"THE LIFE AND DEATH OF USS HORNET" CV-8 YORKTOWN CLASS AIRCRAFT CARRIER @ BATTLE OF MIDWAY 81704

The Life and Death of the U.S.S. Hornet is a short Navy film that gives viewers a brief history of the famous CV-8 Yorktown-class aircraft carrier. The film opens with a shot of the nation’s Capitol Building, followed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt making a statement in the Oval Office about the B-25 bombing mission from “Shangri-La,” the code name for the USS Hornet. At a shipyard, men and women build the carrier (01:37). The USS Hornet is launched on 14 December 1940 (02:16). Supplies are loaded onto the Hornet. Men and women inventory the ship’s cargo. On 21 October 1941, men of the Hornet stand at attention as their commander speaks to them (04:00). The ship leaves the docks and is out at sea for training. Douglas SBD Dauntlesses take off from the Hornet (04:57). A Grumman F4F Wildcat has a rough landing on the carrier and nearly careens off into the ocean. Lt. Col. James Doolittle’s North American B-25 Mitchell medium bombers sit on the deck of the ship (06:21). Bombs are loaded onto the B-25s and the aircraft are readied for takeoff (06:50). Doolittle watches as the bombers take off for the raid on Tokyo. Men of Torpedo Squadron 8 (VT-8) pose for photographs before their fateful mission during the Battle of Midway (08:20); footage shows a number of the crew and the lone survivor, George Gay. The men take off in Douglas TBD Devastators. A memorial service is held on the Hornet for the fallen men of Torpedo 8. Pilots sit in a briefing room (11:10), then they take off in their planes during the Battle of Santa Cruz. Japanese bombers come into range and the Hornet’s gunners shoot down the enemy planes (12:00). Smoke billows from the ship as it is hit by torpedoes and Japanese kamikaze fighters. Men of the USS Hornet abandon ship for the safety of nearby Navy vessels (13:50). U.S. Navy ships fire on the Hornet to sink the damaged carrier (14:27). Wounded men are evacuated off the ships once back in the U.S. (15:15). A new carrier is launched, one of many new ships being built for the Navy, concluding the film.

USS Hornet (CV-8), the seventh ship to carry the name Hornet was a Yorktown-class aircraft carrier of the United States Navy. During World War II in the Pacific Theater, she launched the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo and participated in the Battle of Midway and the Buin-Faisi-Tonolai Raid. In the Solomon Islands campaign, she was involved in the capture and defense of Guadalcanal and the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands where she was irreparably damaged by enemy torpedo and dive bombers. Faced with an approaching Japanese surface force, Hornet was abandoned and later torpedoed and sunk by approaching Japanese destroyers. Hornet was in service for a year and six days and was the last US fleet carrier ever sunk by enemy fire. For these actions, she was awarded four service stars, a citation for the Doolittle Raid in 1942, and her Torpedo Squadron 8 received a Presidential Unit Citation for extraordinary heroism for the Battle of Midway.

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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com