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-Short Attention Span Theater-
Wreckage of World War II aircraft carrier USS Hornet discovered
2019-02-13
[CBS News] The research vessel Petrel is perched on a spot in the South Pacific Ocean that was anything but peaceful 77 years ago. Then, it was the scene of a major World War II battle between the U.S. and the Imperial Japanese Navies. For the U.S. aircraft carrier, Hornet, it would be her last battle.

Now, researchers are revealing Petrel found the wreckage of the USS Hornet in late January ‐ exactly what they were looking for. The ship was found more than 17,000 feet below the surface, on the floor of the South Pacific Ocean near the Solomon Islands. The USS Hornet is best known for launching the important Doolittle Raid in April of 1942 and its role in winning the Battle of Midway.

Richard Nowatzki, 95 now, was an 18-year-old gunner on Hornet when enemy planes scored several hits, reports CBS News' Mark Phillips.

"When they left, we were dead in the water," Nowatzki said. "They used armor piercing bombs, now when they come down, you hear 'em going through the decks ... plink, plink, plink, plink ... and then when they explode the whole ship shakes."

With 140 of her crew already dead, the order was given to abandon ship. The Hornet went to the bottom ‐ three and a half miles down ‐ which the crew of the Petrel has been scanning with a deep-sea sonar drone that sends back live pictures.
Posted by:Besoeker

#8  I'm getting the feeling Hornet disagreed with the notion of being sunk, and is now just pouting on the ocean floor. Sulking that Enterprise got all the glory.
Posted by: Charles   2019-02-13 15:45  

#7  Pretty sure a couple of 45ACP rounds below the water line will sink an LCS.
Posted by: Hellfish   2019-02-13 12:19  

#6  From what I read at cdrsalamander, that much ordinance would sink our entire LCS fleet, if anyone ever felt the need to expend ordinance on our LCS fleet.
Posted by: Matt   2019-02-13 10:56  

#5  mike: saw some pics of the wreckage last night on imgur. very high resolution and the ship looked in very good shape considering it had been sunk.
Posted by: chris   2019-02-13 08:27  

#4  ...Rob,

They sure were. This was a sitting duck target under the best possible conditions and they still didn't work - and BuOrd, which had been bearing the same complaints from the sub skippers for almost a year, still wouldn't listen.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski    2019-02-13 08:26  

#3  Mike, were the US torpedoes early war models with the bad triggers? Or were those only issued to subs?
Posted by: Rob Crawford   2019-02-13 08:17  

#2  ..I cannot wait to see the full wreck survey when it's finished, because Hornet took one hell of a pounding.

During the battle itself, she was hit by:
*3 Japanese bombs
*2 Val dive bombers crashed into her (these don't appear to be the same as the kamikaze towards the end of the war; these two seem to have been mortally damaged and the pilots decided to go out in glory)
*3 Japanese torpedos

When it became clear Hornet couldn't be saved, she was ordered abandoned. The USN tried to scuttle her with NINE torpedos (it's unclear how many of those were duds - may have been four or five) and more than four hundred rounds of 5"/38 ammo.

She still wouldn't sink. At that point, still afloat, the wreck was abandoned and the USN cleared the area. The Japanese found her at dusk, and actually tried to capture the wreck. They tried getting a tow line on her, but couldn't get it to work so they launched four 'Long Lance' torpedos and finally sent her under.


The official damage report


Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski   2019-02-13 04:42  

#1  USS Hornet (CV-8)
Posted by: Thineter Unaith6569   2019-02-13 01:18  

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