Wreck of the World War II aircraft carrier USS Hornet is discovered in the South Pacific (TR)

UK Daily Mail ^ | 02/12/2019 | Keith Griffith

[DFG]

The wreck of the World War II aircraft carrier USS Hornet has been discovered in the South Pacific, 77 years after Japanese forces sunk the ship in a fierce battle.

The research vessel Petrel, owned by the estate of late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, discovered the Hornet three miles under the ocean surface off the Solomon Islands late last month.

The Hornet, the last U.S. fleet carrier to be sunk by enemy fire, lost 140 hands under a relentless Japanese air bombing attack at the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands on October 26, 1942.

As Imperial Navy surface forces closed in, all hands were ordered to abandon ship, and the Hornet was finished off by enemy torpedoes and sent to its watery grave.

[Bonemaker]

I didn’t know Paul Allen had passed. He did some great work at finding and preserving WW 2 aircraft. Sorry he didn’t get to fully enjoy the fruit of his labor but he leaves a priceless legacy.

[sparklite2]

Yeah, I was scratching my head. Don’t trust my memory much anymore, but do ssem to recall being on board a USS Hornet during a San Francisco Navy Day in 1990 or so.

[GreyFriar]

Yes, but done in remembrance of her and was a Navy tradition:

USS Hornet, CV-12: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Hornet_(CV-12)

There have been multiple ships named Enterprise, after the original sailing ship captured from the British during the American Revolution: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Enterprise_(1775)

All US Navy ships named Enterprise: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ships_of_the_United_States_Navy_named_Enterprise

[DFG]

This USS Hornet (CV-8) was commissioned Oct 20,1941.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Hornet_(CV-8)

USS Hornet (CV-12) (Essex class carrier) was commissioned Nov 29, 1943, served in Vietnam, recovered the Apollo 11 and 12 capsules, and was decommissioned in 1970. Currently a museum in Alameda, Ca.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Hornet_(CV-12)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Hornet_Museum

[GreyFriar]

There was a follow on USS Hornet, CV-12: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Hornet_(CV-12) launched in 1943.

[Army Air Corps]

Thanks for the ping! I still have a model of the Hornet that I built in High School.

[Charles Martel]

Is there a reason the name Hornet wasn’t used again for a carrier? Seems sticking with a traditional name like that would be better than using politicians’ names.

Or is it a tradition that the ship name dies with her when she’s lost in combat?

I agree, those fleet carrier names from WWII belong on the current CVNs. Some of the old names have drifted over to the amphibious assault/helicopter carrier ship classes.

During WWII, new replacements for Wasp, Hornet, Lexington and Yorktown were launched (and probably a few replacement light carriers, too). There is no tradition of shelving a ship's name due to loss in combat; quite the contrary.

[riverdawg]

“She was well built. Of the three sisters in the Yorktown class, two sank, but only after taking several torpedoes each.”

All three ships in the Yorktown class were built at my parents’ (and my) former employer, Newport News Shipbuilding.

[skimbell]

From the article...

"We had Hornet on our list of WWII warships that we wanted to locate because of its place in history as an aircraft carrier that saw many pivotal moments in naval battles,' said Robert Kraft, director of subsea operations for Vulcan, the organization that operates the Petrel.

Paul Allen was particularly interested in historically significant and capital ships, so this mission and discovery honor his legacy,' Kraft said."

[skimbell]

It continues...

[SunkenCiv]