WWII carrier Hornet becomes Alameda display

Sea Power, Dec 1998

The WWII aircraft carrier Hornet has opened as a memorial museum at the former naval air station in Alameda, Calif. The historic ship was been formally donated to the Aircraft Carrier Hornet Foundation (ACHF) by the Navy.

Secretary of the Navy John H. Dalton signed the donation contract on 26 May, officially transferring custody of the Essex-class carrier to the ACHF, which is restoring and displaying the ship for the public. The Hornet, which has been designated a national historic landmark, is berthed at Pier 3 of the former naval air station, which has been leased to the Alameda Reuse and Redevelopment Authority.

The eighth Navy ship to bear the name, the WWII Hornet was commissioned as CV 12 on 29 November 1943 and participated in intense combat operations in the Battle of the Philippine Sea and in the Iwo Jima and Okinawa campaigns. Aircraft from the Hornet helped to sink the Japanese battleship Yamato in 1945. The Hornet was decommissioned in 1947, but was recommissioned in 1953 and served for another 17 years with the U.S. Pacific Fleet; converted to an antisubmarine carrier (CVS) in 1958, she later supported naval air and surface operations in Vietnam. The Hornet recovered the crews and spacecraft of both Apollo 11 and Apollo 12 after their lunar missions.