USS Hornet Doolittle Raid Special
 

http://www.uss-hornet.org/a-left.html

This weekend, Saturday April 21, if you live in the Northern California area, the USS Hornet is going to have a special event to commemorate the Doolittle Raid.

That reminds me of a sea story ... it was the summer of 1963 see and I was on board the USS Salmon SS-572 when I got my first (and last) commendation in my service record.

We were operating out of our home port of San Diego on a special mission to pentatrate the ASW carrier task force made up the all new (just overhauled) USS Hornet they had even put sonar on her ... I mean she had destroyer escorts galore, she had her own oiler, she even had the USS Permit running cover for her way in front of the fleet.

It was the night before we surprised her that I got my attaboy ... I was half asleep on sonar all alone, because we only had three sonarman. We were charging batteries on snorkel (forgot the depth), but it was pertty loud and you can barely hear anything with those big morris fairbanks getting all the air they need.

All of a sudden I heard what sounded like an airplane ... I reported it to the conn, "Sonar/Conn" I think I hear an airplane ...

"Conn/Sonar" Are you sure?

"Sonar Conn" Sure sounds like one sir ...

Secure from battery charge ... take her down deep ...

Wham! Those ASW patrol planes hit us with several little PDC's, but we didn't even break stride as we evaded them and left the area.

The captain came around to the North of San Clemente Island and surfaced in the shipping lanes to charge batteries. Radar picked them up first ...
the whole dog gone fleet was right in front of us.

The captain kept her on the surface till the sun started to shine around 5:45 am.

We waited patiently for our juicy targets to arrive and caught an olier re-fueling one of the targets. We fired a pratice MK16 at her and went right under her catching the destroyer screen unawares and let a couple go on them.

There she was all alone and left with no escorts we hadn't already taken out. Whoosh! Fire one, fire two ... she was a goner on our record books.

Final out come ... we won ... we were playing the Russians, but the big brass didn't believe us. You know the ones on North Island in San Diego.
So our XO took the pictures over to North Island to show them.

You know what they said, "We cheated, because we caught them eating breakfast before 8am and that it wasn't fair that one lone diesel boat could pentetrate their ASW screen and do that much damage, but we did and that's why I got my attaboy in my servive record for hearing an airplane on sonar while snorkeling.

Forty-four years ago, but I remember the USS Hornet well :up:

I guess it is nice that they are having an event to commermorate the raid but it ain't the same Hornet that was used in the raid. She was sunk in 42.

Might as well have the ceremony on land

But it is a nice thought

Thank you for your service to our country

Well thank you Platapus ... not too many people do that ...

Now about the USS Hornet ... true the one Doolittle used to shock Japan was sunk in WW II, but this one took her place and had a envious war record too.

http://www.uss-hornet.org/history/index.html

1942- The seventh HORNET (CV-8) launched 16 Army B-25s to strike the Japanese home islands in one of the most daring raids in the history of warfare -- the "Doolittle Raid." She went on to fight at the Battle of Midway and was lost to an overwhelming air attack at the Battle of Santa Cruz.

• For 16 continuous months she was in action in the forward areas of the Pacific combat zone, sometimes within 40 miles of the Japanese home islands.
• Under air attack 59 times, she was never hit.
• Her aircraft destroyed 1410 Japanese aircraft, only ESSEX exceeded this record.
• Her air groups destroyed or damaged 1,269,710 tons of enemy shipping.
• 10 HORNET pilots attained "Ace in a Day" status.
• 30 of 42 VF-2 Hellcat pilots were aces.
• 72 enemy aircraft shot down in one day.
• 255 aircraft shot down in a month.
• Supported nearly every Pacific amphibious landing after March 1944.
• Scored the critical first hits in sinking the super battleship YAMATO.
• In 1945 launched the first strikes against Tokyo since the 1942 Doolittle Raid.