One of the most famous ships in US Naval history is the USS Hornet. Since it was decommissioned in 1970, it served as a National Historic Landmark and has been opened to the public in Alameda Naval Base.
There were eight ships in US Navy history that carried the name USS Hornet. The first one was commissioned in 1775 and was used to fight against the British during the Revolutionary war. The second one was commissioned in 1805 and played a vital role of landing Marines on the shores of Tripoli. The seventh USS Horney was used in the Doolittle Raid, which is known as the most daring raid of all time. The ship managed to survive the Battle of Midway, only to be lost at the Battle of Santa Cruz.
The USS Hornet that is docked in Alameda is the eighth. It used to be the USS Kearsarge but became the USS Hornet after the seventh was destroyed in 1942. The USS Hornet (CV-12) was commissioned while the war in the Pacific was ongoing. It became one of the most decorated ships in US Naval history by destroying 1,410 Japanese aircraft and damaged or destroyed more than one million tons of enemy shipping. The ship was credited for dealing the critical hits that led to the sinking of battleship Yamato.
While the ship managed to survive all the battles at sea, it didn’t come without cost. The USS Hornet had lost a lot of its crew, whether it is during war or peace time. According to records, there were several crew members who died by walking into spinning propellers of aircrafts, sucked into air intakes, or blown off the deck by the exhaust. Dropped bombs on the deck had burned, maimed, and killed numerous sailors. There were three cases in which sailors were decapitated by the snapping flight arrest cables.
The USS Hornet has been in active duty for 27 years, and more than 300 people have died on board the aircraft carrier. Most of them died during combat while others due to freak accidents. There are a few who took their own lives while at sea.
And because of its tragic history, the USS Hornet has been dubbed as the most haunted ship in the United States. Its crew and visitors alike have told stories off strange and mysterious occurrences, sounds and sightings. Objects move on their own, doors open and close and ghost sailors show up onboard the ship.
Are the ghost stories onboard the USS Hornet real? Well, numerous reports of supernatural events were made, and TV programs have featured the ship. But there are skeptics who stated that they didn’t observe anything out of the ordinary while they were onboard the aircraft carrier. Whether the ship is haunted or not, one thing that’s true is that the USS Hornet is a good reminder of the country’s heritage.