After 77 years, the wreck of the USS Hornet has finally been found, lying more than three miles deep in South Pacific waters. The storied aircraft carrier—sunk by Japanese torpedoes in 1942 with the loss of 140 men— played a critical role during the Second World War, most famously in the Doolittle Raid and the Battle of Midway.
A hole in the hull of the Hornet, courtesy of the Imperial Japanese forces.
Vulcan Inc., an exploration team financed by the Paul Allen estate, discovered the sunken American aircraft carrier near the Solomon Islands in late January, CBS reports. Crewmembers aboard the RV Petrel used a deep-sea sonar drone to detect the ship 17,500 feet (5,330 meters) below the surface.
An IH aircraft tug, still sitting upright, as if ready for use.
A remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) was then sent down to investigate further, confirming the wreckage as belonging to the Hornet, which it did by spotting its naval designation, CV-8. The Hornet went down during the Battle of Santa Cruz Islands in 1942 after a fierce fight with ships and planes from the Japanese Imperial Navy.
I wonder if it's still loaded?
The ship plummeted some 3.3 miles before settling on the seafloor.
On April 18, 1942, sixteen B-25 Mitchell bombers took off from the deck of the Hornet to participate in the legendary Doolittle Raid—the first airborne attack on Japanese cities, including Tokyo. The air raid served as a serious wakeup call for the Japanese military and its civilians, who falsely assumed such attacks were impossible given the reach of its Imperial Navy at the time. Two months later, the Hornet played a critical role at the Battle of Midway—a decisive victory for the the U.S. during the early stages of the Pacific campaign, and just six months after the shocking Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Rest in peace, noble ship.
No comments:
Post a Comment