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  • Made it out to the ship today. Got there before opening and stayed all day until about 5 minutes before closing. I THOROUGHLY enjoyed my day on HORNET. I especially want to thank Ralph for taking me below decks on a quick personal tour, my fellow Army vet from the 101st (Sorry, can't remember his name) and the retired Chief who gave the Island tour. Also to the docent who gave the engine room and fire room tour. I could have easily spent several more hours on board walking and readying. There was a lot more I'd have liked to see but I ran out of time.

    I really liked being able to see the ship after seeing the photos posted in this thread. Now I have a better perspective after seeing it in person.

    Thank again for the great visit and if I make it out this way again, I'll try to make it back out.

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    • Being Army I would have hoped you had a chance to see the ship's exhibit on the 442nd way in the back at the end of hanger 3. I was first up there when it opened to take a look around the space and to see if it was maintained. I met the elderly Japanese-American fellow who actually does and we had a few good jokes about cleaning. Has been years, but he always shows up on Sunday mornings, and if I am there I'll always say looking good to him as he smiles.

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      • TBM, I did get to see that exhibit. Fascinating stuff! I saw the sign and ladder to the left when I went back to the stern but I was in a hurry to see some stuff before I had to link up with the docent for the fire room and engine room tour. I should have skipped that tour actually. We got a pretty good tour of Missouri's engineer and fire rooms when we were there a couple years ago and the plants are pretty much the same. I didn't get to see third deck so I would have been better served to take that tour instead.

        Anyway, I went back later and went through the 442d exhibit but there wasn't anyone in there. I put my name on the visitor log, though.

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        • Oh, and I would have like to have seen more of the island. Didn't get to see much actually. We saw PriFly, the captain's bridge, navigation room and the area on the rear of the island with the radar in the dome. Would have liked to see a lot more of it. I wish I had read through this thread again before I went too. Been too long since I read through from the beginning and I'm reading about a lot of stuff I could have been looking for.

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          • Some areas of interest in the Island are locked up requiring a ship's key. Docents don't have that key. I carry it, Tom has it, and the ship's engineer has one. I have never seen a docent go into the back half of the Island as the hatch is dogged down pretty good. Since you went down to the radar dome you passed that hatch on O6. Also very rare is a docent taking anyone up to O8, O9, O10, and never the roof at O11.

            No docent takes anyone down into the gallery deck which runs almost the whole length of the ship below the flight deck. No docent takes anyone down to the pump rooms on deck 4 and 5. Certainly not deck 7 via the trunks. Then there are the catapult rooms on deck 4. Anchor windlass and Aft steering. Most of deck 4-6 tends towards storage compartments but there is some interesting stuff down in the aft ones that I have posted pictures of. Not sure if any docent knows how to find them. You got to see the basic engine room tour but not the level under the engine room. The most interesting compartment to me is Aft Aux Machinery. Many pumps and hydraulic storage for L3. All four shafts run through here. What really amazes me is that this is the only compartment that openly spans the entire width of the interior of the ship. Not broken down into smaller units. A torpedo in either side floods the whole place and it is large.

            You got to see maybe 20% of the ship. I can run it up to maybe 75%.

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            • Originally posted by tbm3fan View Post
              Some areas of interest in the Island are locked up requiring a ship's key. Docents don't have that key. I carry it, Tom has it, and the ship's engineer has one. I have never seen a docent go into the back half of the Island as the hatch is dogged down pretty good. Since you went down to the radar dome you passed that hatch on O6. Also very rare is a docent taking anyone up to O8, O9, O10, and never the roof at O11.

              No docent takes anyone down into the gallery deck which runs almost the whole length of the ship below the flight deck. No docent takes anyone down to the pump rooms on deck 4 and 5. Certainly not deck 7 via the trunks. Then there are the catapult rooms on deck 4. Anchor windlass and Aft steering. Most of deck 4-6 tends towards storage compartments but there is some interesting stuff down in the aft ones that I have posted pictures of. Not sure if any docent knows how to find them. You got to see the basic engine room tour but not the level under the engine room. The most interesting compartment to me is Aft Aux Machinery. Many pumps and hydraulic storage for L3. All four shafts run through here. What really amazes me is that this is the only compartment that openly spans the entire width of the interior of the ship. Not broken down into smaller units. A torpedo in either side floods the whole place and it is large.

              You got to see maybe 20% of the ship. I can run it up to maybe 75%.
              Boy, I sure wish I could stick around this coming Saturday when you're there. But, I'm flying home that day and my wife would keel haul me if I extended over. Also, I have to teach Sunday at Jefferson Barracks in St Louis.

              I would love to see all of those areas you listed. I did get to see Special Weapons as well as the 5"/38 and 3" mount on the starboard gun gallery (is that right?). The gun gallery looked like it was freshly painted so we didn't get to go out on it but at least got to see it.

              There is SO much more of the ship I would have liked to see. I'd like to see all the little nooks and crannys, the old communications systems throughout the ship, CIC, magazine spaces, pump rooms, auxiliary machine spaces, catapult rooms, captain and admirals quarters, sonar, etc, etc. Way too many to list. Most people would get bored long before I would.

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              • Smokey day today. West towards San Francisco and south over Alameda.
                Attached Files

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                • Restoration of Special Weapons has started. Deck 4 and 5.
                  Attached Files

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                  • Shops and bunks for weapons crew
                    Attached Files

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                    • Weapons storage, Deck 5
                      Attached Files

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                      • Great photos!!! Very nice collection for those of us who've never been into those spaces.

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                        • When I was down yesterday I am up in the back of hanger 3 having lunch in what we call the crow's nest but was once the tire shop. When I sit down one of the guys says someone has been asking about you and said his name was Lou. Yes, I know Lou from years ago and last saw him in 2005 on the ship. Lou served for 33 years and retired 12/31/2001 as a Chief Warrant Officer I believe. From 1999-2001 the Navy conducted Reserve Training on the Hornet and Lou was the man in charge. His Captain at the time happens to be our current CEO. Lou has extensive working knowledge with P-3 Orions out of NAS Moffett Field. He left Hornet when the Admin at the time became too over beariing and took the fun out of things.

                          I found him after lunch and we caught up. Lailani ok? Yes. A 9 year old son. Oh? He then told me he spent 3 years working on planes at the Moffett Field museum. A P-3, F-18, F-104, P-2, and an early U2. Lots of pictures and amazing contacts to get items right down to blueprints from Lockheed on the U2. Yes, the log books showed that Gary Powers flew this 5th built U2. Also interesting is that it had a Navy connection and is the only U2 with a tail hook. I told him about the forum and suggested we could use him here. Since he also owns a 1970 Datsun 610 pickup, a 1976 Celica, and 1982 Mazda GLC I suggested joining Curbside Classics where car nuts reside. I have written stories for them on my cars and did one on the Hoga. Will be doing some stories on the Hornet and Holland as time permits. He could do his cars and the planes he has worked on. Who doesn't know what a U2 is?

                          Comment


                          • When I was down yesterday I am up in the back of hanger 3 having lunch in what we call the crow's nest but was once the tire shop. When I sit down one of the guys says someone has been asking about you and said his name was Lou. Yes, I know Lou from years ago and last saw him in 2005 on the ship. Lou served for 33 years and retired 12/31/2001 as a Chief Warrant Officer I believe. From 1999-2001 the Navy conducted Reserve Training on the Hornet and Lou was the man in charge. His Captain at the time happens to be our current CEO. Lou has extensive working knowledge with P-3 Orions out of NAS Moffett Field. He left Hornet when the Admin at the time became too over beariing and took the fun out of things.

                            I found him after lunch and we caught up. Lailani ok? Yes. A 9 year old son. Oh? He then told me he spent 3 years working on planes at the Moffett Field museum. A P-3, F-18, F-104, P-2, and an early U2. Lots of pictures and amazing contacts to get items right down to blueprints from Lockheed on the U2. Yes, the log books showed that Gary Powers flew this 5th built U2. Also interesting is that it had a Navy connection and is the only U2 with a tail hook. I told him about the forum and suggested we could use him here. Since he also owns a 1970 Datsun 610 pickup, a 1976 Celica, and 1982 Mazda GLC I suggested joining Curbside Classics where car nuts reside. I have written stories for them on my cars and did one on the Hoga. Will be doing some stories on the Hornet and Holland as time permits. He could do his cars and the planes he has worked on. Who doesn't know what a U2 is?

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                            • Originally posted by tbm3fan
                              Who doesn't know what a U2 is?
                              One of the best bands of the 80s
                              Somebody has to do it



                              Last edited by Gun Grape; 18 Nov 18,, 21:19.

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                              • Forgot to post a link to an article I found about Moffett

                                https://www.mv-voice.com/news/2010/1...estring-budget

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