Doolittle Raiders Training at Eglin Field (1942)

This rare original 16mm silent film was donated to the Hornet Museum by the Knobloch Family. It documents the Doolittle Raiders training in B-25's at Eglin Field in March of 1942 prior to embarking on the USS Hornet for the Raid on Tokyo. The footage has been gently restored and presented with its original canister and film reel--special thanks to Bob Fish and ‪@GeorgeRetelas‬.

When you visit the Hornet Museum you are literally “stepping into/onto history”. This ship was there at the forefront of WWII in the Pacific where her record of combat accomplishments is legendary. Hornet finished her long career in the news again as she retrieved the Apollo 11 capsule and the astronauts who were the first humans to walk on the surface of the moon.
Today the USS Hornet Museum serves as a “living history” destination at Pier 3 in Alameda, where thousands of visitors walk through her “hatches” reliving history through the sights, sounds and even smells that are uniquely Hornet.

Since the adoption of our charter in 1998, The USS Hornet Sea, Air & Space Museum has become the preeminent Naval history museum on the West Coast. The USS Hornet is the only aircraft carrier in the United States that is recognized as a National and State Historical Monument as well a repository of over 240 years of American naval military and cultural history and achievements, offering extensive resources for national and international visitors alike.

The USS Hornet Sea, Air & Space Museum carries on a rich legacy of “Hornets”, as the first Hornet christened would become one of the most distinguished names in American naval history with her performance in the Revolutionary War. The first two ships in the new Continental Navy were "Hornet" & "Wasp".