Merit 62001 USS HORNET CV-8

USS Hornet (CV-8) was an American aircraft carrier, the keel of which was laid in 1939, launched in December 1940, and commissioned by the US Navy in October 1941. The ship was 251 m long, 35 m wide, and her displacement at the time of launching was 25,600 tons. The maximum speed of the USS Hornet aircraft carrier oscillated around 32-33 knots, and its main armament was 72 on-board planes.

USS Hornet was the third (not counting the USS Wasp) Yorktown-class aircraft carrier. The experience gained during the operation of Lexington-type vessels was used in the construction of this type of ship. First of all, it was decided to build relatively large aircraft carriers, with the greatest emphasis on the number of planes taken and the maximum speed, at the expense of armor. So they were going in the same direction as the Japanese designers, and in the opposite direction to the British Royal Navy. It is worth adding that the construction of the USS Hornet aircraft carrier was no longer limited by the restrictions of the Washington Treaty of 1922. The first serious and probably the most famous operation in which this aircraft carrier took part was participation in the so-called Doolittle's raid on Tokyo in April 1942, when 16 B-25 Mitchell bombers took off from its deck. Shortly thereafter - in June 1942 - the USS Hornet played a major role in the Battle of Midway. Later in 1942, the carrier took an intensive part in naval operations in the Guadalcanal area, for example, taking part in the Battle of the Solomon Islands (August 1942). In October 1942, the USS Hornet took part in the Battle of Santa Cruz Island where it was sunk.