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"A Medium in Which I Seek Relief": Manuscripts of American Sailors 1919-1940

USS Hornet (CV-8)

Van Horne Morris (from The Sailors section of this site) served on the USS Hornet (CV-8) during World War II.

Overview

USS Hornet (CV-8), the seventh ship to carry the name Hornet, was a Yorktown-class aircraft carrier 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 by enemy torpedo and dive bombers. [From Wikipedia, shared via a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Hornet_(CV-8).]

Battle of Midway

On June 4th, 1942, after a string of victories in the Pacific, Japan attacked the U.S. military base on Midway, a 2.4-square-mile atoll roughly equidistant between North America and Asia. Due to the work of Navy cryptanalysts, the Americans were prepared for the attack. Despite a much smaller fleet, the Americans won the battle, with bombers from the USS Enterprise, USS Hornet, and USS Yorktown destroying Japanese carriers Akagi, Kaga, and Soryu. The Japanese lost over 3000 men, while the Americans lost 362 (National World War II Museum). As the Smithsonian says, "For the U.S., the Battle of Midway wasn't just a turning point in the Pacific, it was also a brilliant naval gamble that paid off in spectacular fashion."

Specifications

CV-8: displacement 19,800; length 809'9"; beam 83'1"; extreme width (flight deck) 114'0"; draft ; speed 32.5 knots; complement; aircraft 80-85; armament 8 5-inch, 16 1.1-inch, 16 .50 caliber; class Yorktown. [From Naval History and Heritage Command, Hornet VII (CV-8), 1941–1943.]

Wreckage Found

The Hornet wreck was located in late January 2019 near the Solomon Islands.

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The classic Hollywood director John Ford was onboard THE HORNET for the Doolittle raid and filmed it. He also made a famous documentary on Midway: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MW8tQ_6dqS8 (all the combat footage was shot during the battle. It is great propaganda-- Henry Fonda even voices a character ). There is a good book on Ford and Hollywood during WW2: Mark Harris' FIVE CAME BACK.
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1. USS Hornet (CV-8)
  Van Horne Morris (from The Sailors section of this site) served on the USS Hornet (CV-8) during World War II.
  Overview
  USS Hornet (CV-8), the seventh ship to carry the name Hornet, was a Yorktown-class aircraft carrier 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 by enemy torpedo and dive bombers. [From Wikipedia, shared via a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Hornet_(CV-8).]
  Battle of Midway
  On June 4th, 1942, after a string of victories in the Pacific, Japan attacked the U.S. military base on Midway, a 2.4-square-mile atoll roughly equidistant between North America and Asia. Due to the work of Navy cryptanalysts, the Americans were prepared for the attack. Despite a much smaller fleet, the Americans won the battle, with bombers from the USS Enterprise, USS Hornet, and USS Yorktown destroying Japanese carriers Akagi, Kaga, and Soryu. The Japanese lost over 3000 men, while the Americans lost 362 (National World War II Museum). As the Smithsonian says, "For the U.S., the Battle of Midway wasn't just a turning point in the Pacific, it was also a brilliant naval gamble that paid off in spectacular fashion."
  Specifications
  CV-8: displacement 19,800; length 809'9"; beam 83'1"; extreme width (flight deck) 114'0"; draft ; speed 32.5 knots; complement; aircraft 80-85; armament 8 5-inch, 16 1.1-inch, 16 .50 caliber; class Yorktown. [From Naval History and Heritage Command, Hornet VII (CV-8), 1941–1943.]
  Wreckage Found
  The Hornet wreck was located in late January 2019 near the Solomon Islands.