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USS Hornet (CV-8)
Encyclopedia
USS Hornet CV-8, the seventh ship to carry the name Hornet, 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 and sunk. Hornet was in service for a 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, a citation for the Doolittle Raid
in 1995, and her Torpedo Squadron 8 received a Presidential Unit Citation for extraordinary heroism for the Battle of Midway
.
of Newport News, Virginia
(sponsored by Annie Reid Knox, wife of Secretary of the Navy Frank M. Knox), and commissioned at Norfolk on 20 October 1941, with Captain
Marc A. Mitscher in command.
During the uneasy period before the attack on Pearl Harbor
, Hornet trained out of Naval Station Norfolk
. Her armament was upgraded in her January 1942 yard period, removing all 0.5 in (12.7 mm) machine guns and replacing them with thirty 20 mm Oerlikon
anti-aircraft cannon
s. A hint of a future mission occurred on 2 February 1942, when Hornet departed Norfolk with two Army Air Forces
B-25 Mitchell
medium bomber
s on deck. Once at sea, the planes were launched to the surprise and amazement of Hornets 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
.
, 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
Jimmy Doolittle
, 70 officers and 64 enlisted men reported aboard. In company of her escort, Hornet departed Alameda on 2 April under sealed orders. That afternoon, Captain Marc Mitscher informed his men of their mission: a bombing raid on Japan
.
Eleven days later, Hornet joined the aircraft carrier off Midway, and Task Force 16 (TF 16) turned toward Japan. With Enterprise providing combat air cover, Hornet was to steam deep into enemy waters. Originally, the task force intended to proceed to within 400 nmi (460.3 mi; 740.8 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. sank the patrol boat. Amid concerns that the Japanese had been made aware of their presence, Doolittle and his raiders were forced to launch prematurely from 600 nmi (690.5 mi; 1,111.2 km) out instead of the planned 450 nmi (517.9 mi; 833.4 km). Because of this decision, none of the 16 planes made it to their designated landing strip in China
. After the war, it was found that Tokyo received the Nitto Marus message in a garbled form and that the Japanese ship was sunk before it could get a clear message through to the Japanese mainland.
As Hornet swung about and prepared to launch the bombers, which had been readied for take-off the previous day, a gale of more than 40 kn (48.7 mph; 78.4 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 (142.3 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.
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Hornet brought her own planes on deck as TF 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. Hornets mission was kept an official secret for a year; until then President Roosevelt referred to the base the bombers started from only as "Shangri-La
". Several years later, the USN would give this name to an aircraft carrier
.
Hornet steamed from Pearl Harbor on 30 April to aid and 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. 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, and sailed two days later to help repulse an expected Japanese assault on Midway
.
On 28 May, Hornet and Task Force 16 steamed out of Pearl Harbor heading for Point "Luck", an arbitrary spot in the ocean roughly 325 miles northeast of Midway, where they would be in a flank position to ambush Japan's mobile strike force of four frontline aircraft carriers the Kido Butai. Japanese carrier-based planes were reported headed for Midway in the early morning of 4 June 1942. Hornet, Yorktown, and Enterprise launched aircraft, just as the Japanese carriers struck their planes below to prepare for a second attack on Midway. Hornet dive bomber
s 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. Fifteen torpedo bombers of Torpedo Squadron 8 (VT-8) found their enemy and pressed home their attacks. They were met by overwhelming fighter opposition about 8 nmi (9.2 mi; 14.8 km) out, and with no escorts to protect them, they were shot down one by one. Ensign
George H. Gay, USNR, was the only survivor of 30 men.
Further attacks by Enterprise and Yorktown torpedo planes proved equally disastrous, but succeeded in dispersing both the carriers and their fighter cover. Japanese fighters were finishing off the last of the torpedo planes over when dive bombers of Enterprise and Yorktown attacked and sank the three remaining Japanese carriers. 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.
Hornets planes attacked the fleeing Japanese fleet on 6 June 1942, and assisted in sinking the cruiser , damaging a destroyer
, and left the cruiser aflame and heavily damaged. Her attack on Mogami ended one of the decisive battles of history. Midway was saved as an important base for operations into the western Pacific. Of greatest importance was the crippling of Japan's carrier strength, a severe blow from which they never fully recovered. The four large carriers took with them to the bottom some 250 aircraft and a high percentage of Japan's most highly trained and battle-experienced carrier pilots. The victory at Midway is widely seen as a turning point in the battle for the Pacific.
installed atop her tripod mast, and her SC radar was relocated to the mainmast, an additional 1.1 in (27.9 mm) quad mount was added at the bow, her complement of 20 mm armament was increased from 30 to 32 mounts, her athwartships hangar deck catapult was removed, and she trained out of Pearl Harbor. She sailed on 17 August to guard the sea approaches to bitterly-contested Guadalcanal
in the Solomons. Bomb damage to Enterprise (24 August), torpedo damage to (31 August), and loss of (15 September) reduced the number of carriers in the South Pacific to only one: Hornet. She bore the brunt of providing air cover in the Solomons until 24 October, when she joined Enterprise northwest of the New Hebrides
and steamed to intercept a Japanese carrier/battleship force bearing down on Guadalcanal.
The Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands
took place on 26 October without contact between surface ships of the opposing forces. That morning, Enterprises planes bombed the carrier , while planes from Hornet severely damaged the carrier and the cruiser . Two other cruisers were also attacked by Hornets aircraft. Meanwhile, Hornet was attacked by a coordinated dive bombing
and aerial torpedo
attack. In a 15-minute period, Hornet took three bomb hits from Aichi D3A
"Val" dive bombers, another bomb hit compounded by the "Val" itself crashing into the deck, two torpedo hits from Nakajima B5N
"Kates", and another "Val" crashing into the deck.
Rear Admiral
Murray ordered the cruiser to tow Hornet. Since the Japanese were attacking Enterprise, it allowed Northampton to tow at about 5 knots (2.7 m/s). Hornet, while under tow, came under attack again from another wave of torpedo bombers later in the day. A "Kate" scored another torpedo hit, and "abandon ship" was ordered. Captain Charles P. Mason, the last man on board, climbed over the side, and survivors were soon picked up by destroyers.
U.S. forces then attempted to scuttle Hornet, which absorbed nine torpedoes and more than 400 5 in (127 mm) rounds from the destroyers and . Mustin and Anderson moved off when a Japanese surface force appeared in the area. Japanese destroyers and then finished Hornet with four 24 in (609.6 mm) torpedoes. At 01:35 on 27 October, she finally sank with the loss of 140 of her crew. Other than light and escort aircraft carriers, the USS Hornet became the last U.S. carrier to be sunk by the enemy during World War II. Hornet was struck from the Naval Vessel Register
on 13 January 1943, but her name was later revived
in a subsequent Essex class aircraft carrier, USS Hornet (CV-12)
.
Additionally, Torpedo Squadron 8 flying from Hornet CV-8 was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation."for extraordinary heroism and distinguished service beyond the call of duty" in the Battle of Midway.
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...
. During 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...
in the Pacific Theater
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 launched the Doolittle Raid
Doolittle Raid
The Doolittle Raid, on 18 April 1942, was the first air raid by the United States to strike the Japanese Home Islands during World War II. By demonstrating that Japan itself was vulnerable to American air attack, it provided a vital morale boost and opportunity for U.S. retaliation after the...
on Tokyo and participated in the Battle of Midway
Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway is widely regarded as the most important naval battle of the Pacific Campaign of World War II. Between 4 and 7 June 1942, approximately one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea and six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States Navy decisively defeated...
and the Buin-Faisi-Tonolai Raid. In the Solomon Islands campaign
Solomon Islands campaign
The Solomon Islands campaign was a major campaign of the Pacific War of World War II. The campaign began with Japanese landings and occupation of several areas in the British Solomon Islands and Bougainville, in the Territory of New Guinea, during the first six months of 1942...
she was involved in the Capture and Defense of Guadalcanal
Guadalcanal
Guadalcanal is a tropical island in the South-Western Pacific. The largest island in the Solomons, it was discovered by the Spanish expedition of Alvaro de Mendaña in 1568...
and the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands
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...
where she was irreparably damaged and sunk. Hornet was in service for a 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, a citation for the Doolittle Raid
Doolittle Raid
The Doolittle Raid, on 18 April 1942, was the first air raid by the United States to strike the Japanese Home Islands during World War II. By demonstrating that Japan itself was vulnerable to American air attack, it provided a vital morale boost and opportunity for U.S. retaliation after the...
in 1995, and her Torpedo Squadron 8 received a Presidential Unit Citation for extraordinary heroism for the Battle of Midway
Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway is widely regarded as the most important naval battle of the Pacific Campaign of World War II. Between 4 and 7 June 1942, approximately one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea and six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States Navy decisively defeated...
.
World War II
She was launched on 14 December 1940 by 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...
of Newport News, Virginia
Newport News, Virginia
Newport News is an independent city located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia. It is at the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula, on the north shore of the James River extending southeast from Skiffe's Creek along many miles of waterfront to the river's mouth at Newport News...
(sponsored by Annie Reid Knox, wife of Secretary of the Navy Frank M. Knox), and commissioned at Norfolk on 20 October 1941, with 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....
Marc A. Mitscher in command.
During the uneasy period before the attack on Pearl Harbor
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...
, Hornet trained out of Naval Station Norfolk
Naval Station Norfolk
Naval Station Norfolk, in Norfolk, Virginia, is a base of the United States Navy, supporting naval forces in the United States Fleet Forces Command, those operating in the Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, and Indian Ocean...
. Her armament was upgraded in her January 1942 yard period, removing all 0.5 in (12.7 mm) machine guns and replacing them with thirty 20 mm Oerlikon
Oerlikon 20 mm cannon
The Oerlikon 20 mm cannon is a series of autocannons, based on an original design by Reinhold Becker of Germany, very early in World War I, and widely produced by Oerlikon Contraves and others...
anti-aircraft cannon
Anti-aircraft warfare
NATO defines air defence as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action." They include ground and air based weapon systems, associated sensor systems, command and control arrangements and passive measures. It may be to protect naval, ground and air forces...
s. A hint of a future mission occurred on 2 February 1942, when Hornet departed Norfolk with two Army Air Forces
United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II, and the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force....
B-25 Mitchell
B-25 Mitchell
The North American B-25 Mitchell was an American twin-engined medium bomber manufactured by North American Aviation. It was used by many Allied air forces, in every theater of World War II, as well as many other air forces after the war ended, and saw service across four decades.The B-25 was named...
medium bomber
Medium bomber
A medium bomber is a bomber aircraft designed to operate with medium bombloads over medium distances; the name serves to distinguish them from the larger heavy bombers and smaller light bombers...
s on deck. Once at sea, the planes were launched to the surprise and amazement of Hornets 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
Panama Canal
The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...
.
Doolittle Raid, April 1942
Hornet arrived at Naval Air Station AlamedaNaval 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...
, 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
Lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...
Jimmy Doolittle
Jimmy Doolittle
General James Harold "Jimmy" Doolittle, USAF was an American aviation pioneer. Doolittle served as a brigadier general, major general and lieutenant general in the United States Army Air Forces during the Second World War...
, 70 officers and 64 enlisted men reported aboard. In company of her escort, Hornet departed Alameda on 2 April under sealed orders. That afternoon, Captain Marc Mitscher informed his men of their mission: a bombing raid on Japan
Doolittle Raid
The Doolittle Raid, on 18 April 1942, was the first air raid by the United States to strike the Japanese Home Islands during World War II. By demonstrating that Japan itself was vulnerable to American air attack, it provided a vital morale boost and opportunity for U.S. retaliation after the...
.
Eleven days later, Hornet joined the aircraft carrier off Midway, and Task Force 16 (TF 16) turned toward Japan. With Enterprise providing combat air cover, Hornet was to steam deep into enemy waters. Originally, the task force intended to proceed to within 400 nmi (460.3 mi; 740.8 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. sank the patrol boat. Amid concerns that the Japanese had been made aware of their presence, Doolittle and his raiders were forced to launch prematurely from 600 nmi (690.5 mi; 1,111.2 km) out instead of the planned 450 nmi (517.9 mi; 833.4 km). Because of this decision, none of the 16 planes made it to their designated landing strip in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. After the war, it was found that Tokyo received the Nitto Marus message in a garbled form and that the Japanese ship was sunk before it could get a clear message through to the Japanese mainland.
As Hornet swung about and prepared to launch the bombers, which had been readied for take-off the previous day, a gale of more than 40 kn (48.7 mph; 78.4 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 (142.3 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
Flight deck
The flight deck of an aircraft carrier is the surface from which its aircraft take off and land, essentially a miniature airfield at sea. On smaller naval ships which do not have aviation as a primary mission, the landing area for helicopters and other VTOL aircraft is also referred to as the...
, 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.
Shangri-La
Shangri-La is a fictional place described in the 1933 novel Lost Horizon by British author James Hilton. Hilton describes Shangri-La as a mystical, harmonious valley, gently guided from a lamasery, enclosed in the western end of the Kunlun Mountains...
". Several years later, the USN would give this name to an aircraft carrier
USS Shangri-La (CV-38)
USS Shangri-La was one of 24 s completed during or shortly after World War II for the United States Navy.Commissioned in 1944, Shangri-La participated in several campaigns in the Pacific Theater of Operations in World War II, earning two battle stars...
.
Hornet steamed from Pearl Harbor on 30 April to aid and at the Battle of the Coral Sea
Battle of the Coral Sea
The Battle of the Coral Sea, fought from 4–8 May 1942, was a major naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II between the Imperial Japanese Navy and Allied naval and air forces from the United States and Australia. The battle was the first fleet action in which aircraft carriers engaged...
, but the battle ended before she reached the scene. On 4 May Task Force 16 crossed the equator, the first time ever for Hornet. After executing, with Enterprise, a feint
Feint
Feint is a French term that entered English from the discipline of fencing. Feints are maneuvers designed to distract or mislead, done by giving the impression that a certain maneuver will take place, while in fact another, or even none, will...
towards Nauru
Nauru
Nauru , officially the Republic of Nauru and formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island country in Micronesia in the South Pacific. Its nearest neighbour is Banaba Island in Kiribati, to the east. Nauru is the world's smallest republic, covering just...
and Banaba (Ocean) islands which caused the Japanese to cancel their operation to seize the two islands
Operation RY
Operation RY was the name of the Imperial Japanese plan to invade and occupy Nauru and Ocean islands in the south Pacific during the Pacific conflict of World War II. The operation was originally set to be executed in May 1942 immediately following Operation MO and before Operation MI, which...
, she returned to Hawaii on 26 May, and sailed two days later to help repulse an expected Japanese assault on Midway
Midway Atoll
Midway Atoll is a atoll in the North Pacific Ocean, near the northwestern end of the Hawaiian archipelago, about one-third of the way between Honolulu, Hawaii, and Tokyo, Japan. Unique among the Hawaiian islands, Midway observes UTC-11 , eleven hours behind Coordinated Universal Time and one hour...
.
Battle of Midway, June 1942
Dive bomber
A dive bomber is a bomber aircraft that dives directly at its targets in order to provide greater accuracy for the bomb it drops. Diving towards the target reduces the distance the bomb has to fall, which is the primary factor in determining the accuracy of the drop...
s 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. Fifteen torpedo bombers of Torpedo Squadron 8 (VT-8) found their enemy and pressed home their attacks. They were met by overwhelming fighter opposition about 8 nmi (9.2 mi; 14.8 km) out, and with no escorts to protect them, they were shot down one by one. Ensign
Ensign (rank)
Ensign is a junior rank of a commissioned officer in the armed forces of some countries, normally in the infantry or navy. As the junior officer in an infantry regiment was traditionally the carrier of the ensign flag, the rank itself acquired the name....
George H. Gay, USNR, was the only survivor of 30 men.
Further attacks by Enterprise and Yorktown torpedo planes proved equally disastrous, but succeeded in dispersing both the carriers and their fighter cover. Japanese fighters were finishing off the last of the torpedo planes over when dive bombers of Enterprise and Yorktown attacked and sank the three remaining Japanese carriers. 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.
Hornets planes attacked the fleeing Japanese fleet on 6 June 1942, and assisted in sinking the cruiser , damaging a destroyer
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
, and left the cruiser aflame and heavily damaged. Her attack on Mogami ended one of the decisive battles of history. Midway was saved as an important base for operations into the western Pacific. Of greatest importance was the crippling of Japan's carrier strength, a severe blow from which they never fully recovered. The four large carriers took with them to the bottom some 250 aircraft and a high percentage of Japan's most highly trained and battle-experienced carrier pilots. The victory at Midway is widely seen as a turning point in the battle for the Pacific.
Solomons campaign, August–October, 1942
Following the battle of Midway, Hornet had a new CXAM radarRadar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
installed atop her tripod mast, and her SC radar was relocated to the mainmast, an additional 1.1 in (27.9 mm) quad mount was added at the bow, her complement of 20 mm armament was increased from 30 to 32 mounts, her athwartships hangar deck catapult was removed, and she trained out of Pearl Harbor. She sailed on 17 August to guard the sea approaches to bitterly-contested Guadalcanal
Guadalcanal
Guadalcanal is a tropical island in the South-Western Pacific. The largest island in the Solomons, it was discovered by the Spanish expedition of Alvaro de Mendaña in 1568...
in the Solomons. Bomb damage to Enterprise (24 August), torpedo damage to (31 August), and loss of (15 September) reduced the number of carriers in the South Pacific to only one: Hornet. She bore the brunt of providing air cover in the Solomons until 24 October, when she joined Enterprise northwest of the New Hebrides
New Hebrides
New Hebrides was the colonial name for an island group in the South Pacific that now forms the nation of Vanuatu. The New Hebrides were colonized by both the British and French in the 18th century shortly after Captain James Cook visited the islands...
and steamed to intercept a Japanese carrier/battleship force bearing down on Guadalcanal.
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...
took place on 26 October without contact between surface ships of the opposing forces. That morning, Enterprises planes bombed the carrier , while planes from Hornet severely damaged the carrier and the cruiser . Two other cruisers were also attacked by Hornets aircraft. Meanwhile, Hornet was attacked by a coordinated dive bombing
Dive bomber
A dive bomber is a bomber aircraft that dives directly at its targets in order to provide greater accuracy for the bomb it drops. Diving towards the target reduces the distance the bomb has to fall, which is the primary factor in determining the accuracy of the drop...
and aerial torpedo
Aerial torpedo
The aerial torpedo, airborne torpedo or air-dropped torpedo is a naval weapon, the torpedo, designed to be dropped into water from an aircraft after which it propels itself to the target. First used in World War I, air-dropped torpedoes were used extensively in World War II, and remain in limited...
attack. In a 15-minute period, Hornet took three bomb hits from Aichi D3A
Aichi D3A
The , Allied reporting name "Val") was a World War II carrier-borne dive bomber of the Imperial Japanese Navy . It was the primary dive bomber in the Imperial Japanese Navy, and participated in almost all actions, including Pearl Harbor....
"Val" dive bombers, another bomb hit compounded by the "Val" itself crashing into the deck, two torpedo hits from Nakajima B5N
Nakajima B5N
|-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* Bridgwater, H.C. and Peter Scott. Combat Colours Number 4: Pearl Harbor and Beyond, December 1941 to May 1942. Luton, Bedfordshire, UK: Guideline Publications, 2001. ISBN 0-9539040-6-7....
"Kates", and another "Val" crashing into the deck.
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"...
Murray ordered the cruiser to tow Hornet. Since the Japanese were attacking Enterprise, it allowed Northampton to tow at about 5 knots (2.7 m/s). Hornet, while under tow, came under attack again from another wave of torpedo bombers later in the day. A "Kate" scored another torpedo hit, and "abandon ship" was ordered. Captain Charles P. Mason, the last man on board, climbed over the side, and survivors were soon picked up by destroyers.
U.S. forces then attempted to scuttle Hornet, which absorbed nine torpedoes and more than 400 5 in (127 mm) rounds from the destroyers and . Mustin and Anderson moved off when a Japanese surface force appeared in the area. Japanese destroyers and then finished Hornet with four 24 in (609.6 mm) torpedoes. At 01:35 on 27 October, she finally sank with the loss of 140 of her crew. Other than light and escort aircraft carriers, the USS Hornet became the last U.S. carrier to be sunk by the enemy during World War II. Hornet was struck from the Naval Vessel Register
Naval 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 13 January 1943, but her name was later revived
USS Hornet (CV-12)
USS Hornet 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...
in a subsequent Essex class aircraft carrier, USS Hornet (CV-12)
USS Hornet (CV-12)
USS Hornet 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...
.
Awards
Hornet was awarded 4 Service stars.| Action No. | Operation:Action | Operation Period | Period of CV-8 Participation | Battle Stars Awarded | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (1) | Midway | 3-6 Jun 42 | 3 Jun 42 - 6 Jun 42 | 1 | A Presidential Unit Citation was awarded for this battle to Torpedo Squadron 8 operating from U.S.S. Hornet CV-8 |
| (2) | Buin-Faisi-Tonolai raid | 5 Oct 42 | 5 Oct 42 | 1 | |
| (3) | Capture and defense of Guadalcanal | 10 Aug 42 - 8 Feb 43 | 16 Oct 42 | 1 | |
| (4) | Santa Cruz Islands | 26 Oct 42 | 26 Oct 42 | 1 | U.S.S. Hornet CV-8 was sunk at this battle after being in service for a year and six days. |
| Total Battle Stars | 4 |
Additionally, Torpedo Squadron 8 flying from Hornet CV-8 was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation."for extraordinary heroism and distinguished service beyond the call of duty" in the Battle of Midway.
External links
- Navy photographs of Hornet (CV-8)
- Maritimequest USS Hornet CV-8 Photo Gallery
- More detail on last hours of Hornet.
- WWII Archives Hornet (CV-8) original Ship Action Reports Scanned in from the National Archives
- WWII Archives U.S.S. Hornet (CV-8) original 32 Page War Damage Report Scanned in from the National Archives
- NavSource Aircraft Carrier Photo Index for Hornet (CV-8), with Awards, Medals, and Ribbons Listing
- USS Hornet Damage Report during the Battle of Midway
- Decorations - Task Force 16 Citation awarded retroactively to Hornet CV-8 on May 15, 1995 and other ships of TF16 for the Doolittle Raid in 1942
- Commanders of the USS Hornet (CV-8)
- Video of the Battle of Santa Cruz and sinking of USS Hornet (CV-8)