tensions eased, she returned to San Francisco on 12 December, trained out of San Diego, then sailed on 4 May 1955 to join the 7th Fleet in the Far East.
Hornet helped cover the evacuation of Vietnamese from the Communist-controlled north to South Vietnam
, then ranged from Japan to Formosa, Okinawa, and the Philippines in readiness training with the 7th Fleet. She returned to San Diego on 10 December and entered the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard
the following month for conversion that included a hurricane bow and the installation of an angled flight deck, which permits the simultaneous launching and recovery of aircraft.
Following her modernization overhaul, Hornet operated along the California
coast. She departed San Diego on 21 January 1957 to bolster the strength of the 7th Fleet until her return from the troubled Far East on 25 July.
Following a similar cruise, 6 January–2 July 1958, the ship was redesignated CVS-12 (anti-submarine warfare support carrier). In August, she entered Puget Sound Naval Shipyard
for the conversion work to an ASW carrier. On 3 April 1959, she sailed from Long Beach
to join the 7th Fleet in antisubmarine warfare tactics ranging from Japan to Okinawa and the Philippines. She returned home in October, for training along the western seaboard.
In the following years, Hornet was regularly deployed to the 7th Fleet for operations ranging from the coast of South Vietnam, to the shores of Japan, the Philippines and Okinawa; and she also played a key part in the Apollo program, as a recovery ship for unmanned and manned spaceflights.
On 25 August 1966, she was on recovery station for the flight of AS-202
, the second unmanned flight of a production Apollo Command and Service Module
. The moonship rocketed three-quarters of the way around the globe in 93 minutes before splashdown near Wake Island
. Scorched from the heat of its re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere, the Apollo space capsule, designed to carry American astronauts to the moon, was brought aboard Hornet after its test; that command module is currently on display aboard Hornet.
Hornet returned to Long Beach on 8 September, but headed back to the Far East on 27 March 1967. She reached Japan exactly a month later and departed the Sasebo base
on 19 May for the war zone. She operated in Vietnamese waters throughout the first half of 1967.
Hornet recovered the astronauts from the first moon landing mission, Apollo 11
, on 24 July 1969. President Nixon
was on board to welcome the returning astronauts back to Earth, where they lived in quarantine aboard Hornet prior to transfer to the Lunar Receiving Laboratory at Houston. The first steps on Earth of returning moonwalkers Neil Armstrong
and Buzz Aldrin
, with Command Module Pilot Michael Collins
, are marked on her hangar deck, as part of her Apollo program exhibit.
Hornet once again served in the space program with the recovery of Apollo 12
on 24 November. Returning astronauts Charles Conrad, Jr.
, Alan L. Bean
, and Richard F. Gordon, Jr.
, were picked up from their splashdown point near American Samoa.
on 25 July 1989. In 1991, she was designated a National Historic Landmark
.
On 17 October 1998, she was opened to the public as the USS Hornet Museum
at the former Naval Air Station Alameda
in Alameda, California
. She was designated a California Historical Landmark
in 1999. Hornet now hosts a variety of national events, including the official launching of the website Military.com in 1999.
Building on her status as an authentically restored aircraft carrier, Hornet has featured in a number of film and television shows. Several TV shows, including a number of phantom-themed shows, have been recorded on board; and in 1999 she was the subject of an episode of the TV series JAG
. In 2004 she was the set for scenes from the movie xXx: State of the Union
, which starred Ice Cube
, and portions of the 2007 film Rescue Dawn
, which starred Christian Bale
, were shot on board. Hornet was both the subject and the setting of the independent film Carrier (2006).
The carrier was the host to a 2 day video game tournament on October 14th to October the 16th 2011, for the game Battlefield 3
. Players will host a LAN game on computers which is sponsored by the Graphic card maker NVIDIA
.
events occurring onboard. Hornet was the subject of the television paranormal
-related programs MTV's Fear
. Beyond Investigation Magazine
performed an instrumented investigation of large areas of the ship for Scariest Places On Earth
. It was investigated by the TAPS
team on the Syfy Channel show Ghost Hunters
. In 2011, the ship was featured on Ghost Adventures
, Season 4, Episode 34.
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
aircraft carrier
Aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
of the Essex class
Essex class aircraft carrier
The Essex class was a class of aircraft carriers of the United States Navy, which constituted the 20th century's most numerous class of capital ships with 24 vessels built in both "short-hull" and "long-hull" versions. Thirty-two were originally ordered; however as World War II wound down, six were...
. Construction started in August 1942; she was originally named , but was renamed in honor of the , which was lost in October 1942, becoming the eighth ship to bear the name.
Hornet was commissioned in November 1943, and after three months of training joined the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
forces in the Pacific War
Pacific War
The Pacific War, also sometimes called the Asia-Pacific War refers broadly to the parts of World War II that took place in the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and in East Asia, then called the Far East...
. She played a major part in the Pacific battles of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, and also took part in Operation Magic Carpet, returning troops back to the U.S. Following World War II, she served in the Korean War, Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
, and also played a part in the Apollo program, recovering astronauts as they returned from the Moon.
Hornet was finally decommissioned in 1970. She was eventually designated a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
, and in 1998 she opened to the public as the USS Hornet Museum
USS Hornet Museum
The USS Hornet Museum is a museum ship in Alameda, California, USA.It is composed of the aircraft carrier, exhibits from the NASA Apollo moon exploration missions, and several retired aircraft from the Second World War and the transonic and early supersonic jet propulsion period...
in Alameda, California
Alameda, California
Alameda is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. It is located on Alameda Island and Bay Farm Island, and is adjacent to Oakland in the San Francisco Bay. The Bay Farm Island portion of the city is adjacent to the Oakland International Airport. At the 2010 census, the city had a...
.
Construction: 1940 to 1943
The contract to build Kearsarge had been given to Newport News ShipbuildingNorthrop Grumman Newport News
Newport News Shipbuilding , originally Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company , was the largest privately-owned shipyard in the United States prior to being purchased by Northrop Grumman in 2001...
on 9 September 1940, and her keel was laid down on 3 August 1942. The seventh was sunk in the Battle of Santa Cruz
Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands
The Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, 26 October 1942, sometimes referred to as the Battle of Santa Cruz or in Japanese sources as the , was the fourth carrier battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II and the fourth major naval engagement fought between the United States Navy and the Imperial...
on 26 October 1942, and the CV-12 hull was renamed Hornet (the name Kearsarge is still stamped into her keel plate). She was launched on 30 August 1943 and commissioned
Ship commissioning
Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service, and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to the placing of a warship in active duty with its country's military...
on 29 November 1943. Her first commander was Captain
Captain (naval)
Captain is the name most often given in English-speaking navies to the rank corresponding to command of the largest ships. The NATO rank code is OF-5, equivalent to an army full colonel....
(later Rear Admiral
Rear Admiral
Rear admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank above that of a commodore and captain, and below that of a vice admiral. It is generally regarded as the lowest of the "admiral" ranks, which are also sometimes referred to as "flag officers" or "flag ranks"...
) Miles R. Browning.
World War II: 1944 to 1947
The Hornet conducted shakedown training off BermudaBermuda
Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...
before departing Norfolk on 14 February 1944 to join the Fast Carrier Task Force
Fast Carrier Task Force
The Fast Carrier Task Force was the main striking force of the United States Navy in the Pacific Ocean theatre of World War II.The Fast Carrier Task Force was known under two designations. The Navy made use of two sets of upper command structures for planning the upcoming operations...
on 20 March at Majuro Atoll in the Marshall Islands
Marshall Islands
The Republic of the Marshall Islands , , is a Micronesian nation of atolls and islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, just west of the International Date Line and just north of the Equator. As of July 2011 the population was 67,182...
. After lending air support to protect the invasion beaches in New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
, she conducted massive aerial raids against Japanese bases in the Caroline Islands
Caroline Islands
The Caroline Islands are a widely scattered archipelago of tiny islands in the western Pacific Ocean, to the north of New Guinea. Politically they are divided between the Federated States of Micronesia in the eastern part of the group, and Palau at the extreme western end...
and prepared to support the amphibious assault for the occupation of the Marianas Islands.
On 11 June, Hornet launched raids on Tinian
Tinian
Tinian is one of the three principal islands of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.-Geography:Tinian is about 5 miles southwest of its sister island, Saipan, from which it is separated by the Saipan Channel. It has a land area of 39 sq.mi....
and Saipan
Saipan
Saipan is the largest island of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , a chain of 15 tropical islands belonging to the Marianas archipelago in the western Pacific Ocean with a total area of . The 2000 census population was 62,392...
. The following day she conducted heavy bombing attacks on Guam
Guam
Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...
and Rota
Rota (island)
Rota also known as the "peaceful island", is the southernmost island of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and the second southernmost of the Marianas Archipelago. It lies approximately 40 miles north-northeast of the United States territory of Guam...
. On 15–16 June, she blasted enemy air fields at Iwo
Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima, officially , is an island of the Japanese Volcano Islands chain, which lie south of the Ogasawara Islands and together with them form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The island is located south of mainland Tokyo and administered as part of Ogasawara, one of eight villages of Tokyo...
and Chichi Jima to prevent air attacks on troops invading Saipan in the Marianas. The afternoon of 18 June, Hornet formed with the Fast Carrier Task Force to intercept the Japanese First Mobile Fleet, headed through the Philippine Sea for Saipan. The Battle of the Philippine Sea
Battle of the Philippine Sea
The Battle of the Philippine Sea was a decisive naval battle of World War II which effectively eliminated the Imperial Japanese Navy's ability to conduct large-scale carrier actions. It took place during the United States' amphibious invasion of the Mariana Islands during the Pacific War...
began on 19 June, when Hornet launched strikes to destroy as many land-based Japanese planes as possible before the carrier-based Japanese aircraft came in effectively.
The enemy approached the American carriers in four massive waves, full of young and inexperienced pilots. Fighter aircraft
Fighter aircraft
A fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat with other aircraft, as opposed to a bomber, which is designed primarily to attack ground targets...
from Hornet and other U.S. carriers, whose veteran pilots' skills were honed to perfection, broke up and savaged all the attacks before the Japanese aerial raiders reached the task force. Nearly every Japanese aircraft was shot down in the great air battles of 19 June that became commonly known as "The Marianas Turkey Shoot". As the Japanese Mobile Fleet fled in defeat on 20 June, the carriers launched long-range airstrikes that sank and so damaged two tankers that they were abandoned and scuttled. Vice Admiral
Vice Admiral
Vice admiral is a senior naval rank of a three-star flag officer, which is equivalent to lieutenant general in the other uniformed services. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral...
Jisaburō Ozawa
Jisaburo Ozawa
was an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. He was the last Commander-in-Chief of Combined Fleet. Many military historians regard Ozawa as one of the most capable Japanese flag officers.-Biography:...
's own flag log for 20 June 1944 showed his surviving carrier air power as only 35 operational aircraft out of the 430 planes with which he had commenced the Battle of the Philippine Sea.
Hornet, based at Eniwetok in the Marshalls, raided enemy installations ranging from Guam to the Bonins, then turned her attention to the Palaus, throughout the Philippine Sea
Philippine Sea
The Philippine Sea is a marginal sea east and north of the Philippines occupying an estimated surface area of 2 million mi² on the western part of the North Pacific Ocean...
, and to enemy bases on Okinawa and Formosa
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
. Her aircraft gave direct support to the troops invading Leyte on 20 October 1944. During the Battle for Leyte Gulf she launched damaging raids on the Japanese center force in the Battle off Samar
Battle off Samar
The Battle off Samar was the centermost action of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, one of the largest naval battles in history, which took place in the Philippine Sea off Samar Island, in the Philippines on 25 October 1944...
, and hastened the retreat of the enemy fleet through the Sibuyan Sea
Sibuyan Sea
The Sibuyan Sea is a small sea in the Philippines that separates the Visayas from the northern Philippine island of Luzon.-Description:It is bounded by the island of Panay to the south, Mindoro to the west, Masbate to the east, and to the north Marinduque and the Bicol Peninsula of Luzon Island.The...
towards Borneo
Borneo
Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....
.
In the following months, Hornet attacked enemy shipping and airfields throughout the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
. This included participation in a raid that destroyed an entire Japanese convoy in Ormoc Bay
Ormoc Bay
Ormoc Bay is a bay on the island of Leyte in the Philippines. The bay is an inlet of the Camotes Sea. The city of Ormoc lies at the head of the bay and exports rice, copra and sugar. The World War II Battle of Ormoc Bay took place from November 11 until mid-December in Ormoc Bay during late 1944....
. On 30 December, she departed Ulithi
Ulithi
Ulithi is an atoll in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, about 191 km east of Yap. It consists of 40 islets totalling , surrounding a lagoon about long and up to wide—at one of the largest in the world. It is administered by the state of Yap in the Federated States of...
in the Carolines for raids against Formosa, Indo-China, and the Pescadores Islands. En route back to Ulithi, Hornets planes conducted photo reconnaissance of Okinawa on 22 January 1945 to aid the planned invasion of that "last stepping-stone to Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
".
Hornet again departed Ulithi on 10 February for full-scale aerial assaults on Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, then supported the amphibious landing assault on Iwo Jima on 19–20 February.
Repeated raids were made against the Tokyo plains industrial complex, and Okinawa was hard hit. On 1 April, Hornet planes gave direct support to the amphibious assault landings on Okinawa. On 6 April, her aircraft joined in attacks which sank the mighty and her task force as it closed on Okinawa. The following two months found Hornet alternating between close support to ground troops on Okinawa and hard-hitting raids to destroy the industrial capacity of Japan. She was caught in a howling typhoon 4–5 June which collapsed some 25 ft (8 m) of her forward flight deck.
For 16 continuous months, she was in action in the forward areas of the Pacific combat zone, sometimes within 40 mi (64.4 km) of the Japanese home islands. Under air attack 59 times, she was never hit. Her aircraft destroyed 1,410 Japanese aircraft; only exceeded this record. 10 of her pilots attained "Ace in a Day" status; 30 of her 42 VF-2 F6F Hellcat
F6F Hellcat
The Grumman F6F Hellcat was a carrier-based fighter aircraft developed to replace the earlier F4F Wildcat in United States Navy service. Although the F6F resembled the Wildcat, it was a completely new design powered by a 2,000 hp Pratt & Whitney R-2800. Some tagged it as the "Wildcat's big...
pilots were aces. In one day, her aircraft shot down 72 enemy aircraft, and in one month, they shot down 255 aircraft. Hornet supported nearly every Pacific amphibious landing after March 1944. Her air groups destroyed or damaged 1,269,710 tons (1,151,860 tonnes) of enemy shipping, and scored the critical first hits in sinking Yamato.
Hornet earned nine battle stars for her service in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Seven battle stars were earned as the sole receiver in 1944. Two were earned together as Hornet and her air groups when the Navy changed their nomenclature in 1945. She was one of nine carriers to be awarded the Presidential Unit Citation.
Following a typhoon that collapsed the forward edge of her flight deck, Hornet was routed back to the Philippines and from there to San Francisco, arriving on 7 July. Her overhaul was complete by 13 September when she departed as a part of Operation Magic Carpet that saw her return home troops from the Marianas and Hawaiian Islands. She returned to San Francisco on 9 February 1946. She decommissioned there on 15 January 1947, and joined the Pacific Reserve Fleet.
Peacetime tensions: 1951 to 1959
Caribbean Sea
The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean located in the tropics of the Western hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico and Central America to the west and southwest, to the north by the Greater Antilles, and to the east by the Lesser Antilles....
before departure from Norfolk on 11 May 1954 on an eight-month global cruise.
After operations in the Mediterranean Sea
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
and the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
, Hornet joined the mobile 7th Fleet
United States Seventh Fleet
The Seventh Fleet is the United States Navy's permanent forward projection force based in Yokosuka, Japan, with units positioned near Japan and South Korea. It is a component fleet force under the United States Pacific Fleet. At present, it is the largest of the forward-deployed U.S. fleets, with...
in the South China Sea
South China Sea
The South China Sea is a marginal sea that is part of the Pacific Ocean, encompassing an area from the Singapore and Malacca Straits to the Strait of Taiwan of around...
to search for survivors of a Cathay Pacific
Cathay Pacific
Cathay Pacific is the flag carrier of Hong Kong, with its head office and main hub located at Hong Kong International Airport, although the airline's registered office is on the 33rd floor of One Pacific Place...
Airways passenger plane, shot down by communist Chinese aircraft near Hainan Island. On 25 July, Hornet aircraft supported planes from as they shot down two attacking Chinese communist fighters. After tensions eased, she returned to San Francisco on 12 December, trained out of San Diego, then sailed on 4 May 1955 to join the 7th Fleet in the Far East.
Hornet helped cover the evacuation of Vietnamese from the Communist-controlled north to South Vietnam
South Vietnam
South Vietnam was a state which governed southern Vietnam until 1975. It received international recognition in 1950 as the "State of Vietnam" and later as the "Republic of Vietnam" . Its capital was Saigon...
, then ranged from Japan to Formosa, Okinawa, and the Philippines in readiness training with the 7th Fleet. She returned to San Diego on 10 December and entered the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard
Puget Sound Naval Shipyard
Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility is a United States Navy shipyard covering 179 acres on Puget Sound at Bremerton, Washington...
the following month for conversion that included a hurricane bow and the installation of an angled flight deck, which permits the simultaneous launching and recovery of aircraft.
Following her modernization overhaul, Hornet operated along the California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
coast. She departed San Diego on 21 January 1957 to bolster the strength of the 7th Fleet until her return from the troubled Far East on 25 July.
Following a similar cruise, 6 January–2 July 1958, the ship was redesignated CVS-12 (anti-submarine warfare support carrier). In August, she entered Puget Sound Naval Shipyard
Puget Sound Naval Shipyard
Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility is a United States Navy shipyard covering 179 acres on Puget Sound at Bremerton, Washington...
for the conversion work to an ASW carrier. On 3 April 1959, she sailed from Long Beach
Long Beach, California
Long Beach is a city situated in Los Angeles County in Southern California, on the Pacific coast of the United States. The city is the 36th-largest city in the nation and the seventh-largest in California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257...
to join the 7th Fleet in antisubmarine warfare tactics ranging from Japan to Okinawa and the Philippines. She returned home in October, for training along the western seaboard.
Vietnam and the Space Race: 1960 to 1970
On 25 August 1966, she was on recovery station for the flight of AS-202
AS-202
AS-202 was the second unmanned, suborbital test flight of a production Block I Apollo Command/Service Module launched with the Saturn IB launch vehicle. It launched August 25, 1966 and was the first flight which included the spacecraft Guidance and Navigation Control system and fuel cells...
, the second unmanned flight of a production Apollo Command and Service Module
Apollo Command/Service Module
The Command/Service Module was one of two spacecraft, along with the Lunar Module, used for the United States Apollo program which landed astronauts on the Moon. It was built for NASA by North American Aviation...
. The moonship rocketed three-quarters of the way around the globe in 93 minutes before splashdown near Wake Island
Wake Island
Wake Island is a coral atoll having a coastline of in the North Pacific Ocean, located about two-thirds of the way from Honolulu west to Guam east. It is an unorganized, unincorporated territory of the United States, administered by the Office of Insular Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior...
. Scorched from the heat of its re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere, the Apollo space capsule, designed to carry American astronauts to the moon, was brought aboard Hornet after its test; that command module is currently on display aboard Hornet.
United States Fleet Activities Sasebo
U.S. Fleet Activities Sasebo is a United States Navy naval base, in Sasebo, Japan, on the island of Kyūshū. It provides facilities for the logistic support of forward-deployed units and visiting operating forces of the United States Pacific Fleet and designated tenant activities.- History :Sasebo...
on 19 May for the war zone. She operated in Vietnamese waters throughout the first half of 1967.
Hornet recovered the astronauts from the first moon landing mission, Apollo 11
Apollo 11
In early 1969, Bill Anders accepted a job with the National Space Council effective in August 1969 and announced his retirement as an astronaut. At that point Ken Mattingly was moved from the support crew into parallel training with Anders as backup Command Module Pilot in case Apollo 11 was...
, on 24 July 1969. President Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
was on board to welcome the returning astronauts back to Earth, where they lived in quarantine aboard Hornet prior to transfer to the Lunar Receiving Laboratory at Houston. The first steps on Earth of returning moonwalkers Neil Armstrong
Neil Armstrong
Neil Alden Armstrong is an American former astronaut, test pilot, aerospace engineer, university professor, United States Naval Aviator, and the first person to set foot upon the Moon....
and Buzz Aldrin
Buzz Aldrin
Buzz Aldrin is an American mechanical engineer, retired United States Air Force pilot and astronaut who was the Lunar Module pilot on Apollo 11, the first manned lunar landing in history...
, with Command Module Pilot Michael Collins
Michael Collins (astronaut)
Michael Collins is a former American astronaut and test pilot. Selected as part of the third group of fourteen astronauts in 1963, he flew in space twice. His first spaceflight was Gemini 10, in which he and command pilot John Young performed two rendezvous with different spacecraft and Collins...
, are marked on her hangar deck, as part of her Apollo program exhibit.
Hornet once again served in the space program with the recovery of Apollo 12
Apollo 12
Apollo 12 was the sixth manned flight in the American Apollo program and the second to land on the Moon . It was launched on November 14, 1969 from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, four months after Apollo 11. Mission commander Charles "Pete" Conrad and Lunar Module Pilot Alan L...
on 24 November. Returning astronauts Charles Conrad, Jr.
Pete Conrad
Charles "Pete" Conrad, Jr. was an American naval officer, astronaut and engineer, and the third person to walk on the Moon during the Apollo 12 mission. He set an eight-day space endurance record along with command pilot Gordon Cooper on the Gemini 5 mission, and commanded the Gemini 11 mission...
, Alan L. Bean
Alan Bean
Alan LaVern Bean is a former NASA astronaut, engineer, and painter. Bean was selected to become an astronaut by NASA in 1963 as part of Astronaut Group 3. He made his first flight into space aboard Apollo 12, the second manned mission to land on the Moon, at the age of thirty-seven years in...
, and Richard F. Gordon, Jr.
Richard F. Gordon, Jr.
Richard Francis Gordon, Jr., Captain, USN, Ret. is a retired NASA astronaut. He is one of only 24 people to have flown to the Moon.-Military and flight experience:Gordon was born in Seattle, Washington...
, were picked up from their splashdown point near American Samoa.
Retirement: 1970 to present
Hornet was decommissioned 26 June 1970 and mothballed at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility. Hornet was struck from the Naval Vessel RegisterNaval Vessel Register
The Naval Vessel Register is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...
on 25 July 1989. In 1991, she was designated a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
.
On 17 October 1998, she was opened to the public as the USS Hornet Museum
USS Hornet Museum
The USS Hornet Museum is a museum ship in Alameda, California, USA.It is composed of the aircraft carrier, exhibits from the NASA Apollo moon exploration missions, and several retired aircraft from the Second World War and the transonic and early supersonic jet propulsion period...
at the former Naval Air Station Alameda
Naval Air Station Alameda
Naval Air Station Alameda was a United States Navy Naval Air Station in Alameda, California, on San Francisco Bay.NAS Alameda had two runways: 07-25 and 13-31...
in Alameda, California
Alameda, California
Alameda is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. It is located on Alameda Island and Bay Farm Island, and is adjacent to Oakland in the San Francisco Bay. The Bay Farm Island portion of the city is adjacent to the Oakland International Airport. At the 2010 census, the city had a...
. She was designated a California Historical Landmark
California Historical Landmark
California Historical Landmarks are buildings, structures, sites, or places in the state of California that have been determined to have statewide historical significance by meeting at least one of the criteria listed below:...
in 1999. Hornet now hosts a variety of national events, including the official launching of the website Military.com in 1999.
Building on her status as an authentically restored aircraft carrier, Hornet has featured in a number of film and television shows. Several TV shows, including a number of phantom-themed shows, have been recorded on board; and in 1999 she was the subject of an episode of the TV series JAG
JAG (TV series)
JAG is an American adventure/legal drama television show that was produced by Belisarius Productions, in association with Paramount Network Television and, for the first season only, NBC Productions...
. In 2004 she was the set for scenes from the movie xXx: State of the Union
XXX: State of the Union
xXx: State of the Union, mainly released as xXx²: The Next Level outside the United States and Canada, is a 2005 action-adventure film directed by Lee Tamahori. It is a sequel to the 2002 film xXx...
, which starred Ice Cube
Ice Cube
O'Shea Jackson , better known by his stage name Ice Cube, is an American rapper and actor. He began his career as a member of the hip-hop group C.I.A. and later joined the rap group N.W.A. After leaving N.W.A in December 1989, he built a successful solo career in music, and also as a writer,...
, and portions of the 2007 film Rescue Dawn
Rescue Dawn
Rescue Dawn is a 2007 war drama film directed by Werner Herzog, based on an adapted screenplay written from his acclaimed 1997 documentary, Little Dieter Needs to Fly...
, which starred Christian Bale
Christian Bale
Christian Charles Philip Bale is an English actor. Best known for his roles in American films, Bale has starred in both big budget Hollywood films and the smaller projects from independent producers and art houses....
, were shot on board. Hornet was both the subject and the setting of the independent film Carrier (2006).
The carrier was the host to a 2 day video game tournament on October 14th to October the 16th 2011, for the game Battlefield 3
Battlefield 3
Battlefield 3 is a first-person shooter video game developed by EA Digital Illusions CE and published by Electronic Arts. The game was released in North America on October 25, 2011 and in Europe on October 28, 2011 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and EA Mobile confirmed a port for...
. Players will host a LAN game on computers which is sponsored by the Graphic card maker NVIDIA
NVIDIA
Nvidia is an American global technology company based in Santa Clara, California. Nvidia is best known for its graphics processors . Nvidia and chief rival AMD Graphics Techonologies have dominated the high performance GPU market, pushing other manufacturers to smaller, niche roles...
.
Paranormal
Hornet is said to be one of the most haunted warships in the American Navy, with numerous reports of supernaturalSupernatural
The supernatural or is that which is not subject to the laws of nature, or more figuratively, that which is said to exist above and beyond nature...
events occurring onboard. Hornet was the subject of the television paranormal
Paranormal
Paranormal is a general term that designates experiences that lie outside "the range of normal experience or scientific explanation" or that indicates phenomena understood to be outside of science's current ability to explain or measure...
-related programs MTV's Fear
MTV's Fear
MTV's Fear is an American paranormal reality television series that originally aired from 2000 to 2002 on MTV. The program follows a group of 5 or more contestants being left at an allegedly haunted location and led them on a series of dares over two nights to explore and confirm whether or not the...
. Beyond Investigation Magazine
Beyond Investigation Magazine
Beyond Investigation Magazine is an American magazine that features Beyond Investigation, a group that investigates paranormal and conspiracy theory claims. Beyond Investigation was founded by Patrick Wheelock in 2004 to investigate claims of paranormal activity and to publish those investigations...
performed an instrumented investigation of large areas of the ship for Scariest Places On Earth
Scariest Places On Earth
Scariest Places on Earth is an American paranormal documentary reality television series that originally aired from October 23, 2000 to October 29, 2006. The program was produced by Triage Entertainment for the Fox Family Channel, which is now ABC Family and owns the rights to the show...
. It was investigated by the TAPS
The Atlantic Paranormal Society
The Atlantic Paranormal Society is an organization that investigates reported paranormal activity. Based in Warwick, Rhode Island, United States, TAPS was founded in 1990 by Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson. In 2004, the organization itself became the subject of Ghost Hunters, a popular weekly...
team on the Syfy Channel show Ghost Hunters
Ghost Hunters
Ghost Hunters is an American paranormal reality television series that premiered on October 6, 2004, on Syfy . The program features paranormal investigators Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson who investigate places that are reported to be haunted. The two originally worked as plumbers for Roto-Rooter as...
. In 2011, the ship was featured on Ghost Adventures
Ghost Adventures
Ghost Adventures is a weekly American paranormal television series that premiered on October 17, 2008 on the Travel Channel. Currently produced by MY-Tupelo Entertainment , the program follows and stars ghost hunters Zak Bagans, Nick Groff, and Aaron Goodwin, as they investigate locations that are...
, Season 4, Episode 34.
See also
External links
- USS Hornet by the US Navy
- General Plan for the U.S.S. Hornet (CV-12), hosted by the Historical Naval Ships Association (HNSA) Digital Collections
- USS Hornet Museum
- From the Dictionary Of American Naval Fighting Ships
- Satellite view of the museum site
- HNSA Web Page: USS Hornet
- Aviation: From Sand Dunes to Sonic Booms, a National Park Service Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary
- USS Hornet by Dwayne Miles
- USS Hornet - Damage to Ship's Structure - Official report written by ship's captain after typhoon damage