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R/V Petrel finds USS Hornet


Chad Fuck

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Definitely a Wildcat.  Some of the Naval Aviation geeks I associate with are already trying to track down its' pilot.  

The Petrel is on a roll.  They just found the Japanese battleship Hiei about a week ago:

Quote

R/V Petrel Finds Wreck of First Japanese Battleship Lost in WWII

https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/r-v-petrel-finds-wreck-of-first-japanese-battleship-lost-in-wwii

five-inch-gun-hiei-2.0c89ea.jpg

More pics at the link.

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19 minutes ago, Chad Fuck said:

47076458451_e153c817ac_o.jpg

Didn't recognize this at first, thought it was Japanese, but it's a 1.1" AA gun.  Obsolete in '42-43, replaced by 40mm Bofors and 20mm Oerlikon.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1.1"/75_caliber_gun

46352930544_5877f54dc5_o.jpg

5"/38 Naval Gun in dual-purpose (anti-aircraft) mount.  The most numerous gun of the USN in WWII. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5"/38_caliber_gun

 

46352930874_82cfde22d0_o.jpg

I believe this is a powder casing for the 5"/38 gun above.

 

Edited by TwiceHorn
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47033228282_52ce2b2079_o.jpg

Hull number:

46171919155_27a074c964_o.jpg

Must've hit pretty hard.  It's buried almost to the hangar deck (the opening at the top of the pic below):

46171919355_a6f3eb46c9_o.jpg

On USS Northampton's last attempt at towing the Hornet, they attached a cable to the port anchor chain (visible here leading forward).  The starboard anchor is visible on the lower left. 

46171920435_c28d61fa21_o.jpg

20mm gun:

46171920645_b5f8e67475_o.jpg

Signal Bridge:

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Starboard forward 5 in. gun.  It took 12-15 men to operate this gun:

47033228742_71797e47d6_h.jpg

Anti-aircraft projectile in fuse setter, awaiting use for the above gun:

40120531973_3f0accff93_h.jpg

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44 minutes ago, Eastwood said:

International Harvester image is awesome. My dad used to work for them. Get a little free pub out of that, I'm sure.

I half-assed collect IHC stuff so that caught my eye. Looks like a modified W-4 tractor but nothing I could find spelled it out exactly. I did find an interesting page listing many of IHCs contributions to the war effort. I never knew they produced torpedoes.

http://usautoindustryworldwartwo.com/internationalharvester.htm

 

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When I was a kid, we used to go up to Bremerton where there were a couple of Essex class carriers tied up for scrapping.     You could just walk onto the flight deck.   You couldn't go below deck but any outdoor gangway or area accessible by ladder was easy to get too.   Talk about heaven for a 10 year old WWII nut. 

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On 2/13/2019 at 10:34 AM, Chad Fuck said:

Damage report:

PlateI.jpg

PlateII.jpg

PlateIII.jpg

PlateIV.jpg

You can match up the battle pics to these damage reports.

Link to the big versions:  http://ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/WarDamageReports/WarDamageReportCV8/WarDamageReportCV8.html

I. Conclusions

65. HORNET did, in spite of admitted deficiencies in machinery arrangement, survive extreme punishment to the hull. The fact that damage from three torpedo hits, four bombs and two plane crashes did not result in sinking Is impressive. Despite such punishment, the hull was still in condition to allow towing from the scene of action if the tactical situation had permitted. In an attempt to sink HORNET, destroyers fired 369 rounds of 5" ammunition into the hull and a number of torpedoes. This still did not result in immediate sinking and HORNET was left "blazing furiously and in a slowly sinking condition". HORNET'S resistance to damage, as well as YORKTOWN's, exceeded reasonable expectations.

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There’s a pretty cool short video titled “The Life and Death of the Aircraft Carrier U.S.S. Hornet” on Youtube.

Also...that Japanese ship that they found earlier. Holy shit! Battle report stated that an attack disabled the steering resulting in her slowly circling “for another day” while U.S. Army Air Force relentlessly attacked. Sounds like one hell of a drawn out nightmare.

WWII nautical finds have resulted in some of the most fascinating threads going all the way back to HF.

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3 hours ago, Armybrat said:

And one Exocet sank the Sheffield in the Falklands war.

Slightly OT, but some interdasting facts about the HMS Sheffield:

An explosion during construction killed two dockyard workers and damaged a section of hull which was replaced with a section from an identical ship, Hércules, being built for the Argentine Navy.

As Sheffield's crew were waiting to be rescued, Sub-lieutenant Carrington-Wood led the crew in singing "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" from Monty Python’s Life of Brian

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There’s a pretty cool short video titled “The Life and Death of the Aircraft Carrier U.S.S. Hornet” on Youtube.

Also...that Japanese ship that they found earlier. Holy shit! Battle report stated that an attack disabled the steering resulting in her slowly circling “for another day” while U.S. Army Air Force relentlessly attacked. Sounds like one hell of a drawn out nightmare.

WWII nautical finds have resulted in some of the most fascinating threads going all the way back to HF.
The whole concept of being in the Navy during an open conflict is equal parts terrifying and exciting. Parts of the Pacific are literally some of the most remote locations on Earth. Penalty for failure out there is very high.
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21 minutes ago, Eastwood said:
2 hours ago, Texas_Rocks said:
There’s a pretty cool short video titled “The Life and Death of the Aircraft Carrier U.S.S. Hornet” on Youtube.

Also...that Japanese ship that they found earlier. Holy shit! Battle report stated that an attack disabled the steering resulting in her slowly circling “for another day” while U.S. Army Air Force relentlessly attacked. Sounds like one hell of a drawn out nightmare.

WWII nautical finds have resulted in some of the most fascinating threads going all the way back to HF.

The whole concept of being in the Navy during an open conflict is equal parts terrifying and exciting. Parts of the Pacific are literally some of the most remote locations on Earth. Penalty for failure out there is very high.

My Dad served three years on a DD in the PTO.  Although he experienced pretty severe conditions and combat (kamikazes off Okinawa, the Great Typhoon, constant threat of air attack or engagement with submarines or superior armed warships), I always kind of thought he had it "easy," with air conditioning, decent to good food, and a bed to sleep in.

Then a Marine friend of mine said something that kind of hit home.  "When the shit starts, you got no place to go."  He had spent a couple of years as mardet on vessels in the same part of the world (swpac) and contemplated what wartime conditions may have been like.

Edited by TwiceHorn
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14 hours ago, Hornstrader said:

I. Conclusions

65. HORNET did, in spite of admitted deficiencies in machinery arrangement, survive extreme punishment to the hull. The fact that damage from three torpedo hits, four bombs and two plane crashes did not result in sinking Is impressive. Despite such punishment, the hull was still in condition to allow towing from the scene of action if the tactical situation had permitted. In an attempt to sink HORNET, destroyers fired 369 rounds of 5" ammunition into the hull and a number of torpedoes. This still did not result in immediate sinking and HORNET was left "blazing furiously and in a slowly sinking condition". HORNET'S resistance to damage, as well as YORKTOWN's, exceeded reasonable expectations.

How many sailors survived, and how many families are here today, because she could take that kind of punishment?

its got to be demoralizing for the enemy to put that much into a ship, and take all of the losses, and you cripple her but you just can’t sink her. 

Did she stay in the fight the entire time?

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1 hour ago, Pato del Muerto said:

How many sailors survived, and how many families are here today, because she could take that kind of punishment?

its got to be demoralizing for the enemy to put that much into a ship, and take all of the losses, and you cripple her but you just can’t sink her. 

Did she stay in the fight the entire time?

Quote

With power knocked out to her engines, Hornet was unable to launch or land aircraft, forcing its aviators to either land on Enterprise or ditch in the ocean. Rear Admiral George D. Murray ordered the heavy cruiser Northampton to tow Hornet clear of the action. Since the Japanese planes were attacking Enterprise, this allowed Northampton to tow Hornet at a speed of about five knots (9 km/h; 6 mph). Repair crews were on the verge of restoring power when another flight of nine "Kate" torpedo planes attacked. Eight of these aircraft were either shot down or failed to score hits, but the ninth scored a fatal hit on the starboard side. The torpedo hit destroyed the repairs to the electrical system and caused a 14-degree list. After being informed that Japanese surface forces were approaching and that further towing efforts were futile, Vice Admiral William Halsey ordered Hornet sunk, and an order of "abandon ship" was issued. Captain Mason, the last man on board, climbed over the side, and the survivors were soon picked up by the escorting destroyers.[3][9]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Hornet_(CV-8)

Edited by Chad Fuck
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On 2/14/2019 at 12:38 PM, Judge Roybeanbag said:

My great grandfather worked for them in the first half of the 20th century.  Traveled all over selling them, including India..

 

On 2/14/2019 at 11:40 AM, Shoxthemonkey said:

I half-assed collect IHC stuff so that caught my eye. Looks like a modified W-4 tractor but nothing I could find spelled it out exactly. I did find an interesting page listing many of IHCs contributions to the war effort. I never knew they produced torpedoes.

http://usautoindustryworldwartwo.com/internationalharvester.htm

 

 

On 2/14/2019 at 10:52 AM, Eastwood said:

International Harvester image is awesome. My dad used to work for them. Get a little free pub out of that, I'm sure.

A little off topic, and you guys might already know this, but there is a great read on IHC titled "Corporate Tragedy" 

Here's a link for a free download site:

https://storage.googleapis.com/echttleba.appspot.com/Corporate-Tragedy-International-Harvester-Company-PDF-281b235a0.pdf

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