HERITAGE OF THE USS HORNET

this is the ocean comprising almost two-thirds of all the earth this moody and inexorable source of power is the master builder of weather systems [Music] and it is the mighty architect of continental land masses it is a medium of many moods peaceful and serene yet nothing matches the force and power of its wrath the United States Navy and Marine Corps worked here they know the seas many faces they are well acquainted with its scope and depth for traditionally the Navy and Marine Corps have navigated in these waters for more than 200 years and the tradition of these services run as deeply and as powerfully as the waters they serve upon [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] the ships of the United States Navy fly these waters and navigate the seas in defense of the United States of America some of these ships have demonstrated such courage and valor that their names have been perpetuated and immortalized in naval tradition this film chronicles the proud heritage of one such ship the Hornet [Music] the tradition of courage pride and excellence of this fine vessel the Hornet reaches backward more than two hundred years into the mists of United States naval history in order to fully explore the heritage of the Hornet we must look backward to a time prior to America's war for independence at that time there was no official United States Navy and a fledgling group of colonists were groping toward nationalism the first Hornet was a sloop a merchant vessel chartered from Captain William stone in 1775 to serve under Captain stone as a unit of the fleet of Essex Hopkins the vessel was fitted out at Baltimore then sailed with Hopkins fleet February 18th 1776 Hornet number one patrolled the Delaware Bay for nearly a year then ran the British blockade to convoy merchant men with supplies to hard-pressed colonists at Charleston from the evidence available it appears she fell into British hands off the coast of South Carolina in 1777 the Department of the Navy was officially created in 1798 by act of Congress the young nation of the United States of America was conducting a vigorous trading activity with other nations and the sea was the principal highway of Commerce one of the duties of the newly created Navy was to preserve and protect American interests on the high seas along the Mediterranean coast from the ports of Morocco Algiers Tunis and Tripoli the Pirates Swift vessels would sweep out and capture rich prices by taking vessels of the European nations as captives in 1785 these Barbary pirates began to molest American shipping and impede her trade with other nations and at first America followed the example of the Europeans and concluded treaties with these Barbary Coast States providing immunity from attack by payments of money Algiers and Tripoli broke these treaties and led to the wars between these states and America the second Hornet formerly the merchant vessel traveler of Massachusetts was purchased at Malta and sailed to join the American action in a blockade of Tripoli in 1805 with lieutenant Samuel Evans in command hornet joined Argus and Nautilus in April of 1805 supporting a land expedition of United States Marines who had forced marched along the coast to bring pressure upon the besieged port of Tripoli this American naval action was instrumental in ending the piracy and terrorism to commercial shipping along the Barbary Coast [Music] the Hornet played a principal role in many of these actions and continued to patrol the Mediterranean until June 1806 Hornet number three was launched she was commissioned in Baltimore in October of 1805 and was soon cruising the Atlantic coast with Britain's attempt to prevent a young america from trading in the caribbean hornet cruised in home waters to help enforce the Embargo Act President Thomas Jefferson's answer to the British provocations the act for bad importation of British made Goods and instituted a boycott upon British commerce with the United States and when the war of 1812 was declared she went to sea and joined Commodore John Rogers squadron hornet added to american naval tradition of courage and service when she captured the privateer dolphin on July 9th 1812 and later assisted in blockading the Brazilian port of Bahia sallying forth the Hornet engaged HMS peacock in a brief but skillfully fought engagement off British Guiana in February of 1813 the engagement ended in a victory for Hornet when she captured the peacock then she sailed north to New London meanwhile in a general blockade of American ports by British ships a young lawyer Francis Scott Key witnessed the British shelling of Fort McHenry and penned the words which were to give the young nation its national anthem the star-spangled banner [Music] the Treaty of Ghent brought the war to a close creating a strong feeling of national pride and briefly put an end to dominance of American political affairs by European nations the Hornet was its seed during the signing of the treaty and was unaware that the war had ended sailing south she captured HMS penguin also unaware the war had ended in March of 1815 off the coast of Tristan da Cunha Hornet remained in service for another 15 years based at Key West and Pensacola Florida she departed Pensacola for the last time in March of 1829 bound for Mexico and was never seen again [Music] the 4th Hornet was purchased at Georgetown DC in 1813 and was commissioned in March of 1814 with sailing master Middleton in command she served as a dispatch ship along the eastern seaboard assisting in some Coast and harbor survey work before being sold at Norfolk in 1820 amidst a period of strong national feeling for the young American nation there arose a prelude to the strife between part of the country which would lead to a devastating Civil War 1860 South Carolina seceded from the Union the military forces of the state laid siege to the garrison at Fort Sumter in the Charleston Harbor on April 12 1861 the besiegers began a bombardment of Fort Sumter and two days later the fourth surrendered the Union and Confederate forces began to mobilize for the Holocaust which was to wrench the nation for the next five years Union ships blockaded southern ports and controlled the coast and the war raged at sea as well as on land [Music] even then Hornet number five was building she was being built as the Confederate blockade runner lady sterling at blackwell England she was taken prize by hee Otis and Calypso of the Atlantic blockading squadron in October of 1864 commissioned in April 1865 with acting master Joseph Avant in command she was renamed Hornet in June of 1865 departing Washington in October she joined the Rhode Island at Norfolk and sailed south to escort the surrendered Confederate Ram Stonewall from Havana to Washington Hornet number five was decommissioned in December 1865 the next Hornet didn't appear until 1898 matters between the United States in Spain came to a climax during that year when the United States battleship Maine lying in the harbor of Havana was blown up with a loss of 268 men President McKinley proclaimed a naval blockade of Cuban ports and the rallying cry of remember the Maine was heard throughout America [Music] and the sixth Hornet the former yacht Alisha sailed to join the American fleet blockading Spanish Cuba she distinguished herself in Caribbean waters by seizing the schooner Nickerson which was loaded with provisions and under a Spanish crew was trying to run the blockade later in the morning she closed on a Spanish gun boat anchored under the blockhouses of the adversary but she attacked anyway despite damaging fire from shore batteries and sank the Dunnville later that same day hornet entered Manzanillo harbor and engaged the enemy and although disabled hornet continued to engage and fire taken in tow by one of her sister vessels not one crew member was lost an Hornet added another corageous chapter to her already illustrious heritage [Music] [Applause] [Music] the name Hornet lay dormant for thirty years then the seventh on an aircraft carrier was launched in December 1940 she was commissioned in October 1941 with captain mark mature in command and trained out of Norfolk Virginia [Music] December 7 1941 and lest we forget the fatal Sunday morning when the United States was attacked we interrupt this program to bring you a special news bulletin the Japanese have attacked Pearl Harbor Hawaii by air President Roosevelt has just announced the attack also was made on all naval and military activities in the principal island of Oahu December 7th 1941 a date which will live in infamy United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan more than 3,500 Americans were killed or wounded that day back home reeling under the blow and bewildered by the attack Americans angrily cried out for retaliation the retaliation was being readied with her own planes on the hangar deck 16 big army b-25 bombers had been lashed to the Hornets flight deck under the command of Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle 70 officers and 64 enlisted men had reported aboard with a company of escort vessels hornet departed the west coast on the 2nd of april that afternoon captain Mitchard told the men of their mission a daring bombing raid on Japan on the 13th of April Hornet joined Enterprise off Midway and the task force turned toward Japan the force was to originally move to within 400 miles of the Japanese coast then launched Doolittle's b-25s the force was cited by a Japanese patrol boat while still 600 miles from a new bow saki lighthouse and Admiral Halsey ordered the immediate launching of Doolittle's b-25s a crew member telling his part of the story later said take off the wingtips hung over the port side and on the starboard cleared the island structure by only three or four feet the planes were airborne even before they reached the end of the flight deck [Music] Colonel Doolittle dipped his wings to Admiral Halsey to us disappeared into the clouds we gave them all a chair wish them good luck because we knew where they were going to Tokyo leaving the task force Doolittle's for struck deep into the heart of the Japanese homeland Tokyo itself this rate gave a much-needed lift to American morale and struck a devastating blow to the enemy's belief of invulnerability [Music] hornet was active in the Pacific Theater for the next year she participated in the Battle of Midway with the Japanese fleet and the results had a far-reaching enduring outcome on the Pacific War among those who took part in the Battle of Midway were these men of torpedo squadron eight of the thirty officers and men who flew off the Hornet in this quadrant only ensign George gey was to return radio man George Field on his left would be killed ensign Gaye said he roared off the Hornet for the Battle of Midway on June 4th 1942 I'll never forget the last thing our skipper said I want each of us to do his utmost to destroy our enemies there's only one plane left to make the final run-in I want that man to go in and get a hit may god be with us all good luck happy landings and give them hell attack was the watchword of Torpedo 8 and attack was in the minds of the men of the Hornet who over the radio listened to the plains of Torpedo 8 as they went in for their last attack against four big Japanese carriers Midway was one of the great naval victories of all time and forestall an invasion of the continental United States those who died in the Battle of Midway were true sons of the Navy and true sons of the Hornet [Music] this great victory by Hornet and other ships at Midway spelled the beginning of the end of Japanese dominance in the Pacific following Midway other actions in the Pacific reduced American carriers in the South Pacific to 1 Hornet in October of 1942 the aircraft carrier enterprise rendezvous with the Hornet and to get a large Japanese task force headed for Guadalcanal October 26 1942 the day of the Battle of Santa Cruz a sailor said we were at battle stations in condition one long before dawn our planes took off in the half-light just at daybreak [Music] about zero 900 word came from our air group to expect a large number of [ __ ] bombers we stood by for the attack [Music] the first of the Japs came in to arrange about zero nine thirty and our Gunners opened fire there were two different attacks during the day and every [ __ ] plane that got through our fighter screen was shot down by the Hornets guns 26 of them in ten hours [Music] in the first wave a torpedo on the starboard side had smashed our engine room and in the second attack the Japs hit us with everything in the book bombs and torpedoes at the same time but our Gunners continued to pump led into the Japs adding to our score plane by plane three chaps Christ a bored and started fires with the engine-room out our power was gone we lost steerage way and listed heavily to starboard later during a lull in the battle we organised bucket brigades we flooded port compartments but still listed to starboard 18 degrees knowing that we were in range of land-based Japanese bombers and it would no longer be possible to fight a ship that couldn't be righted our skipper ordered us to abandon ship we went over the side around 1700 were taken aboard the rescue ship standing by [Music] you could see our Hornet lying out there deserted and sort of lonely somehow she seemed to struggle to stay alive we hated to leave her but the skipper know best and just as night came down to make her death quick and merciful our captain ordered our own Gunners to shell her in torpedo her we knew how he must have felt giving orders to sink our ship the horn our home for over a year in her we'd lost something that had been part of us but she would be remembered no matter on what other ships we were to serve we knew that we had fought to horn it well we had brought destruction to the enemy of Tokyo and Midway at Guadalcanal at Rakata Bay and Coral Sea and at Santa Cruz she was a great fighting ship [Music] she received for battle stars for world war ii service and her famed torpedo squadron 8 received a Presidential Citation Hornet number 8c v12 was launched in August 1943 and commissioned in November of that year captain miles browning in command Hornet joined carrier task force 20 March 1944 off the Marshall Islands in the Pacific [Music] active throughout the remainder of the war Hornets supported and fibia SACEUR and other actions leading to a victorious conclusion of the war in the Pacific [Music] she received seven battle stars and a Presidential Unit Citation after an overhaul in 1951 she joined the seventh Fleet in the Far East and ranged along the coast of Southeast Asia supporting the action in the Korean conflict later she helped cover the evacuation of Vietnamese from the Communist controlled north bonad further distinguished herself by retrieving Apollo 11 24 July 1969 and the American astronauts who had been the first men to walk on the moon Hornet was decommissioned in 1970 and was towed to Bremerton Washington where the proud lady sits today with other elements of the mothballed Fleet Hornet has a proud record of distinguished service and an enviable heritage of achievement rarely equalled by any other vessel afloat here's a new breed of Hornet for the United States Navy and Marine Corps the f-18 fast maneuverable elusive deceptively Swift and lethal this new Hornet will be joining the fleet to perpetuate the heritage and legacy of its predecessors replacing both the f4 and the a7 this Hornet combines both fighter and attack capability the Hornet is already straining to get into the air and to respond to the call of its proud heritage for both the United States Navy and Marine Corps a weapon system of extraordinary capabilities the f-18 but that's not unexpected after all the aircraft's name is honored