USS Hornet (CV-8) PDF
USS Hornet (CV-8) PDF
USS Hornet (CV-8) PDF
Hornet had a length of 770 feet (235 m) at the waterline and Complement: 2,919 officers and enlisted
824 feet 9 inches (251.38 m) overall. She had a beam of 83 feet (wartime)
3 inches (25.37 m) at the waterline, 114 feet (35 m) overall, with a Armament: 8 × single 5 in (127 mm) DP
draft of 24 feet 4 inches (7.42 m) as designed and 28 feet (8.5 m) at guns
full load. She displaced 20,000 long tons (20,000 t) at standard
4 × quadruple 1.1 in (28 mm)
load and 25,500 long tons (25,900 t) at full load. She was designed
AA guns
for a ship's crew consisting of 86 officers and 1280 men and an air
24 × single .50 in (12.7 mm)
complement consisting of 141 officers and 710 men.
AA MGs
She was powered by nine Babcock & Wilcox boilers providing Armor: Belt: 2.5–4 in (64–102 mm)
steam at 400 psi (2,800 kPa) and 648 °F (342 °C) to four Parsons
Deck: 4 in (102 mm)
Marine geared steam turbines each driving its own propeller. The
turbines were designed to produce a total of 120,000 shaft
Bulkheads: 4 in (102 mm)
horsepower [shp] (89,000 kW) giving her a range of 12,000 Conning Tower: 4 in (102 mm)
nautical miles (14,000 mi; 22,000 km) at a speed of 15 knots Steering Gear: 4 in (102 mm)
(17 mph; 28 km/h). She was designed to carry 4,280 long tons
Aircraft carried: 72 × aircraft
(4,350 t) of fuel oil and 178,000 US gallons (670,000 l) of Avgas.
Aviation 3 × aircraft elevators
Her designed speed was 32.5 knots (60.2 km/h; 37.4 mph). During
facilities: 3 × aircraft catapults
sea trials, she produced 120,500 shp (89,900 kW) and reached
33.85 knots (62.69 km/h; 38.95 mph).
Hornet was equipped with eight 5-inch (127 mm)/38 caliber dual purpose guns and 16 1.1-inch (28 mm)/75 caliber antiaircraft
guns in quad mounts (four guns operating together). Originally, she had 24 M2 Browning .50-inch (12.7 mm) machine guns but
these were replaced in January 1942 with 30 20-mm Oerlikon antiaircraft cannon.[3][4] An additional 1.1-inch (28 mm) quad
mount was later added at her bow and two more 20 mm antiaircraft guns were added for a total of 32 mounts. In addition, her
athwartships hangar-deck aircraft catapult was removed.[5] 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.
For armor, she had an armor belt of 30-pound (14 kg) special treatment steel (STS) that was 2.5 to 4 inches (64–102 mm) thick.
The flight and hangar decks had no armor but the protective deck had 4 inches (100 mm) of 60-pound (27 kg) STS. Bulkheads
had 4-inch (100 mm) armor while the conning tower had 30–16 mm splinter pro armor 4 inches (100 mm) on the sides with 2
inches (51 mm) on top. The steering gear had 4-inch (100 mm) protection on the sides with 60–16 mm on the deck.[3]
Her flight deck was 814 by 86 feet (248 m × 26 m) and her hangar deck was 546 by 63 feet (166 m × 19 m) and 17 feet 3 inches
(5.26 m) high. She had three aircraft elevators each 48 by 44 feet (15 by 13 m) with a lifting capacity of 17,000 pounds
(7,700 kg). She had two flight-deck and one hangar-deck hydraulic catapults and equipped with Mark IV Mod 3A arresting gear
with a capability of 16,000 pounds (7,300 kg) and 85 miles per hour (137 km/h).[6] She was designed to host a Carrier Air Group
of 18 fighters, 18 bombers, 37 scout planes, 18 torpedo bombers, and 6 utility aircraft.[3][7]
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.[8][9]
Service history
During the period 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, as Hornet returned to Norfolk, prepared to leave for combat, and on 4 March sailed for the West Coast via the
Panama Canal.[10][11]
Eleven days later, Hornet joined the aircraft carrier Enterprise at Midway, and
A B-25 takes off from Hornet
Task Force 16 turned toward Japan.[14] With Enterprise providing combat air
patrol cover, Hornet was to steam deep into enemy waters. Originally, the task
force intended to proceed to within 400 nmi (460 mi; 740 km) of the Japanese coast; however, on the morning of 18 April, a
Japanese patrol boat, No. 23 Nitto Maru, sighted the American task force. Nashville sank the patrol boat.[15] Amid concerns that
the Japanese had been made aware of their presence, Doolittle and his raiders launched prematurely from 600 nmi (690 mi;
1,100 km) out, instead of the planned 400 nmi (460 mi; 740 km). Because of this decision, none of the 16 planes made it to their
designated landing strips in China. After the war, it was found that Tokyo received the Nitto Maru's message in a garbled form
and that the Japanese ship was sunk before it could get a clear message through to the Japanese mainland.[16]
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 40 kn (46 mph; 74 km/h) churned the sea with 30 ft (9.1 m) crests; heavy swells, which caused the ship to pitch violently,
shipped sea and spray over the bow, wet the flight deck, and drenched the deck crews. The lead plane, commanded by Colonel
Doolittle, had only 467 ft (142 m) 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.[15]
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.[17] 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
would give this name to an aircraft carrier.
Hornet steamed from Pearl Harbor on 30 April to aid Yorktown and Lexington[18] at the Battle of the Coral Sea, but the battle
ended before she reached the scene. On 4 May Task Force 16 crossed the equator, the first time ever for Hornet.[19] After
executing, with Enterprise, 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,[20] and sailed two days later to help repulse an expected
Japanese assault on Midway.[5][11]
Further attacks by Enterprise and Yorktown torpedo planes 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 planes over Hiryū when dive bombers of Enterprise and Yorktown
attacked, causing enormous fires aboard the three other Japanese carriers, ultimately leading to their loss. Hiryu was hit late in the
afternoon of 4 June by a strike from Enterprise and sank early the next morning. Hornet aircraft, launching late due to the
necessity of recovering Yorktown 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.[26]
Hornet's warplanes attacked the fleeing Japanese fleet on 6 June and they assisted in sinking the heavy cruiser Mikuma,
damaging a destroyer, and leaving the heavy cruiser Mogami, heavily damaged and on fire, to limp away from the battle zone.
The attack by Hornet on the Mogami ended one of the great decisive battles of naval history.[26] 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.[11]
On 16 June 1942, Captain Charles P. Mason became commanding officer of Hornet upon her return to Pearl Harbor.[8] Hornet
spent the next six weeks replenishing her stores, having minor repairs performed, and most importantly: Having additional light
anti-aircraft guns and the new RCA CXAM air-search radar fitted. She did not sail in late July with the forces sent to re-capture
Guadalcanal, but instead remained at Pearl Harbor in case she was needed elsewhere.
With power knocked out to her engines, Hornet was unable to launch or land aircraft, forcing its aviators to either land on
Enterprise or ditch in the ocean. Rear Admiral George D. Murray ordered the heavy cruiser Northampton to tow Hornet clear of
the action. Since the Japanese planes were attacking Enterprise, this allowed Northampton to tow Hornet at a speed of about five
knots (9 km/h; 6 mph). 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-degree 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.[5][11]
American warships next attempted to scuttle the stricken carrier, which absorbed
nine torpedoes, many of which failed to explode, and more than 400 5-inch
(130 mm) rounds from the destroyers Mustin and Anderson. The destroyers
steamed away when a Japanese surface force entered the area. The Japanese
destroyers Makigumo and Akigumo finally finished off Hornet with four 24-inch
(610 mm) Long Lance torpedoes. At 01:35 on 27 October, Hornet was finally
sunk with the loss of 140 of her 2,200[27] sailors.[28]
Legacy
Hornet, sinking and abandoned.
Hornet was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 13 January 1943.[11]
However, her name was revived less than a year later when the newly
constructed Essex-class aircraft carrier Kearsarge was commissioned as USS Hornet (CV-12).[29] 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, albeit the light carrier Princeton and a number of much
smaller escort carriers were sunk in combat in other battles.
Wreck discovered
In late January 2019, the research vessel Petrel located the wreck at a depth of more than 17,500 feet (5,300 m) off the Solomon
Islands.[30] 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 it was sunk. One of two robotic vehicles aboard the Petrel found the Hornet
during its first dive mission.[27]
Awards
Hornet was awarded four battle stars during World War II.
Notes
1. "ThirteenCats - Ship Nicknames" (http://www.zuzuray.com/nicknames2.html). Retrieved 16 February 2019.
2. https://www-m.cnn.com/2019/02/12/us/world-war-ii-aircraft-carrier-found-south-pacific-trnd/
3. Friedman 1983, p. 392.
4. Hornet (CV-8) vii.
5. Campbell 2011, pp. 91–92.
6. Friedman 1983, p. 381.
7. Navsource.org.
8. Navsource.org Commanding Officers.
9. Rose 1995, pp. 5–6, 10.
10. Rose 1995, pp. 38–39, 41.
11. Hornet (CV-8) vii.
12. Rose 1995, p. 42.
13. Rose 1995, p. 52.
14. Rose 1995, p. 62.
15. Rose 1995, pp. 65–71.
16. Rose 1995, p. 71.
17. Rose 1995, p. 77.
18. Rose 1995, pp. 81–82.
19. Rose 1995, p. 90.
20. Rose 1995, p. 97.
21. Rose 1995, pp. 49, 110–111.
22. Rose 1995, pp. 120–122.
23. Rose 1995, p. 125.
24. Rose 1995, pp. 128–132, 146–149.
25. Mitscher & 13 June 1942.
26. Rose 1995, pp. 97–155.
27. Prio, Ryan. "The wreck of a WWII US Navy aircraft carrier, lost for 76 years, has been found in the South Pacific"
(https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/12/us/world-war-ii-aircraft-carrier-found-south-pacific-trnd/index.html). CNN.
Retrieved 13 February 2019.
28. Hammel 2005, p. 380.
29. Hornet (CV-12) viii.
30. "Wreckage of World War II aircraft carrier USS Hornet discovered" (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/uss-hornet-w
reckage-world-war-two-warship-discovered/). cbsnews.com. 12 February 2019. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
31. Navy and Marine Corps Awards Manual – Part III 1953.
32. Navy and Marine Corps Awards Manual – Part IV 1953.
33. Navy and Marine Corps Awards Manual – Part II 1953.
References
Campbell, Douglas E., PhD (2011). Volume I: U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Coast Guard Aircraft Lost
During World War II – Listed by Ship Attached (https://books.google.com/books?id=vFtIAwAAQBAJ). Lulu.com.
ISBN 1-257-82232-2.
Friedman, Norman (1983). U.S. Aircraft Carriers: An Illustrated Design History (https://books.google.com/books?i
d=-UT7MDTeKj8C). Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-0-8702-1739-5.
Hammel, Eric M. (2005). Carrier Strike: The Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, October 1942. Zenith Imprint.
p. 380. ISBN 0-7603-2128-0.
"Hornet (CV-8) vii" (http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/h/hornet-vii.html).
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History and Heritage Command. 15
January 2015.
"Hornet (CV-12) viii" (http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/h/hornet-viii.html).
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History and Heritage Command. 15
January 2015.
Mitscher, M.A. (13 June 1942). "Battle of Midway: USS Hornet Action Report" (https://www.history.navy.mil/conte
nt/history/nhhc/research/archives/digitized-collections/action-reports/wwii-battle-of-midway/uss-hornet-action-rep
ort.html). Retrieved 13 February 2019.
"Part II. Unit Awards" (http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ref/Awards/Awards-II). Navy and Marine Corps
Awards Manual, NAVPERS 15,790. 1953.
"Part III. List of Authorized Operations and Engagements, Asiatic-Pacific Area". Navy and Marine Corps Awards
Manual, NAVPERS 15,790. 1953.
"Part IV. Campaign and Service Medals" (http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ref/Awards/Awards-IV). Navy and
Marine Corps Awards Manual, NAVPERS 15,790. 1953.
Peña, Fabio (5 October 2008). "USS Hornet (CV-8): Commanding Officers" (http://www.navsource.org/archives/0
2/08co.htm). NavSource Online: Aircraft Carrier Photo Archive. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
Rose, Lisle A. (1995). The Ship That Held the Line: The U.S.S. Hornet and the First Year of the Pacific War (http
s://books.google.com/books?id=hsYYunsH-0sC). Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-008-8.
Yarnall, Paul (15 March 2015). "USS Hornet (CV-8)" (http://www.navsource.org/archives/02/08.htm). NavSource
Online: Aircraft Carrier Photo Archive. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here
(http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/h/hornet-vii.html).
External links
Michael Pocock. "Maritimequest USS Hornet CV-8 Photo Gallery" (http://www.maritimequest.com/warship_direct
ory/us_navy_pages/aircraft_carriers/uss_hornet_cv8_page_1.htm). Maritimequest.com. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
"More detail on last hours of Hornet" (http://www.microworks.net/pacific/battles/santa_cruz.htm). Microworks.net.
Retrieved 18 April 2012.
"WWII Archives Hornet (CV-8) original Ship Action Reports Scanned in from the National Archives" (https://web.a
rchive.org/web/20130308121122/http://www.wwiiarchives.net/servlet/action/documents/usa/126/0).
WWIIarchives.net. Archived from the original (http://www.wwiiarchives.net/servlet/action/documents/usa/126/0)
on 8 March 2013. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
"WWII Archives U.S.S. Hornet (CV-8) original 32 Page War Damage Report Scanned in from the National
Archives" (https://web.archive.org/web/20130308122618/http://www.wwiiarchives.net/servlet/action/documents/u
sa/127/0). Wwiiarchives.net. Archived from the original (http://www.wwiiarchives.net/servlet/action/documents/us
a/127/0) on 8 March 2013. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
"NavSource Aircraft Carrier Photo Index for Hornet (CV-8), with Awards, Medals, and Ribbons Listing" (http://ww
w.navsource.org/archives/02/08.htm). Navsource.org. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
"USS Hornet Damage Report during the Battle of Midway" (http://www.researcheratlarge.com/Ships/CV8/Midway
F4FDamageReport.html). Researcheratlarge.com. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
"Decorations – Task Force 16 Citation" (http://www.cv6.org/decoration/tf16cite/tf16cite.htm). Cv6.org. Retrieved
18 April 2012.
"Commanders of the USS Hornet (CV-8)" (http://www.uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/5510.html). Uboat.net.
Retrieved 18 April 2012.
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