USS Hornet Museum, Alameda, California, 10 Jan 2015
Caroline flew back to Hawaii out of Oakland this time because the ticket was a lot cheaper than flying out of Sacramento. Elizabeth and I drove her to the airport and then did something I've wanted to do for years, visit the USS Hornet Museum in Alameda, a short distance from the Oakland airport.
We were not sure what all we would see other than knowing the Hornet is a WW2 vintage, Essex class aircraft carrier that was used to recover the Apollo 11 and 12 capsules after their moon missions. We had no idea if we'd see everthing there was to see in a couple of hours, or, if, as it turned out, we'd spend the whole day there and still not see everything.
The Hornet is one of 24 Essex class carriers that the US built between 1941 and 1945, although the Essex was not launched until mid-1942, the design work for the class had started in 1940, before the US was at war. The Hornet was launched in 1943 and served during WW2, Korea and Vietnam, as well as its role in the space program.
We took docent led tours of the fore part of the ship, which incleded the auxilary control room in the bow just under the flight deck (the portholes you can see under the front of the flight deck are for the control room) and another of the forward engine room.
The Hornet has 4 steam turbine engines in two engine rooms, increasing the ship's survivability if one engine room was damaged. In the event all 24 Essex class carriers survived the war, despite some suffering heavy damage. Hornet was never hit by enemy bombs or torpedoes. After WW2, it was fittled with an angled flight deck to allow simultaneous take offs and landings, and catapults were installed to launch jets. The ship's last role was anti-submarine warfare, accounting for its designation as CVS-12 at the end.
The ship has several planes and helicopters on display. There is also a mockup of a Gemini capsule and an early Apollo capsule on display, as well as one of the mobile isolation units, an Airstream trailer used to house astronauts after the Apollo 11, 12 and 14 moon missions to be sure that no bugs that lived in the vacuum of the moon were brought back to earth.
Displays include tributes to the other Essex class carriers, women in the Navy (featurning information about Adm. Grace Hopper, who led the team that developed COBOL), and the history of Naval aviation. An exhibit at near the stern discusses the internment of Japanese Americans during WW2 and the exploits of Army units formed of Japanese American soldiers. The 442nd Infantry regiment was the most highly decorated US regiment of WW2.
The day started hazy with San Francicso across the bay hidden in the mist. We got to the Hornet's dock before the ship opened and while we sat on the dock of the bay with an Otis Redding song playing in my head, Caroline's plane flew over us after taking off from Oakland airport. Eventually, the fog burned away allowing a nice view of SF across the water.
At one point, we blundered into an area of the ship that was not supposed to be open and encountered a guard who, after realizing that HE had left the chain off the stairway, showed us the captain and admiral's in port quarters. The admiral's room was where President Nixon slept when he was on the Hornet to greet the Apollo 11 astronauts. We also saw dorms where enlisted sailors slept in 3 tier bunks, a dorm for junior ship's officers with 2 tier bunks and nicer rooms for pilots and more senior officers. We never did make it up to the bridge in the ship's island because by the time we got up to the flght deck after poking aroudn below decks all day, the last tour of the island had already left.
Well, I guess we'll just have to go back some time!
USS Hornet Museum, Alameda, California, 10 Jan 2015
Caroline flew back to Hawaii out of Oakland this time because the ticket was a lot cheaper than flying out of Sacramento. Elizabeth and I drove her to the airport and then did something I've wanted to do for years, visit the USS Hornet Museum in Alameda, a short distance from the Oakland airport.
We were not sure what all we would see other than knowing the Hornet is a WW2 vintage, Essex class aircraft carrier that was used to recover the Apollo 11 and 12 capsules after their moon missions. We had no idea if we'd see everthing there was to see in a couple of hours, or, if, as it turned out, we'd spend the whole day there and still not see everything.
The Hornet is one of 24 Essex class carriers that the US built between 1941 and 1945, although the Essex was not launched until mid-1942, the design work for the class had started in 1940, before the US was at war. The Hornet was launched in 1943 and served during WW2, Korea and Vietnam, as well as its role in the space program.
We took docent led tours of the fore part of the ship, which incleded the auxilary control room in the bow just under the flight deck (the portholes you can see under the front of the flight deck are for the control room) and another of the forward engine room.
The Hornet has 4 steam turbine engines in two engine rooms, increasing the ship's survivability if one engine room was damaged. In the event all 24 Essex class carriers survived the war, despite some suffering heavy damage. Hornet was never hit by enemy bombs or torpedoes. After WW2, it was fittled with an angled flight deck to allow simultaneous take offs and landings, and catapults were installed to launch jets. The ship's last role was anti-submarine warfare, accounting for its designation as CVS-12 at the end.
The ship has several planes and helicopters on display. There is also a mockup of a Gemini capsule and an early Apollo capsule on display, as well as one of the mobile isolation units, an Airstream trailer used to house astronauts after the Apollo 11, 12 and 14 moon missions to be sure that no bugs that lived in the vacuum of the moon were brought back to earth.
Displays include tributes to the other Essex class carriers, women in the Navy (featurning information about Adm. Grace Hopper, who led the team that developed COBOL), and the history of Naval aviation. An exhibit at near the stern discusses the internment of Japanese Americans during WW2 and the exploits of Army units formed of Japanese American soldiers. The 442nd Infantry regiment was the most highly decorated US regiment of WW2.
The day started hazy with San Francicso across the bay hidden in the mist. We got to the Hornet's dock before the ship opened and while we sat on the dock of the bay with an Otis Redding song playing in my head, Caroline's plane flew over us after taking off from Oakland airport. Eventually, the fog burned away allowing a nice view of SF across the water.
At one point, we blundered into an area of the ship that was not supposed to be open and encountered a guard who, after realizing that HE had left the chain off the stairway, showed us the captain and admiral's in port quarters. The admiral's room was where President Nixon slept when he was on the Hornet to greet the Apollo 11 astronauts. We also saw dorms where enlisted sailors slept in 3 tier bunks, a dorm for junior ship's officers with 2 tier bunks and nicer rooms for pilots and more senior officers. We never did make it up to the bridge in the ship's island because by the time we got up to the flght deck after poking aroudn below decks all day, the last tour of the island had already left.
Well, I guess we'll just have to go back some time!