The hunt for USS Hornet CV-8

Richard W. · **Posted:** Mon Feb 11, 2019 1:12 pm

Story on the news this morning.

The research ship Petrel is zeroing in on the final resting place of the Hornet off the coast of Guadalcanal.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/uss-hornet-petrel-vessel-search-aircraft-carrier-world-war-ii-ships/

Pat Carry · **Posted:** Mon Feb 11, 2019 2:00 pm

Very interesting! Then the Wasp perhaps?

marine air · **Posted:** Mon Feb 11, 2019 2:00 pm

This one is going to be fascinating. Amazing that there are any suvrivors still living to tell the story. Would there have been any F2A Buffalos or TBD Devastators on this carrier?

Russ Matthews · **Posted:** Tue Feb 12, 2019 1:40 am

Nicely spotted, Richard. Thanks for the "heads up." It's been good to see that Vulcan and the Petrel team are able to continue Paul Allen's vision. I had a feeling Hornet would be high on their list. I'm looking forward to what the morning news will bring.

marine air wrote:

Would there have been any F2A Buffalos or TBD Devastators on this carrier?

Unfortunately, I suspect we won't see a treasure trove of preserved warplanes to rival the Lexington finds this time around. Hornet was hit and dead in the water while most of her air group was engaged in a strike against the enemy and the returning planes were forced to either recover aboard Enterprise (CV-6) or ditch at sea. Any spare aircraft may very well have been jettisoned during the ensuing repair/salvage attempts and the ship then burned and drifted as a battered derelict for hours, having absorbed an astonishing amount of punishment before the Japanese finally succeeded in finishing her off. I suppose it's possible that some planes were suspended from the hangar deck overhead (as I know was done on other Yorktown class carriers), but I don't know for sure. In any case, by October 1942 the fighting, bombing/scouting, and torpedo squadrons should have been outfitted with Wildcats, Dauntlesses, and Avengers. The surviving Devastators were all withdrawn from frontline service following the Battle of Midway in June, and I'm fairly certain that no Buffalo ever flew a WWII combat mission from the deck of a US Navy carrier. Regardless, whatever they find will be fascinating.

Warbirdnerd · **Joined:** Fri Apr 30, 2004 7:34 pm **Posts:** 2906

They found it.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/uss-hornet ... iscovered/

Warbird Kid · **Posted:** Tue Feb 12, 2019 10:00 am

Pretty amazing stuff. At 4:37 they show a mostly intact but damaged F4F with its nose in the sand. Very cool.

AG pilot · **Joined:** Sat Sep 24, 2011 9:13 am **Posts:** 532

Warbird Kid wrote:

Pretty amazing stuff. At 4:37 they show a mostly intact but damaged F4F with its nose in the sand. Very cool.

It really is! Wow!

RyanShort1 · **Posted:** Tue Feb 12, 2019 11:12 am

Very, very cool to see that.

Richard W. · **Posted:** Tue Feb 12, 2019 11:15 am

I'm not sure why Monday's article was so circumspect about the status of the search when today they reveal that the ship was definitely found last month.

I suppose CBS was setting up a week-long series and wanted to create some suspense as to whether it would be successful?

Would prefer to get my news about this without the CBS middleman. I'm not a Facebook guy. Has the research ship posted anything directly, like they did with the Lexington?

Russ Matthews · **Posted:** Tue Feb 12, 2019 12:38 pm

Richard W. wrote:

I suppose CBS was setting up a week-long series and wanted to create some suspense as to whether it would be successful?

Apparently just a two-parter, but I think your reasoning is dead on. Clearly they worked out a deal for some form of exclusivity that allowed CBS to break the story.

Richard W. wrote:

Would prefer to get my news about this without the CBS middleman. I'm not a Facebook guy. Has the research ship posted anything directly, like they did with the Lexington?

The R/V Petrel Facebook feed currently only links to the CBS story. However, there is an update with additional photos (including one of that ravaged F4F and another showing the aircraft tug where the "International Harvester" logo is bright as day) on the Petrel section of Paul Allen's website .. https://www.paulallen.com/Indepth/Petrel/discoveries/uss-hornet-cv-8.php

Richard W. · **Posted:** Tue Feb 12, 2019 2:16 pm

Thank you for that Allen site link!

Looks like you could almost gas that tractor up and drive it away.

Mark Allen M · **Joined:** Fri Feb 03, 2012 1:48 pm **Posts:** 7560

Date Lost: OCTOBER 26, 1943
Date Found: LATE JANUARY, 2019
Crew Lost: 140 (OF 2200)
Depth: 5400M (17716 FEET)
Location: SOUTH PACIFIC OCEAN
Wreckage of the USS Hornet was discovered in late January, 2019 by the expedition crew of RV Petrel. The Hornet was found 5,400 meters (nearly 17,500 feet) below the surface, resting on the floor of the South Pacific Ocean.
https://www.paulallen.com/Indepth/Petre ... t-cv-8.php