Wreck of USS Hornet (CV-8)

 Second World War 1939-1945, military, shipwreck

The USS Hornet (CV-8) was a Yorktown class aircraft carrier built before the start of the Second World War. She is famous for her role in the Doolittle raid against the Japanese home islands especially the capital of Tokyo on April 18, 1942. She and the Enterprise fought alongside the Yorktown during the Battle of Midway. The Hornet would fight in the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, also known as Santa Cruz and would be sunk. The Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands took place 26 October 1942. Hornet was attacked by a coordinated dive bombing and torpedo plane attack. In a 15-minute period, the Hornet took three bomb hits from Aichi D3A Val divebombers, another bomb hit followed by the divebomber itself crashing into the deck, two torpedo hits from Nakajima B5N Kates, and one more Val crashing into the deck. Later in the day, one more B5N scored a torpedo hit, and "abandon ship" was ordered. An Essex class aircraft carrier was named after her and is now a floating museum in Alameda, California.