USS Hornet CV-8 & CV-12 - A Tale of Two Carriers
Today we look at the life story of the two US fleet carriers to bear the name USS Hornet. You can visit CV-12 herself here: uss-hornet.org/
Video produced in co-operation with the USS Hornet Museum.
Sources:
uss-hornet.org/
www.amazon.co.uk/U-S-Aircraft...
www.amazon.co.uk/USS-Hornet-C...
www.history.navy.mil/research...
www.history.navy.mil/research...
www.amazon.co.uk/Twilight-God...
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Pinned post for Q&A :)
Alternate History: US Navy in the 1930s decide to take a ‘Quality over quantity’ approach when designing Yorktown and Enterprise and build them to 27,000 ton limit. With the treaty tonnage used up, how would it affect the development of Wasp, Hornet and the Essex-Class?
Though I know the SBD could be used on CAP I don't know how often this was done in practice or how effective it was. Anyone know?
That's an impressive logistical list. So much munitions spent... but you left out the most important stat tubs of ice cream. how many tubs of ice cream did those sailors sink?
Are fleet carriers interesting enough to do an episode on? Nothing really out there
@@QuizmasterLaw Hardly ever. Not really a fighter.
I have an 80 year old patient who served aboard Hornet during the 60's. It seemed to me he was not getting enough recognition for that service. I found him a cruise yearbook with a photo of him as a 20 year old sailor. I also made sure he had a CV-12 cap, which helps him to meet other, previously unknown Hornet sailors. Thank you, Drachinifel for a great video.
I met a sailor from original hornet with zfploytle. Hesitant hisx90s, and live on Sacramento area.i sent my DNA into navy on 2018. They ound my uncles bones at punchbowl. I buried him on 2018, in Inglewood Park cemetery. George was 20, on oklahoma. He is back with family now, after 77 years. Lost o th family. DNA found him
He was on 2nd hornet, I know sailor from 1st with dolittle
Thats awesome you are taking care of him. Best to get intouch with the local vfw. I had a heck of a time getting my dad a 21 gun salute (not that he cared) when he passed. It was mostly because of geography. Guys didnt want to travel that far.
"...the treaty system collapsing faster than a prematurely removed soufflé." Your scripts are pure poetry.
i love his way with words. i was getting churchill vibes when he said however in a recent video.
kzhead.info/sun/lLNsmsimoX9seoE/bejne.html
It's genius
I detect a recent cooking failure in his life....
And nothing says "Manly Man" like "souffle".... (not that I am one)
Somewhat ironic that Lexington, Yortkown and Hornet despite being sunk, still ended up as museum ships through theirs' successors. Enterprise meanwhile survived but ended in scrapyard.
there's a tough "would you rather". Would you rather be scrapped or nuked multiple times, like Saratoga...
@@Cal94 I think being nuked is a more dignified way to go
@@casematecardinal For a retired warship, indeed.
BIG SAD
CVN 80 , of the Gerald R. Ford class coming! No.#9 Enterprise
Glad to see a local hero getting some coverage!
Scott Manley here???? hello , pleased to see you "grounded" sir
@@a_j130 right, small world
Huh, Scott Manley likes navel history, who knew? Big fan of both you guys.
@@a_j130 Yeah, what an interesting crossover.
Some Japanese fighter pilots didn't *fly safe.*
Served on USS Midway, USS Constellation, USS Enterprise from 1970 to 1980. As a Young Man, the first aircraft carrier I set eyes on was the USS Hornet CVA 12. That started my love affair with aircraft carriers, so I combined my love of aircraft with my New Found Love and became a SLUF driver. my days are short in number now, and my memory is full of finer days gone by. The greatest days one could only beg for. ( one is never more alive when facing the abyss ) thank you for your videos. ⚓
I served from 1963-1972 5 years on Cadre's. I obviously got the opportunity to be on every class of USN units. Loved everyone of them. But have honestly say **Cans** we're my favorites. 🇺🇸⚓🐵
You have done your country proud 🥹, A salute 🫡 to the both of you, thank you for your service
We can rebuild her, we have the technology.
When she initially went down Eagles painted red white and blue carried her soul to American shipyards for reincarnation.
@@GIGroundNPound And from her ashes a new American ship was produced, this time with with an even heavier emphasis on the Second Amendment.
but we have no reason to
but we cant, no one wants to
We can make her faster, stronger, a museum ship.
"It was the best of fates" "It was the worst of fates" "It was the age of Hellcats" "It was the age of zeroes" "It was the epoch of the 40mm Bofors" "It was the epoch of the Mark 14" "It was the season of the blue blankets" "It was the season of the Kido Butai" "It was the spring of the Essexes" "It was the Winter of the Yorktowns" I mean it was the epoch of the Mark 14
Ah, yes . . . high school sophomore English!
This was an absolutely epic opener.
That was well written
@@TrickiVicBB71 Well, thank Dickens for that! 😜
You are the new Shakespeare
So, she's in Alameda, isn't that where they keep the nuclear wessels? Asking for a friend...
What is it, that friend couldn't be bothered to ask for himself because he finds keyboards to be 'quaint'?
NAS Alameda is decommissioned and looking the worse for wear but the piers are well maintained.
Gonna save the whale man
Yup
That was a great movie.Bones and Spock were so droll LOL
Japanese: Sinks Hornet. Hornet: "Hello boys! I'm BAAAACK!"
Independence: "Hey, that's supposed to be my line."
Lexington: "I did it first!!!"
Nice. One of Randy Quaid's best lines. Second only to kzhead.info/sun/hpqafM2RbWh-ias/bejne.html @:28
Yes, yes. Without the "oops".
@@trevcharchartrev834 "I ain't heard no fat lady!"
I grew up in Alameda as a Navy brat. In 1972, my Father was assigned to the USS Oriskany. At that time, there were six carriers home ported in Alameda. Oriskany, Ranger, Hancock, Midway, Coral Sea and Enterprise. After my Marine Corps service, I returned to Alameda in 1995. I have been onboard the USS Hornet museum several times. Have plenty of pictures of her from dock side as well as on board. What has become of the former NAS Alameda is sad for me. That base was a playground for me and lots and lots of other Navy Brats. I used to rent a small single sail boat for 50 cents an hour and sail around inside the break water near the carrier pier. I even (still late 70's) sailed right up to Enterprise and knocked on her hull. Try that today and see where and what it gets you. Thanks always for your video's and the work you put into them Drach.
Hornet CV-8: "I'lll be back" Hornet CV-12: "Come with me if you want to live" (ops Magic Carpet)
kzhead.info/sun/lLNsmsimoX9seoE/bejne.html
The Hornet came back as Gandalf the White.
*Magic Carpet Ride by Steppenwolf starts playing*
Hornet in Terminator voice: *I'll be back.*
You don't want to kick the hornets nest! ^^. Yes, I just had to.
And it was, not the same but even more powerful, the Essex's were fantastic ships
She didn't sank she went for an upgrade
@@USSAnimeNCC- It's like a videogame where you can only buy upgrades while waiting to respawn
*Tips cowboy hat*
Only Drach could produce a 37 minute "5 minute guide". No complaints from me.
I'm still chewing on Sunday's marathon.
Suggested playback speed 7x.
Just like me Taking 37 minutes doing my work when its only 5 minutes
I saw the Hornet back in December, 2019 for my birthday. As it was winter and midweek when I went, there weren't to many visitors. Well, between it being quiet and being my birthday, one of the volunteers gave me a full VIP tour (and I mean a FULL tour off the ship) at no additional charge. It was one of the best birthdays I ever had. If you are in or traveling to the San Francisco bay area, I would highly recommend giving the Hornet a visit.
There is a battle ship from the great white fleet anchored in the river outside Philadelphia seeing guns incorporated into the officers mess was interesting all the built in furniture is maple east lake style very cool that was a good trip I made a trip to independence hall and to the liberty museum I went by myself unfortunately my wife was back home in Michigan
Someone I know served on the hornet during its NASA phase. Their daughter has slides from the rescue of (I believe) Apollo 11 or 12. They have a shirt from the mission they were on. And yes, they were a designated camera operator for the NASA missions (which may mean they weren’t in the navy technically)
It's easy to tell which one. The crew's motto for Apollo 11 was "Hornet Plus 3." For Apollo 12, however, the motto (displayed everywhere possible) was "Three More Like Before." Just look for that in the slides and/or the shirt.
not so much a rescue as a recovery
@@AsbestosMuffins I mean, they were recovered after being rescued from the sea...
@@NathanDudani They weren't *rescued* at all. They were *recovered*. Words have meanings.
Episode suggestion: Collision of HMS Victoria and HMS Camperdown in 1893. In my opinion there is a lot in that incident, doctrinal, technical stuff and human factors
I wonder if i can bump for this through the reply section heh
Isn't HMS Victoria one of the only two known wrecks which sank vertically bow to the bottom?
@@tomdolan9761 indeed, thanks to the massive weight of her 16" turret.
We need to like this
Bump this
IJN in the Pacific: We finally got 4 of the USN Fleet carriers! Can't be many of them left now. USN: Hi, meet 14 of our new Essex-class. Also we named them after ones that you sunk too, so.... IJN: Wait, what? 14?! Also, so glad this one doesn't end with "And in the end, she was unfortunately scrapped..." Hornet and Intrepid are my favorite of the Essex carriers. I'm glad they were able to be saved.
What, no love for Lexington?
The capacity of US production made the outcome of WWII inevitable the moment we entered it fully. Had the Axis powers just... Left us the fuck alone until they were done elsewhere, it would have been a very different story.
@@swj719 no it really wouldn't the was already preparing for war against Germany during late 1939
If you ever make it to SF bay area, I live in the area, and a visit to the Hornet is on me as a token of appreciation for your work.
it should still be the Enterprise. Hornet should've been scrapped.
Hornet CV12 was used into the 70s decades after the original Enterprise had been scrapped. This Hornet is an Essex class as opposed to the Enterprise an original Yorktown class
@@MisterW0lfe ik, but they weren't able to gather enough funds to save CV-6
I'd come along for that trip, I live about 2hrs away. Also CV12 was likely to be a museum regardless because of its work in the Apollo Program. Enterprise should have been saved though.
Myself, I'm glad CV 12 was saved. My father's last ship when he retired in '54. So cool seeing, on the tour, the electrician's shop where he worked. Still being used for the ongoing restoration work.
I served on Hornet's sister ship USS INTREPID (CVS11) DURING Viet Nam. I'd enjoy seeing her portrayed on this very excellent channel. These were great ships! Great crews with high morale. During their Viet Nam days, they did a tremendous job of keeping up with the newest carriers of the CVA59 (Forrestal) class.
I was with VA-95 aboard USS Intrepid's first cruise to Vietnam, and can attest to the class's strength and reliability. For a war-time build, she was a superb ship indeed. Visited her in 2002 in NYC, brought back a lot of good memories.
“A hasty goodbye to her bow” I ended up spitting out my cigarette, that was funny
I had to pause it there lol
A quote quite applicable to so many USN cruisers
Why the hell do you smoke
My dad served on the second Hornet CV12 during World War II. As he got older he couldn't always remember the names of his grandchildren. However he could always recall and recite the names of the islands the Hornet attacked. If you can't make it to Alameda to see the Hornet, it's Essex class sister ship, the Yorktown, CV10, is in Charleston SC and is a great museum ship. More areas of the ship are open and on display for the general public than on the Hornet.
So nice when we can hear "If you'd like to visit this ship..." at the end of one of these videos. Thanks again, Drachinifel, for the fabulous content!
who would have guessed the KSP and minecraft twitch guy likes naval history
Particularly when that phrase is NOT followed by advice to get deep sea diving certification or a bathysphere!
I remember when I visited the Hornet in 2019 the tour guide was a veteran of her Vietnam days. He told us that everyone serving at the time would sniff the water coming out of the water fountains because there were several instances where fuel oil would get into the ship's drinking water stores because they would shift both around to different locations change the weight distribution on the ship. I probably remember it the best out of all his stories because of his introduction: "NEVER trust the goddamn water fountains."
There were times when the drinking fountains had salt water instead of drinking water
Sometimes we do wargames on the Hornet. Breaching areas in a ship is a huge mess, very easy to fall down step ladders and what not.
Oh, hello there.
Being 6'2", I can tell you those bulkheads HURT. :)
@@1slotmech sure, but those bulkheads probably hurt short people also.
@@nowthenzen I'm sure they do, just not as often. People weren't quite as tall on the average when Hornet was built. :)
What?
I can't blame NASA for quarantining the Apollo 11 astronauts. Giant Alien Spiders are nothing to mess with.
Absolutely. Like us they were trained up in comics and horror scifi.
Guess they had not seen the movie, "Apollo 18", where MOON SPIDERS are the actual reason why earthlings never went back to the Moon/
It's silly to worry about moon spiders. ...It's the moon monkeys ya gotta worry about.
@@nathanmaxon4692 Service Means Citizenship!
and how! even the medium sized ones are cause for concern!
"It became clear there was a general absence of brain slugs, face huggers or moon spiders" .. that we know of ..
Brain slugs would explain the 60's.
Plenty in the Boston, Massachusetts suburbs.
@@dropdead234 as well as the last two years.
@@SweatyFatGuy Brain slugs could explain everything since the start of human history
CV-12 seemed to have gotten all the good luck that eluded CV-8. There were a couple of really interesting photos: the bow shot with an SBC Helldiver biplane (!) and the F6F going off the lateral catapult from the hanger deck (PLEASE present information on this!)
Japan: We have sunk the Hornet and avenged our humiliation from the Doolittle Raid! The Hornet will never bother us again! US: (Proceeds to build a new version of Hornet that is stronger, faster, and deadlier in record time.) USS Hornet (CV-12): Hey Japan, remember me? Time for Round Two! Japan: .....
The Japanese are not so surprised, they already knew that Yorktown-class was sunk and the Essex-class named after her.
@@phantomship3935 The Enterprise was the only one that survived. The War , I mean. Scrapping her was a bad idea.
Enterprise: How many times have you killed me again?
It is not really necessary to stress the ability of the USA to build fast and hard, is it? The supply at sea was tremendous as well, from these videos.
And for shits and giggles. They named CV-38 Shangri-La.
What's truly amazing is the speed with which they made these capital ships. Truly astounding.
30:20 - when a typhoon does more damage to your ship than the entire Japanese forces combined did
kzhead.info/sun/lLNsmsimoX9seoE/bejne.html
And with a carrier's height, she'd be like a gigantic steel windsail.
A literal Kamikaze
USS Hornet CV12 is definitely worth a visit. She's moored at the former NAS Alameda where the Doolittle raid originated.
Side note: the pier is both a National Landmark and a Public Shore (the side that the Hornet is on, anyway).
The Doolittle raiders were actually loaded onto the original hornet at the same birth that this hornet is moored at. There is a plaque commemorating this on the dock.
Everybody: "What is it with the bows of American ships?" America: "We bow to no one!" Fun fact, my father was a crew chief on one of the SAR helicopters during the Vietnam war but wouldn't talk much about what he'd experienced there. He was also the crew chief of the helicopter which picked up Armstrong, Aldrin, and the often forgotten Michael Collins. RIP Dad!
Neil and Buzz get all the press, sure, but Collins has never been forgotten.
I’ve been to see the Hornet twice now, once with my Dad who served aboard USS Bon Homme Richard, CVA-31. Since the Bonnie Dick has long since gone to the breakers, this was the next best thing to seeing his old ship with him. Let me tell you, they have done an outstanding job with her, and the staff went out of their way to take us all over all the parts of the ship when they found out Dad was a veteran of the Bonnie Dick. Docent after docent kept coming up to us to ask if we wanted to see this or that part of the ship on impromptu private tours. It was a thrill seeing Dad literally relive his time aboard, but the best part of the day was when an old sea dog docent called us into what was an old paint locker the docents used for their private lockers. Just a nondescript nowhere part of the ship, watching my Dad and this old sea dog shooting the breeze like lifelong friends. I cannot recommend going to see the Hornet enough. A very large print of the photograph in the thumbnail is in the pilot’s ready room, which contained the ready room contents recovered from I believe the Oriskany. Great video as always.
My grandfather served on USS Mustin, the destroyer that had to send Hornet to her final grave. Or at least tried to.
Must have been very conflicting having to end a capital ship themselves, even if it was crippled
My grandfather was on the Russell DD-414 which helped take survivors off.
@@camdetwiler938 well its not like there's still sailors on it, it wouldn't be very conflicting to scuttle an empty wreck.
He had two brothers in the same battle, one was on the Hornet and the other on another destroyer in the area. I don’t remember the name of the destroyer though.
@@shilopnamreg6468 No, men get attached to the ships on which they serve, or which they escort. When the Yorktown sank at Midway, the men lining the rails of the ships around her definitely felt the loss. Many cried. So yes, it's very possible that the crew of the Russell felt some sadness at having to scuttle their ward.
It makes me really happy when these videos not end with "...and was sold for scrap". What can I say, I love happy ends. Great video.
If you're in the SF bay, definitely go visit the Hornet. Pay for the guides tours to go through the Island & Engineering, it is great. If you get the last tour of the day the volunteer guides will likely take you to the cool parts of the ship since they love wandering the ship themselves. Amazing experience.
CV-8 Hornet got off on the wrong foot with its first few weeks inside the Japanese defensive perimeter seeing her flight deck covered in Army bombers. Seems like this really set back her flight training; "The Flight to Nowhere" from Midway.
So would Enterprise been a better pick for the role of skinny flight deck
@@bombvoyage5686 Great question and I think not. Since two precious CV's were going so close to Japan , you would want your most experienced fighter pilots ready to repel incoming aircraft. Can't blame Halsey for that choice.
All we can really do is speculate, but it's pretty likely that the Flight to Nowhere was less a matter of lack of training and more a matter of Mitscher deciding he knew better than anybody else where the IJN CVs "had to" be and ordering CDR Ring to go looking for them well north of where scouting reports had sighted them.
Samuel Thompson I will disagree with your statement that CV-8 Hornet ...."got off on the wrong foot..." with the Doolittle raid of 18 April, '42. Even though the bombers had to launch 200 miles earlier than planned and which greatly affected the outcome of the bomber crews after the raid on Tokyo, the raid delivered a huge psychological blow to the Japanese military and to the Japanese public who had been convinced that the Japanese home island was safe from any Allied attack. And this happened just five months after Pearl Harbor, which the Japanese military leaders had hoped would force America to sue for peace. This psychological blow to Japan was worth any real or perceived slower than usual training for the air squadrons aboard Hornet. And then not even 60 days later, the IJN disaster at the Battle of Midway delivered another blow to Japan with the loss of 4 out of 6 of their main line carriers. The IJN never recovered from Midway.
@@marbleman52 I heartily agree that FDR's gamble with two Yorktown class carriers paid off handsomely as it thoroughly rattled the Japanese military leadership. I'm speculating that there was a connection between having an Inoperative flight deck at this time and the later "Flight to Nowhere." Bear in mind that while "all's well that ends well", the Hornet air group was so ineffectual on June 4 that the Battle of Midway was won by just two carriers - Enterprise and most especially Yorktown. IIRC, Hornet did score a single bomb or torpedo strike on any Japanese ship that day. Zip, zilch, nada. This happened on the day when the USN should perhaps have considered its own kamikaze tactics given the similar zero damage inflicted by all the land based aircraft. Midway came close to being an early version of Savo Island.
... you kind of glossed over "how" the Hornet was saved from the scrappers. There was (2) Naval Officers involved ... the first controlled the "scrapping list" ... he kept on moving Hornet to the bottom of the list every time her name came to the top of the list ... eventually her name came up and she was being towed to a scrapyard in San Fransisco area. As she passed the El Amedia Naval Base the base Commander saw her ... reconized her as a "Essex" class ... and arranged for her to be put on temperary display at El Amedia Naval Base as the base was closing and he thought it would be a great send-off for both the carrier and base ... She was so popular she was put on "permenate" display there ...
God bless those two men
Nice story...that does a great disservice to the Aircraft Carrier Hornet Foundation - the people who actually did the work to save the ship and establish the museum. It did not happen because some Navy officer decided to park it in Alameda! 🙄
What in hell is El Amedia?
@@Gromit801 Excuse me as I am from the east coast and did the best I could w/ the spelling ... you should try spelling some of the "Welsh" named town around here in Pennsylvania ... or even pronounce them ... try Bala Cynwyd ... or Bryn Mawr ...
@@jacksons1010 That is what my research said happened. They accidently bought the time needed till other people realized how valuable the Hornet was to history, stepped forward and took over the mission to save her. Maybe it is because now we all realize the Enterprise should have been saved ... but she is gone ...in a New Jersey scrap yard ... That was not a fitting end to such a fighting ship.
I took a tour aboard this majestic ship with Don Taube, one of the newer DOCENTs that give tours. He served aboard the USS Carl Vinson among other ships and had more energy than all us young folk. Don took us from 9 am onwards to 5 pm with only a brief 30 min halt for lunch. This is a must-go for any one that has any remote interest in history. An almost spiritual experience. Thanks, Don and USS Hornet museum.
I recall seeing Hornet often when my ship (USS Carl Vinson CVN-70) had its homeport at Alameda Naval Air Station in the mid-90s but she wasn't open as a museum just yet unfortunately. Plus Alameda was shut down as a military base in '97 and my ship was moved to Bremerton, Washington. But if I ever make it back to the Bay Area in California, maybe I'll stop by for a visit.
Thank you for doing an in depth review of the Hornets as my grandfather served aboard CVS-12 in early 1960 and told great stories of the work he did to help keep the ship running
Back in the mid 90s I was visiting the Hornet with my girlfriend at the time and one of the ship's volunteer staff that day was an old-timer who was one of the original crew from WW2. He took quite the liking to her as she was Filipino (guessing he had some fun experiences in the Philippines back in the day) and he took us on an unofficial private tour of the entire ship. This included the areas that were off limits to the public because they still had not removed all the asbestos and other hazards. It was quite a treat. Some of the ghost stories he sincerely claimed to have personally experienced while showing us the exact locations still give me a shiver to think about. Fast forward to 2012 and I'm back on the Hornet with a different girlfriend. No WW2 vets this time, they had now given way to college-aged tour guides. Now granted this time we're there for an actual Halloween party and they're supposed to be telling ghost stories this time as part of the program, but boy did some of the volunteers have some good ones. One girl in particular was telling us that when she first began working there she had no qualms about being below decks by herself but there was no way in hell she'd ever go down there again without a group of people along with her.
Thank you Mr. Drach. This has to be one of the most comprehensive histories of the Hornets available. Made with respect, a little bit of humour, and an understandable timeline. I have fond memories of Alameda, visiting my grandparents there as my grandfather was retired Navy. Hornet was probably in South China Sea at that time. Your dedication to all aspects of world naval history is much appreciated.
Doesn’t this tale also apply to Lexington, Yorktown, Wasp and Princeton
Less so to Wasp as you can not visit Wasp.
@@shangri-la-la-la If you join the US Navy you might have an opportunity to tour the current iteration.
@@shangri-la-la-la Well unless you count the modern Wasp LPD LOL. Was it a LPD or LPH ??? Either way still a carrier, a marine helicopter carrier.
Langley also ?
@@animeboy-qy5sq a baby flat top none the less. Canberra's getting an LCS 🤓
Kinda a US navy tradition in WW2, getting their bows removed by outside forces and still floating. That is some good engineering of bulkheads and compartments. :)
Grins in SMS Seydlitz
My uncle was an a gunner on board the 2nd USS HORNET He was my hero. I only got to talk with him briefly about the war .He was shot in the leg below the knee by a kamikaze airplane. He was in his 80s when he pass away. A better man you could never meet.I look forward to seeing him again when I pass. Doyle Montgomery...USMC 1969-1973.
Hornet is a venerable name in the US Navy. One of the first regular ships of the US Navy and fought in the War of 1812. It's no wonder the navy immediately got themselves another Hornet.
Kind of a shame that there isn't one in the fleet now, I'd much rather see the Navy go back to naming ships after historical ships or battles than politicians.
Agreed. The Navy's naming system is a mess. I think it dates back to the name everything JFK craze after his assassination.
@@nonamesplease6288 yeah I’m so over the naming of ships after recent politicians. They need to bring back the old carrier names like Hornet, Lexington, and Yorktown. Glad to hear Enterprise is coming back, though.
@@sledgehammerk35 I think it's partially due to Enterprise's record in WWII and partially down to the name Enterprise being engrained in popular culture (Thanks to Star Trek, which is, of course due to her record in WWII). Having an Enterprise in the fleet is better PR for the Navy than any other name. When you ask a random person off the street to name a US Navy ship, 9/10 its the Enterprise. I mean lets be honest, the Navy for sure does this. They put a Admiral James Kirk in command of one of their most advanced ships...
Politicians typically don't deserve to have capital ships named after them. Give them a frigate or destroyer. Enterprise is another one of those venerable ship names going back to the beginning of the US Navy. Others we'd like to see back are Bon Homme Richard, Saratoga, Wasp, Constellation, Bunker Hill.
So nice that instead of being scrapped like so many others, Hornet was saved and now acts as a reminder of just what it took to win the Pacific war.
My father’s first posting in the US Navy was the USS Hornet. Right after his passing, I was able to visit the ship in California in 1998. It was a fascinating time on board. I was even able to visit his office while touring....
Had the privilege of visiting the Hornet CV-12 when I was in California years ago. What a truly wonderful museum ship! I’d highly recommend a visit to her if you are in the area! Happy to say they have an entire section dedicated to her namesake.
They’ve added sections for most of the Essex class sister ships. My Dad served aboard the Bon Homme Richard, they treated him like visiting royalty. I was quite touched.
I’ve been to Intrepid, extremely cool, is a must visit.
I got to visit the Hornet just before the pandemic hit. As both a warship and a space geek, it was the Reese's peanut butter cup of museum ships. Another great video, thanks for posting, Drach!
Absolutely love the poetic introduction at the start! It adds an additional layer of depth, and makes the content all the more better.
"... somewhat less than optimal in terms of damage inflicted." I love the way you put that Drach. In other and more brutal terms, those hot shot flyboys couldn't hit the deck with their hats though MAYBE they could hit the ocean with their rockets and bombs. Another excellent review of 2 very busy and noteworthy ladies. Rest in Peace CV-8. Well done sir. Bravo Zulu.
In the thumbnail photo, she's at Alameda, along with Saratoga and Enterprise. She's tied up at that same pier today, with her stern to the Bay Bridge. I believe it was that side of that pier where she loaded the remaining B-25s for the Doolittle raid, as well. I boarded the Coral Sea at that position in December, 1980 as a young Hawkeye airframe mechanic and troubleshooter for my first trip to sea. Good episode today.
CV-8 Hornet went on the the Dolittle raid; CV-12, the current museum ship is the Apollo 11 recovery ship and was completed after the raid.
@@1slotmech You're right. I lost track of the pronouns trying to write a long comment on my phone. I should have said "where the previous Hornet (CV-8) loaded the remaining B-25s..." In retrospect, I find it a bit odd that a few of us, in our late teens and twenties, knew what happened on that pier almost 39 years before.
@@maxrudder6091 no prob, I just wanted to make sure that got mentioned. I live about 40 mins from Hornet and have been there several times; the docents are great! You are correct about the pier though, it is the same pier where CV-8 sailed from for the Doolittle raid and it's both a Public Shore and National Landmark.
My reserve unit (a carrier augment unit) drilled on the Hornet (CV-12 :) ) in the mid-2000s. It was a good experience.
I serve onboard Hornet CVS 12 during the Vietnam war and was onboard for the Apollo 11 recovery, mustering out just prior to Apollo 12 recovery. My duty station was R division,and my shop was under the flightdeck aft. on the 02 deck. I have many what I think were interesting little stories. Flight quarters required our shop vacate and locate more forward as the stern area was dangerous due to a plane could just come right on in and kill you. Many Essex class carriers had that happen. However we did as told but later disregarded and moved back in as we couldnt get anywork down in our temporary local. Many a night I would stand just under the flight day and watch the planes comes in, or be watching TV in the shop and here a tail hook hit the end of the flight deck with a loud bang! To this day if you look over the end of the deck you'll see evidence of a tail hook hitting. The thing is five feet lower and you would be a statistic.
I love the poetry! "A Tale of Two Hornets"
I was lucky to visit her before the pandemic. One of the great things is she hasn't been modified for tourism. Watch your head! She's also famous for having had the crazy cross deck hanger catapult.
I visited some 15 years ago. Also attended a company Christmas party that was set up on the entire hanger deck. Many ladies had trouble going up the metal stairs with their high heels.
I've been on Intrepid. They really sucked the history out of the public spaces when they made her tourist-and-kid-friendly. However, they're in NYC and get way more traffic than Hornet does.
The way you describe things is simply put, amazing and epic. You are by far the best ever at making these kinds of videos!
But too often gets things wrong.
I've had the pleasure to visit both Yorktown and Hornet. Gigantic ships!
"Strike me down and I shall become more powerful than you ever could imagine." Sometime later "WAHAHAHAHA SEE MY MASSIVE AIR GROUP, FEEL MY WRATH!"
I visited the ship in Alameda in January 2020, they had veterans around the interesting places of the ship who would explain stuff. Really cool museum, one of the best I ever visited.
My uncle came to visit my mother a month ago and wanted to see the Hornet. She's still in pretty good shape. A great place to visit. So much to see. I'll go back. I live close by and I can see the Hornet from a distance every time I sail. We took the engine room tour from a guy who normally does other tours. Essentially we got two tours!
Another program that is offered is for youth groups to sleep aboard the ship. I did so once with our Cub Scout Pack and again with the Boy Scout Troop, both times in the racks in the torpedo assembly room. We had great tours from veterans that had served aboard the ship. Gives you an appreciation for the sacrifices that our sailors had to endure!
"These ships are built to rigorous maritime standards." "What sort of standards?" "Well, the front's not supposed to fall off for a start..."
Mother Nature: (laughs in Typhoon)
No cardboard or paper derivatives.
Now remember kids, paper is only for drawing and writing on, not for hull patching!
I always suspected that the Second World War was missing a crucial lyrical element. Thanks for adding just the right a touch of Dickens, Drach!
The audio and music in these videos gives me goosebumps. Love it!!
Hey Matsimus its good seeing ya here. Take it easy man.
There is no music, dafaq?
@@Troglodytarum i think mat means the dudda dudda dunk dunk at the start. ominously atmospheric, just imagine being any other surface craft and having those monsters come steaming steaming out of the cold morning mist.... drach (i don't *know either of them, btw:-) links the music in some of his older videos. i had a look the other day but the guy has so many pieces of music on his site, i couldn't find it.
I have been on CVA/12 many times at the old Alabama NAS. Fantastic ship and tour you can take. I have even been down in the SASS, nuclear weapons magazine where I was able to give the docent some information on what was there that they didn't quite know about, I am ex US Navy Aviation Ordnance.
Now that has got to be one of the best introductions to a YT video I have ever heard! Outstanding.
The Bay Aera is full of naval- and naval air-relics . Lived Alameda for a long time. Moth Ball Fleet near Rio Vista, Nike sites Marin headland and Halfmoon Bay, Nasa hangars, radioactive Navy berthing, ancient experimental reactor in Berkeley, old Crissy field airfield, old flying boat pier, Fort Mason. Take ferry from dt to Marin County, passong St. Quentin. Gives a nice overview on grand Bay.
I toured CV-12 in the late 90's. Our group was approx 50% medical doctors, so we got to see sickbay, which we were told is not normally on the tour.
Odd, Yorktown in Charleston lets you visit the sickbay area. I mean, sections are closed behind plexiglas panels but you can still visit the place.
The USS Hornet also hosts a great New Year's Eve party where they play music from the 50's with a live band and at midnight you can go up to the flight deck to watch the fireworks from San Francisco.
Holy damn, the list on that deck 😳 26:16. Thems some real good chains
Can we have one for the Blue Ghost as well if she isnt on the list yet?
My father ( Gussie Mullins) served as a turret gunner on the USS Hornet CV-12 during WW2. He is pictured in a Presidential Citation picture with many of the crew. Always enjoy any and all information about the Hornet CV-12.
... Ice Cream ... There is a story about the value of ice cream ... and I believe it involved Commander McCloskey ( please correct me if I have the name wrong) ... Commander McCloskey launched on a mission ... and didn't return. Everyone on board the carrier knew of this and where sad. The next day ... a USN Destroyer comes charging up "close aboard" to the carrier ... the blinker light going furiously ... How much Ice Cream will you give for Commander McCloskey ???? Yep, Ice Cream was very valuable !!!! The carrier handed over, gladly, enough Ice Cream for the whole crew on the destroyer ... ( there are many ways to improve spirits and win a war ... )
... I was just corrected ... the Pilot involved was "Killer Kane" during the Battle of Siapan ... maybe during the "TURN THE LIGHTS ON !!!" strike and recovery ... Thank You ... But the Ice Cream was still cold and delicious ... Flavor ???
That intro could bring a grown man in tears.
I visited Hornet when I was a teenager, pre-covid and pre 9/11 for that matter. Lovely ship with lots of cool aircraft from the different eras.
Drach. What a character. An absolute joy to learn from the best going.
Honestly I’d really like to see a video like this for the USS Yorktown, both CV-5 and CV-10, another ship that refused to die
31:00 That's honestly a cool picture showing US carrier progression.
We just stumbled across this ship on Google. We were in the area on 7/6/2023 and went to check it out. We were able to buy tickets on a Thursday and they let is wander the ship. My kids wife and I had a blast. Really recommend going. So many things to look at fromm the Doolittle raid to the appallo landings. So much fun. If you want to see the bridge you need to pay for a tour. But what a great day that was for us 🇺🇸
what a masterful presentation: just the facts, no spin, no music... 100% excellence.
I live by the USS Hornet. My first CV I visited. Love her always
Excellent video and discussion of the Hornet carriers! I've had the pleasure of visiting the current Hornet Museum several times. It's a must-see for anyone who is interested in the naval and space history of this warrior - and everyone should be interested in them. Thanks, Drach!
Absolutely amazing work as always Drach! It amazes me how you can do such long videos and yet not have a single slow or boring part. Well done!
I was aboard Hornet 1968-1970, one deployment to Vietnam and the Apollo recoveries. We were decommissioning her at Bremerton, Washington when a friend of mine came up to the flight deck where I was and told me he had just seen the order for me to to report aboard the Bon Homme Richard (CVA-31) which had just left for Vietnam. I caught up to it at Guam and did 6 months in Tonkin Gulf. Years later I took a tour of the “museum” Hornet at Alameda. What memories!
Nicely done mate, another interesting and well made episode. Picking up the Apollo 11 crew certainly helped get Hornet a respectable retirement. Hope to enjoy the arranged tour one day.
23:50 My Grandfather was onboard the Canberra CA-70 when it was hit. He was a signalman. He never mentioned that the torpedo was meant for the Hornet. He probably didn't know. On another note, my Father in Law also served on the Canberra - which had been converted to a missile cruiser - during the Vietnam War. He was there when Douglas Brent Hegdah fell overboard (Google him for more info about that guy) Sadly, my Grandfather passed away before my sister met her now husband so my Father in Law and Grandfather never met. :(
Lord, the stories those two could have told each other.
Reading up on Douglas Hegdah on Wikipedia, this man is freaking lucky and smart. The fact he did what he did, survived to tell the tale, and is living to he 75. Holy
The bravery of the TBD torpedo bombers at Midway never ceases to amaze me. I'm sure they knew they were vulnerable but seeing all your buddies shot down around you and then having to fight yourself just to launch and then get away must have taken extreme courage, discipline, and intense esprit de corps. Without a doubt the SBDs wouldn't have scored their decisive hits without the Zero CAP busy fighting the TBDs.
You might want to watch his Flight To Nowhere video, the TBD attack didn't do anything to stop the Japanese cap from engaging the SBD's, the two attacks were too far apart.
@@namegoeshereorhere5020 Yea, good look. I'm probably mixing up the squadrons from the carriers. Even after reading books and watching videos I still seem to do it. Except of course the SBDs from Enterprise that wrecked the fleet; it's pretty hard to mix confuse those with another squadron.
@@jona.scholt4362 (and Namegoeshere) - I think that Tully and Parshall in "Shattered Sword" put the real impact of the Torpedo 8 and Torpedo 6 attacks in excellent perspective - they were absolutely essential in the sense that they kept Kido Butai in reactive mode after the futile attacks from Midway had done the same, the IJN force unable to do anything but cycle sections of CAP Zeros for a considerable chunk of that morning, but they didn't keep the CAP Zeros low long enough to impact the SBD strikes. The lonely charge of VT-8 was also pivotal in attracting VT-6 via VT-6 sighting the AA bursts and correcting course - it is entirely possible that absent that sighting, the TBDs from Enterprise, down fairly low and fairly short-legged, might have missed the the Japanese carriers completely. This in turn, might have resulted in the Yorktown's strike spending more time searching rather than accidentally coordinating with the two Enterprise SBD squadrons coming up from the southwest under Wade McCluskey, since Lem Massey's VT-3, below the scattered clouds, also sighted the AA bursts in their turn from VT-6s attack on Kaga, and swung to a direct heading for Kido Butai, approaching from the ENE with their escort of Thach's handful of F4Fs and Max Leslie's Bombing 3 SBDs above. It was thus VT-3 and Thach's weaving Wildcats that DID perform the deadly function of pulling the CAP to them in the minutes just prior to and during the approach of the three squadrons of SBDs which delivered the pivotal attacks on Kaga, Akagi, and Soryu shortly after 10:20 Midway time - but this was the culmination of a whole chain of attacks and related sightings leading to MORE attacks that had cost Nagumo too much precious time and prevented spotting and launching any strike on the US carriers within the limitations of his deck cycles in this period.
Hello Drach, I just came across this story and wanted to comment on the Midway battle SBD squadrons. On their way back to find the Hornet a number of planes ended up landing at Midway to refuel before finding their way back to the carrier. Most if not all the F4Fs ended up ditching. Keep up the good work on your videos
I went aboard USS Hornet CV-12 a few years back. Definitely recommend visiting if you have the chance. It’s very interesting!
I love visiting the Hornet, Such a great and historical ship! And if you’re in the area and feel like heading across the bridge to San Francisco you can find the submarine USS Pampanito at the pier!
Ive visited both! They are both a lot of fun.
I consider it a huge honour to have visited the USS Hornet in Alemada Ca. Everyone should go visit her.
You have a certain humorous flair that is most welcome and incredibly enjoyable.
I’ll revisit my fathers flight logbook with some background info, thanks to you. He flew F6F’s off the 2nd Hornet. I have silk or linen flight charts, framed, of Formosa,his flight jacket, and a b&w of him n a F6F on deck. Thanks
Damn that was funny and informative I was unaware of the bad loss ratio in aircraft in 45
Thanks for this video. My father served on Hornet from commissioning day until sinking, but throughout the rest of his life he shared very little of that experience with family. Looking back now, with my own military career long past, I see all the signs of PTSD.
Drachinifel is right about visiting the Hornet. Granted one is limited to the Flight Deck, Hanger Deck, and Deck 2. However some tours are conducted into Engine Room #1 and the Navigation Level in the Island. I know her well, from the very top to the very bottom, as June 1st marks my 23rd year restoring her. She is definitely an aircraft carrier museum compared to the other three.
Thank you