HISTORIE

Source: Naval History & Heritage Command

Therefore, the Japanese did not rush into action

neither and the next aircraft carriers clash in

the Pacific took place as late as in the summer

of 1944.

Japanese heavy cruiser Chikuma during an attack by U.S. aircraft on October 26, 1942

The last battle before 1944

During October 25 through 27, 1942, the Japanese

and American aircraft carriers clashed again in

the Battle of Santa Cruz. Shōkaku and Zuikaku,

as well as two light carriers Zuihō and Junyō

faced Enterprise and Hornet. In the morning

of October 26, 1942, while searching for the

enemy fleet two reconnaissance Dauntlesses

from Enterprise found Zuihō and hit her with

two bombs which seriously damaged the

Japanese ship and eliminated her from the

further fighting. The aircraft from both task

forces clashed on the way to attack each other’s

ships and a series of dogfights took place. The

American aircraft attacked in smaller groups.

Ten Dauntlesses from Hornet carpeted Shōkaku

with bombs and hit her at least three times

(rather optimistic estimate was six times). At

Midway such a punishment would have meant

ship’s demise, however, she escaped this time.

The bombs destroyed her flight deck and hangar

below it, but there were no fully fueled and

armed aircraft as at Midway. Thus, the ship

avoided the large fires.

Another nice Dauntlesses from Hornet hit the

heavy cruiser Chikuma with two bombs. Three

Dauntlesses from Enterprise added another

hit, and nine Avengers scored a torpedo

hit. The seriously damaged cruiser had to

withdraw from the battle. The Japanese, for

a change, attacked in large formations. The

Enterprise task force was covered by rain

showers so the whole strength of the first

wave of attack concentrated on Hornet. She

was hit by three bombs, two torpedoes and

in addition two damaged Japanese bombers

dived into her on purpose. Hornet stopped

without power, but the fires were put out

with the help of escorting destroyers and the

May 2023

cruiser Northampton attempted to tow the ship.

Convinced that Hornet was already sinking the

Japanese concentrated their second attack

wave on Enterprise. She was hit by two bombs

and retreated with her escorts. Finally, Hornet

started to be towed and the crew feverishly

worked to reinstate her own power. And then

the third wave of attacks arrived. The ship was

hit by another torpedo and two bombs. The

Japanese surface vessels were approaching

so the decision was made to sink the ship. It

was not that easy, however. While the rest of

the American ships retreated, the destroyers

USS Mustin and USS Anderson fired several

torpedoes and more than 400 127 mm caliber

shells into her hull. Not even that was enough.

Both destroyers had to retreat as well while

Hornet was still afloat and, in an hour and half,

the main Japanese force arrived at the burning

wreck. The possibility to capture an American

aircraft carrier was tempting but then the

Japanese realized it was too late. On October

27, 1942, at 01:35 the ship went to the bottom. It

happened exactly a year and seven days since

she entered service. 140 dead sailors and 21

aircraft went down with the ship.

Enterprise remained the only American combat

capable aircraft carrier in the whole Pacific

Ocean. Her crew even painted Enterprise vs.

Japan on her deck. After the temporary repairs

she fought in the area around Solomon Islands

until the spring 1943. During the fighting for

Guadalcanal her aircraft were involved in

sinking of 16 Japanese ships. The Japanese navy

had more carriers at their disposal, however,

many of them were also damaged. Worse yet,

there was a shortage of well-trained pilots.

Most of them were lost in the fighting in eastern

Solomon Islands and Santa Cruz Islands.

The wrecks were found at almost the same time.

Paul Allen was searching for USS Wasp wreck

since 2017. The search continued after his

sudden death on October 15, 2018. In 2019 R/V

Petrel research ship sailed several times and

her crew first announced that in January 2019

they discovered the USS Hornet wreck. It was

preceded by extensive research in the archives

where the reports from nine ships, which

witnessed Hornet demise, were found. This

information was plotted on the map and a grid

created which made it possible to deduce the

aircraft carrier position. R/V Petrel launched an

autonomous underwater robot and a remotely

controlled device equipped with a camera.

Both devices can submerge up to 6000 meters.

The Hornet’s wreck was discovered at the

first attempt. It lies upright at a depth of 5330

meters. Only a part of the stern had broken

off and lies nearby. The pictures were taken of

the International Harvester tractor which was

used to tow the aircraft. It survived not only

the ship’s fire and the trip to the sea bottom but

after 80 years under the water looked in a good

condition.

Only after a month later the R/V Petrel crew

announced that during the voyage in January

2019 they also discovered the USS Wasp wreck.

She lies in the depth of 4345 meters. The search

for her was more complicated since the precise

location was not known. The underwater robot

moved along the programmed six-mile route

and was emitting a low frequency sonar signal

from both sides. In one run the robot was able

to cover an area of 40 nautical miles. After the

robot was retrieved, the obtained data were

analyzed, and the crew returned to the promising

locations with another device equipped with the

camera. Wasp too lies upright on the sea bottom

but in the very muddy area. The hull was buried

up to the water line therefore the torpedo hit

could not be determined. There are several

Avenger bombers to be found around the ship.

They slipped from the deck while the ship was

sinking.

Source:

Hubáček, M.: Vítězství v Pacifiku. Praha 2003

Hrbek, I./Hrbek, J.: Námořní válka vrcholí; Praha 1995

Cbsnews.com

warbirdnews.com

nytimes.com

news.usni.org-wasp

news.usni.org.hornet

history.navy.mil

INFO Eduard

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