USS Hornet (CV-8)

USS ''Hornet'' (CV-8), the seventh U.S. Navy vessel of that name, was a of the United States Navy. During World War II in the Pacific Theater, she launched the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo and participated in the Battle of Midway and the Buin-Faisi-Tonolai raid. In the Solomon Islands campaign, she was involved in the capture and defense of Guadalcanal and the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, where she was irreparably damaged by enemy torpedo and dive bombers. Faced with an approaching Japanese surface force, ''Hornet'' was abandoned and later torpedoed and sunk by approaching Japanese destroyers. ''Hornet'' was in service for one year and six days, and was the last US fleet carrier ever sunk by enemy fire. For these actions, she was awarded four service stars and a citation for the Doolittle Raid in 1942, and her Torpedo Squadron 8 received a Presidential Unit Citation for extraordinary heroism for its performance at the Battle of Midway. Her wreck was located in late January 2019 near the Solomon Islands.

Construction and commissioning

Because of the limit on aggregate aircraft carrier tonnage included in the Washington Naval Treaty and subsequent London treaties, the United States had intended to build two ''Yorktown-''class aircraft carriers and use the remaining allocated tonnage for a smaller, revised version of the same design, which eventually became . With war looming in Europe and the repudiation of the naval limitation treaties by Japan and Italy, the Navy's General Board decided to lay down a third carrier of the ''Yorktown'' design immediately - followed by the first carrier of the succeeding ''Essex'' class (CV-9). When the design was finalized, authorization from Congress came in the Naval Expansion Act of 1938.

''Hornet'' had a length of at the waterline and overall. She had a beam of at the waterline, overall, with a draft of as designed and at full load. She displaced at standard load and at full load. She was designed for a ship's crew consisting of 86 officers and 1280 men and an air complement consisting of 141 officers and 710 men.

She was powered by nine Babcock & Wilcox boilers providing steam at and to four Parsons Marine geared steam turbines each driving its own propeller. The turbines were designed to produce a total of , giving her a range of at a speed of . She was designed to carry of fuel oil and of Avgas. Her designed speed was . During sea trials, she produced and reached .

''Hornet'' was equipped with 8 /38 caliber dual-purpose guns and 16 /75 caliber anti-aircraft guns in quad mounts (four guns operating together). Originally, she had 24 M2 Browning machine guns, but these were replaced in January 1942 with 30 20-mm Oerlikon anti-aircraft cannon. An additional quad mount was later added at her bow and two more 20 mm anti-aircraft guns were added for a total of 32 mounts. In addition, her athwartships hangar-deck aircraft catapult was removed. In June 1942, following the battle of Midway, ''Hornet'' had a new CXAM radar installed atop her tripod mast, and her SC radar was relocated to her mainmast. Unlike her sisters, ''Hornet''s tripod mast and its signal bridge were not enclosed when the CXAM was installed, making her unique among the three ships.

''Hornet'' had an armor belt that was thick on a backing of special treatment steel (STS). The flight and hangar decks were unarmored though the protective deck was STS. Bulkheads had armor, while the conning tower had splinter protection only, in contrast with her sister's armor on the sides with on top. The steering gear had protection on the sides with splinter protection on the deck.

Her flight deck was and her hangar deck was and high. She had three aircraft elevators each with a lifting capacity of . She had two flight-deck and one hangar-deck hydraulic catapults equipped with the Mark IV Mod 3A arresting gear with a capability of and . She was designed to host a Carrier Air Group of 18 fighters, 18 bombers, 37 scout planes, 18 torpedo bombers, and six utility aircraft.

''Hornet'' was laid down on 25 September 1939 by Newport News Shipbuilding of Newport News, Virginia, and was launched on 14 December 1940, sponsored by Annie Reid Knox, wife of Secretary of the Navy Frank M. Knox. She was commissioned at Naval Station Norfolk on 20 October 1941, with Captain Marc A. Mitscher in command.

Service history

Before the attack on Pearl Harbor, ''Hornet'' trained out of Norfolk. A hint of a future mission occurred on 2 February 1942 when ''Hornet'' departed Norfolk with two Army Air Forces B-25 Mitchell medium bombers on deck. Once at sea, the planes were launched to the surprise and amazement of ''Hornet''s crew. Her men were unaware of the meaning of this experiment. ''Hornet'' returned to Norfolk, prepared to leave for combat, and sailed for the West Coast on 4 March via the Panama Canal.

Doolittle Raid, April 1942

''Hornet'' arrived at Naval Air Station Alameda, California, on 20 March 1942 with her own planes on the hangar deck. By midafternoon on 1 April, she loaded 16 B-25s on the flight deck, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel James H. Doolittle, 70 United States Army Air Corps officers and 64 enlisted men reported aboard. In company of her escort, ''Hornet'' departed Alameda on 2 April under sealed orders. That afternoon, Captain Mitscher informed his men of their mission: a bombing raid on Japan.

Eleven days later, ''Hornet'' joined the aircraft carrier at Midway, and Task Force 16 turned toward Japan. With ''Enterprise'' providing combat air patrol cover, ''Hornet'' was to steam deep into enemy waters. Originally, the task force intended to proceed to within of the Japanese coast, but on the morning of 18 April, a Japanese patrol boat, No. 23 ''Nitto Maru'', sighted the American task force. sank the patrol boat. Amid concerns that the Japanese had been made aware of their presence, Doolittle and his raiders launched prematurely from out, instead of the planned . Because of this decision, none of the 16 planes made it to their designated landing strips in China. After the war, Tokyo was found to have received the ''Nitto Marus message in a garbled form and the Japanese ship was sunk before it could get a clear message through to the Japanese mainland.

As ''Hornet'' came about and prepared to launch the bombers, which had been readied for take-off the previous day, a gale of more than churned the sea with crests. Heavy swells, which caused the ship to pitch violently, shipped sea and spray over the bow, wetted the flight deck, and drenched the deck crews. The lead plane, commanded by Colonel Doolittle, had only of flight deck, while the last B-25 hung its twin rudders far out over the fantail. Doolittle, timing himself against the rise and fall of the ship's bow, lumbered down the flight deck, circled ''Hornet'' after take-off, and set course for Japan. By 09:20, all 16 were airborne, heading for the first American air strike against the Japanese home islands.

''Hornet'' brought her own planes on deck as Task Force 16 steamed at full speed for Pearl Harbor. Intercepted broadcasts, both in Japanese and English, confirmed at 14:46 the success of the raids. Exactly one week to the hour after launching the B-25s, ''Hornet'' sailed into Pearl Harbor. That the Tokyo raid was the ''Hornet''s mission was kept an official secret for a year. Until then, President Roosevelt referred to the ship from which the bombers were launched only as "Shangri-La." Two years later, the Navy gave this name to an aircraft carrier.

''Hornet'' steamed from Pearl Harbor to aid and on 30 April at the Battle of the Coral Sea, though the battle ended before she arrived. On 4 May, Task Force 16 crossed the equator; the first time ever for ''Hornet''. ''Hornet,'' alongside ''Enterprise'', executed a feint towards Nauru and Banaba (Ocean) islands, which caused the Japanese to cancel their operation to seize the two islands. She returned to Hawaii on 26 May, and sailed again two days later to help repulse an expected Japanese assault on Midway.

Battle of Midway, June 1942

On 28 May 1942, ''Hornet'' and Task Force 16 steamed out of Pearl Harbor heading for Point "Luck", an arbitrary spot in the ocean roughly northeast of Midway, where they would be in a flank position to ambush Japan's mobile strike force of four frontline aircraft carriers, the ''Kidō Butai''. Japanese carrier-based planes were reported headed for Midway in the early morning of 4 June. ''Hornet'', ''Yorktown'', and ''Enterprise'' launched aircraft, just as the Japanese carriers struck their planes below to prepare for a second attack on Midway. ''Hornet's'' dive bombers followed an incorrect heading and did not find the enemy fleet. Several bombers and all of the escorting fighters were forced to ditch when they ran out of fuel attempting to return to the ship. 15 torpedo bombers of Torpedo Squadron 8 (VT-8) found the Japanese ships and attacked. They were met by overwhelming fighter opposition about out, and with no escorts to protect them, they were shot down. Ensign George H. Gay, USNR, was the only survivor of 30 men.

Further attacks from ''Enterprise's'' and ''Yorktown's'' torpedo bombers proved equally disastrous, but succeeded in forcing the Japanese carriers to keep their decks clear for combat air patrol operations, rather than launching a counter-attack against the Americans. Japanese fighters were shooting down the last of the torpedo bombers over when dive bombers of ''Enterprise'' and ''Yorktown'' attacked, causing enormous fires aboard the three other Japanese carriers, ultimately leading to their loss. ''Hiryū'' was hit late in the afternoon of 4 June by a strike from ''Enterprise'' and sank early the next morning. ''Hornet's'' aircraft, launching late due to the necessity of recovering ''Yorktown's'' scout planes and faulty communications, attacked a battleship and other escorts, but failed to score hits. ''Yorktown'' was lost to combined aerial and submarine attack.

''Hornet''s aircraft attacked the fleeing Japanese fleet on 6 June and assisted in sinking the heavy cruiser , damaging a destroyer, and leaving the heavy cruiser heavily damaged and on fire. The attack by ''Hornet'' on the ''Mogami'' ended one of the great decisive battles of naval history. Midway Atoll was saved as an important base for American operations into the Western Pacific Ocean. Of greatest importance was the crippling of the Japanese carrier strength, a severe blow from which the Imperial Japanese Navy never fully recovered. The four large carriers took with them to the bottom about 250 naval aircraft and a high percentage of the most highly trained and experienced Japanese aircraft maintenance personnel. The victory at Midway was a decisive turning point in the War in the Pacific.

On 16 June 1942, Captain Charles P. Mason became commanding officer of ''Hornet'' upon her return to Pearl Harbor. ''Hornet'' spent the next six weeks replenishing her stores, having minor repairs performed, and most importantly, having additional light antiaircraft guns and the new RCA CXAM air-search radar fitted. She did not sail in late July with the forces sent to recapture Guadalcanal, but instead remained at Pearl Harbor in case she was needed elsewhere.

Solomon Islands campaign, August–October, 1942

''Hornet'' steamed out of harbor on 17 August 1942 to guard sea approaches to the bitterly contested Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. Bomb damage to ''Enterprise'' on 24 August, torpedo damage to on 31 August, and the sinking of on 15 September left ''Hornet'' as the only operational U.S. carrier in the South Pacific. She was responsible for providing air cover over the Solomon Islands until 24 October 1942, when she was joined by ''Enterprise'' just northwest of the New Hebrides Islands. Both carriers and their escorts steamed out to intercept a Japanese aircraft carrier/ battleship/ cruiser force closing in on Guadalcanal.

Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands

The Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands took place on 26 October 1942 without contact between surface ships of the opposing forces. That morning, ''Enterprise''s planes bombed the carrier , while planes from ''Hornet'' severely damaged the carrier and the heavy cruiser . Two other cruisers were also attacked by ''Hornet''s aircraft. Meanwhile, ''Hornet'' was attacked by a coordinated dive bomber and torpedo plane attack. In a 15-minute period, ''Hornet'' was hit by three bombs from Aichi D3A "Val" dive bombers. One "Val", after being heavily damaged by antiaircraft fire while approaching ''Hornet'', crashed into the carrier's island, killing seven men and spreading burning aviation gas over the deck. A flight of Nakajima B5N "Kate" torpedo bombers attacked ''Hornet'' and scored two hits, which seriously damaged the electrical systems and engines. As the carrier came to a halt, another damaged "Val" deliberately crashed into ''Hornets port side near the bow.

With power knocked out to her engines, ''Hornet'' was unable to launch or land aircraft, forcing her aviators to either land on ''Enterprise'' or ditch in the ocean. Rear Admiral George D. Murray ordered the heavy cruiser to tow ''Hornet'' clear of the action. Japanese aircraft were attacking ''Enterprise'', allowing ''Northampton'' to tow ''Hornet'' at a speed of about . Repair crews were on the verge of restoring power when another flight of nine "Kate" torpedo planes attacked. Eight of these aircraft were either shot down or failed to score hits, but the ninth scored a fatal hit on the starboard side. The torpedo hit destroyed the repairs to the electrical system and caused a 14° list. After being informed that Japanese surface forces were approaching and that further towing efforts were futile, Vice Admiral William Halsey ordered ''Hornet'' sunk, and an order of "abandon ship" was issued. Captain Mason, the last man on board, climbed over the side, and the survivors were soon picked up by the escorting destroyers.

American warships attempted to scuttle the stricken carrier, which absorbed nine torpedoes, many of which failed to explode, and more than 400 rounds from the destroyers and . The destroyers steamed away when a Japanese surface force entered the area. The Japanese destroyers and finally finished off ''Hornet'' with 4 Long Lance torpedoes. At 01:35 on 27 October, ''Hornet'' finally sank with the loss of 140 of her 2,200 sailors. 21 aircraft went down with the ship.

Legacy

''Hornet'' was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 13 January 1943. Her name was revived less than a year later when the newly constructed ''Kearsarge'' was commissioned as . CV-8 is honored aboard her namesake, which is now the USS ''Hornet'' Museum docked in Alameda, California.

''Hornet'' was the last American fleet carrier (CV) ever sunk by enemy fire, though the light carrier ''Princeton'' and a number of much smaller escort carriers were sunk in combat in other battles following ''Hornet's'' sinking.

Wreck discovery

In late January 2019, the research vessel located ''Hornet's'' wreck at more than deep off the Solomon Islands. The expedition team, largely funded by Paul Allen, aboard the ''Petrel'', used information from the archives of nine other U.S. warships that saw the carrier shortly before she was sunk. One of two robotic vehicles aboard the ''Petrel'' found the ''Hornet'' during its first dive mission. The carrier lies upright on the ocean floor, with her signal bridge and a section of her stern that broke away coming to rest around her.

Awards

''Hornet'' was awarded four battle stars during World War II.

In addition, Torpedo Squadron 8 flying from ''Hornet'' was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation. "for extraordinary heroism and distinguished service beyond the call of duty" during the Battle of Midway.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hornet (Cv-08)
Yorktown-class aircraft carriers
1940 ships
World War II aircraft carriers of the United States
Ships of the Battle of Midway
World War II shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean
Ships built in Newport News, Virginia
Doolittle Raid
Maritime incidents in October 1942
Shipwreck discoveries by Paul Allen
2019 archaeological discoveries