USS Hornet (CV-12)

USS Hornet (CV-12) was an of the United States Navy. Commissioned in late 1943, she served with distinction in the Pacific War, earning nine battle stars and a Presidential Unit Citation. Following World War II, the carrier was modernized and later played key roles in the Vietnam War and the Apollo program, recovering the Apollo 11 and Apollo 12 astronauts. She is now preserved as a museum ship in Alameda, California.

Construction and commissioning

The ship was ordered on 9 September 1940 from Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia. Originally to be named USS ''Kearsarge'', she was renamed Hornet in honor of the previous USS ''Hornet'' (CV-8), which was lost in the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands. Her keel was laid down on 3 August 1942, and she was launched on 30 August 1943, sponsored by Annie Reid Knox, wife of Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox. The new carrier was commissioned into the United States Navy on 29 November 1943 under the command of Captain Miles R. Browning.

World War II service

After shakedown in the Caribbean, Hornet joined the Pacific Fleet in March 1944. She became flagship for Vice Admiral Marc A. Mitscher's Task Force 58, a fast carrier task force central to the island hopping campaign. Her air group participated in major operations including the Battle of the Philippine Sea, where her aircraft helped achieve a decisive victory in the "Great Marianas Turkey Shoot". She supported the Battle of Leyte Gulf and the Battle of Iwo Jima, and her planes struck targets in the Japanese home islands. In 1945, she was damaged by a kamikaze attack off Okinawa but remained operational, earning a Presidential Unit Citation for her wartime service.

Post-war service and modernization

Following Victory over Japan Day, Hornet participated in Operation Magic Carpet, returning American servicemen to the United States. She was decommissioned and placed in the Mothball Fleet at San Francisco in January 1947. In 1951, she began a major modernization under the SCB-27 and later SCB-125 programs at the New York Naval Shipyard. These upgrades included an angled flight deck, a steam catapult, and a reinforced deck to handle newer jet aircraft like the F3H Demon and F-8 Crusader. She was reclassified as an attack aircraft carrier (CVA-12) and recommissioned in September 1953.

Vietnam War era and Apollo recovery

In the 1960s, Hornet operated extensively in the Western Pacific. Reclassified as an anti-submarine warfare carrier (CVS-12) in 1958, she later served in the Vietnam War, with her aircraft conducting reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare missions in the Gulf of Tonkin. Her most famous post-war duty was serving as the Primary Recovery Ship for the Apollo program. In July 1969, she recovered the Apollo 11 command module and astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins following the first Moon landing. She repeated this historic role for the Apollo 12 mission in November 1969, recovering the crew of Charles Conrad, Alan Bean, and Richard F. Gordon Jr..

Decommissioning and museum ship

After returning from the Pacific, Hornet was decommissioned for the final time on 26 June 1970 at Naval Air Station Alameda. She was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 25 July 1989. Saved from scrapping, she was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1991. In 1998, the aircraft carrier was opened to the public as the USS Hornet Museum, operated by the Hornet Museum-Alameda organization. She is permanently berthed at Alameda Point in San Francisco Bay, where she serves as a museum and memorial to naval aviation and space exploration history.

Category:Essex-class aircraft carriers of the United States Navy Category:Museum ships in California Category:National Historic Landmarks in California Category:Ships built in Newport News, Virginia Category:World War II aircraft carriers of the United States Category:Cold War aircraft carriers of the United States Category:Vietnam War aircraft carriers of the United States