USS HORNET (CV12)
Aircraft Carrier Hornet Museum
P.O. Box 460
Pier 3, Alameda Point
Alameda, CA 94501
(510) 521-8448
Fax: (510) 521-8327
Email: info@uss-hornet.org
www.uss-hornet.org
Launched on August 30, 1943, the Essex-class carrier (the eighth to be named Hornet) came from a long line of successful ships. The second Hornet took the Marines “to the shores of Tripoli” in 1805 and the seventh Hornet delivered the Doolittle Raiders to Tokyo and was sunk in October 1942, defending Guadalcanal.
The “Grey Ghost,” as she was called, was the forward most ship in the fleet. Her pilots destroyed 1,410 enemy planes and a million tons of shipping, and she participated in every assault landing in the Pacific Theater from March 1944 until the end of the war, earning nine Battle Stars and a Presidential Citation in the process.
In 1969, she recovered the Apollo 11 space capsule containing moon walkers Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, and the FA-18 fighter jet is named after her. The USS Hornket is a National and State Historic Landmark and is located on the east side of San Francisco Bay. A “Living Ship” demonstration is presented on the first Saturday of each month.
USS INTREPID (CV-11)
Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum, Pier 86
West 46th Street & 12th Avenue
New York, New York 10036
(212) 245-0072
Fax: (212) 245-7289
www.intrepidmuseum.org
Called the “Fighting I” by her crew, her combat record includes the sinking of two Japanese battleships, more than 600 enemy aircraft, three combat tours off Vietnam and NASA’s Prime Recovery Ship in the early ‘70s. Since 1982, the USS Intrepid has been a sea-air-space museum in New York City. On her flight deck are more than 30 aircraft representing all of the U.S. armed services as well as British, French and Soviet jet fighters. This collection features an A-12 Blackbird flown throughout the Cold War. Permanent and rotating exhibits on the Intrepid’s hangar deck depict the past, present and future of military technology. Other displays honor all those who have served this nation in uniform.
USS LEXINGTON (CV-16/AVT-16)
Lady Lex Museum on the Bay
2914 North Shoreline Boulevard
Corpus Christi, Texas 78402
(361) 888-4873
Fax: (362) 883-8361
Email: ladylex@intcomm.net
www.usslexington.com
Beginning her career on February 17, 1943, “Lady Lex” was originally named USS Cabot until a petition from her workers asked that she be renamed after the CV-2, scuttled during the Battle of the Coral Sea in 1942. The Lexington participated in every major naval campaign from Tarawa to Tokyo and was hit twice by the enemy. The Lexington was nicknamed “The Blue Ghost” by the Japanese propagandist Tokyo Rose because she never wore the typical camouflage paint of all the other U.S. aircraft carriers. After World War II, she was modernized and re-commissioned in 1955 for Cold War service in the western Pacific. Decommissioned again in 1991, the Lexington holds the record for the longest service and the most aircraft launched and recovered, of any of the world’s aircraft carriers. She was also the first Navy ship to embark female crewmembers.
USS YORKTOWN (CV-10)
Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum
40 Patriots Point Road
Mount Pleasant, SC 29464
(843) 884-2727
Fax: (843) 881-4232
Email: wwhills@infoave.net
www.ussyorktown.com
Second of the Essex class carriers, the USS Yorktown replaced her namesake which was lost at the Battle of Midway in June 1942. Because of the carrier’s support in the Philippines, at Iwo Jima and at Okinawa, it earned 11 Battle Stars for World War II service and was awarded the Presidential Citation. After Korean War duty, the USS Yorktown was modernized for antisubmarine warfare and was deployed to Vietnam. In 1968, the carrier recovered the crew of Apollo 8, the first manned flight to orbit the moon.
Decommissioned in 1970, the USS Yorktown became the centerpiece of the fleet of ships at Patriots Point. Her onboard exhibits include more than two dozen historic carrier aircraft that saw service in World War II and the Persian Gulf War. The Yorktown also serves as the headquarters for the Congressional Medal of Honor Society and the Congressional Medal of Honor Museum.
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