The USS Hornet (CV-8) aircraft carrier

Find out more about the carrier USS Hornet (CV-8)

The carrier USS Hornet

The USS Hornet (CV-8) was an American Yorktown-class aircraft carrier. Three ships were built in this class. The USS Hornet was launched on December 14, 1940. The ship's code name was CV-8. CV stands for Carrier Vessell.

The order to build the ship was given on March 30, 1939. The ship was built in Newport News, Virginia. The USS Hornet was delivered on October 20, 1941.

The flight deck was approximately 251 meters long (or 850 feet) and 26 meters wide (or 118 feet), and the hangar deck in the hull was 166 meters long (or 545 feet) and 19 meters wide (or 62 feet). The ship had three elevators to take aircraft from the hull to the deck. The elevators measured 15 meters (or 49 feet) by 13 meters (or 43 feet) and could carry 7,700 kg. (16,975 lbs).

There was room for 86 officers and 1,280 crew members. The part provided for the pilots and crew could accommodate 141 officers and 710 crew members. And more importantly, the ship could store 72 to 79 different aircraft in the hull.

The ship was used after the Doolittle Raid at the battle of Midway. It was sunk in the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands on October 26, 1942. 140 crew were killed. The other crew members were able to save themselves. The ship was hit by the Japanese torpedoes, listed and finally sunk by another series of Japanese torpedoes. Although the intention was that the Americans themselves would sink the ship when it listed, but that failed.

In 2019, the wreck was finally discovered. It lies at a depth of 5,400 meters off the Solomon Islands.

On https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Hornet_%28CV-8%29 you can find more technical details and information about the ship.

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The picture belox was send to me by a visitor of my Facebookpage: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100093570602530

"APPROACHING THE GATE TO DESTINY" by William Phillips. USS Hornet steaming direction Tokyo. The ship's first mission. The ship with the 16 Doolittle raid B-25 bombers on board left the harbor of San Fransisco in the morning of 2 April 1942. The USS Hornet would never see the Golden Gate bridge again. It was sunk in the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands on 27 October 1942. But since the Doolittle raiders took off from the USS Hornet on April 18, 1942, the USS Hornet, its name and fame will never be lost. Copyright picture William S. Phillips

US Navy blimp L-8 delivering 300 pounds of spare parts for B-25 bombers to USS Hornet, off San Fransisco, California, United States, 2 April 1942

Just outside the bay, the Navy blimp L-8 caught up with Task Force 18's group of ships that afternoon. The blimp delivered the last supplies for the B-25s, including 2 cases with the replacement navigation panels. This would be the last delivery of parts for the B-25 bombers. After receiving the goods, the convoy was definitely on its way to Japan.