USS Hornet
Two ships named the USS Hornet, after the aggressive insect of the same name, served the United States during World War II. The first (CV-8) was launched in 1940 from Newport News, Virginia and was a Yorktown Class aircraft carrier. It was involved in some of the most famous engagements of World War II before being sunk during the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands. The second Hornet (CV-12) was renamed in honor of the CV-8 after her loss and served throughout the remainder of the war.
USS Hornet (CV-8) stayed close to her base in Norfolk during the uneasy period before the bombing of Pearl Harbor. She was involved in a rather covert mission shortly after the attack on Hawaii when she sailed out of Norfolk carrying two Army B-52 Bombers on her flight deck. Her crew was surprised when the bombers were launched successfully because no planes of that type had ever used a carrier take-off before. The crew did not learn the significance of this experiment until much later. On April 2, after the Hornet had picked up sixteen B-52s at Alameda, California, Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle informed his men that their mission was to be a bombing raid on Japan.
The Hornet joined Task Force 16 and steamed toward Japan. The original plan had been to sail within 400 miles of the Japanese coast, but because an enemy patrol boat sighted the task force, Doolittle and his men were forced to launch prematurely. As the Hornet crew got ready for the launch, a gale of more than 49 knots arose which caused the ship to pitch drastically, spraying the deck and crewmen with seawater. The heavily armed bombers had to use all the available space on the flight deck for takeoff and had to time their flight carefully to the pitch of the ship. Despite this, all sixteen were successfully launched in the first air strike against Japan. The Hornet then headed for Hawaii at full steam. The crew learned by radio reports that the Doolittle raiders had been successful in reaching Japan.
Hornet also performed admirably during the battle of Midway in June 1942. She assisted in the destruction of several Japanese carriers and other vessels and Midway was saved as an important base for allied operations.
The campaign of the Solomons which lasted from August until October of 1942 finally brought the demise of Hornet (CV-8). She was effective in launching planes to attack enemy vessels for weeks without sustaining significant damage, but on October 26, the Hornet was the victim of a coordinated air and sea attack. In the space of about 15 minutes she was hit by three bombs, a suicide aircraft, and two torpedos. Though she lasted the rest of the day, she was finally sunk and received four battle stars for her duty in the Pacific.
USS Hornet (CV-12) was originally named the Kearsarge, and was renamed in 1943 in honor of the CV-8. She was vital to the mission of achieving victory in the Phillipines and was never hit even though she came under air attack 59 times. In 1991 she was designated a National Historic Monument and still serves today as a museum ship in Alameda, California.
The brave men who served on both reincarnations of the Hornet endured many dangerous moments. Sadly, they were also exposed to a danger they were unaware of while going about their duties. Since both Hornets and other ships were built with asbestos as insulation around pipes and other mechanical features, most of the crewmen were exposed to a dangerous chemical which put them at risk for acquiring many respiratory problems. Anyone who worked on either of the Hornets should be evaluated by a specialist if they have symptoms of any such health complications.
