Evening star., 1943-01-13
Hornet Took Heavy Toll Before 1t Was Sunk,
Navy Says in Full Account of Exploits

two beached transports were hit
and burned. landing barges and
supplies were fired, fuel dumps and
anti-aircraft installations destroyed
and IL seaplanes shot down.
"Commanded at the climax Of her
career by Rear Admiral Charles P
Mason, U. S. N, of Pensacola, Fla.
the Hornet thus made the Japanese
pay dearly for her sinking And in
the final analysis, the Japs them
selves could not sink her. She sur
vived attack after attack. One rag
ing fire was extinguished by bucket
brigades after the flre-fighting ap-
paratus was destroyed. The Hornet
was taken in tow and began to leave
the battle area. Subsequent attacks
damaged her badly. At the height
of an attack, 1000 pound bomb
pierced the Hornets deck and en-
tered the room next to the ordnance
room-and it did not explode. The
ordnance chief entered the room
and disarmed the bomb-in the
dark!
All but lXS Rescued.
Finally, after 10 hours under at
tack, the order was given to torpedo
the Hornet to preclude any posi-
bility of her falling into enemy
hands. But the Hornet was not
done fighting. Two destroyers were
ordered to sink her, and this they
did with torpedoes and shells. AS
dusk crept over the South Pacific,
the Hornet slid beneath the surface.
Other surface vessels had rescued
all but 129 OF her complement Of
1900 men.
"The Hornet had had a narrow
brush with disaster about two
months earlier, on September 6.
The torpedo, launched from an
enemy submarine, was speeding to-
ward her hull when the pilot of an
! avenger torpedo bomber managed to
hit near the torpedo with a depth
charge. The deadly missile broached
and changed course, passing safely
beyond the carrier.
The enemy force faced on Octo-
Der 26 was one Of the greatest war
ship concentrations in history
There were, in one group, Two
cruisers, seven destroyers and two
carriers; in another group, two bat
tleships, one heavy cruiser. one light
cruiser. seven destroyers and one or
| two carriers.
The Hornets scouting squadron
eight, speeding in Dauntless dive
bombers to attack the Jap carriers,
contacted the ships of both forces
Led by It. Comdr. william j. Wild
helm, U. S. N. of Humphrey, Nebr.,
the squadron roared past three YES
sells. Their orders were: Get the
carriers
Within sighting distance of the
first enemy f1at-top, and after the
squadron had been under constant,
fierce attack by zeros for half an
hour over distance of IS miles,
Widhelm himself was shot down. His
squadron-the rear gunners of which
were credited with Is Zeros-imme-
diately closed up and went in after
the carrier, ship Of the Zuikaku
class, described by pilots as larger
than either the U. S. S. Lexington
or U. S. S. Saratoga, largest in the
United States Navy's history.
From a rubber lifeboat Widhelm
and his rear gunner, Aviation Ra-
dioman George D. Stokely of New
port, Tenn, watched their mates lay
seven 1000 pound bombs on the deck
OF the carrier, which broke into roar
ing flames for her entire length and
went virtually dead in the water.
40 Jap Planes Shot Down.
The remarkable -bombins
feat of Widhelm's Bombing Fools
as they had become known to the
fleet-was accomplished by II of the
Douglas dive bombers which tool
oil from the Hornets fight deck
One in addition to Widhelm's had
been shot down and two others
damaged, were forced to take refuge
In the clouds. The remaining II
dropped the seven 1000 pound
bombs that probably spelled the
doom of the Jap carrier.
"Widehelm and Stokely were
rescued by q Consolidated Catalins
patrol bomber three days later, ano
rejoined their mates and the other
Hornet squadrons to continue fight.
Ing from land bases. Scouting
Squadron claimed a total of ap.
proximately 40 Jap planes shot dowr
during their operations from the
Hornet, mostly by their rear gun.
ners. 1t. Comdr. Widhelm sho,
down one with his six guns.
"The saga OF the Hornet began ir
late May, 1912, when, returning tc
Pearl Harbor after an extended
cruise in enemy waters without con.
tacting the Japanese, she was ord
cred Immediately to carry a squad.
ron to the vicinity of Midway in
company with task force.
Fought in Midway Battle.
I'm the Midway battle, these
squadrons played major role ir
defeating the japanese fleet and
rolling back the greatest threat OF
invasion Of Continental America
in the war. From June 1 to s, the
hard-hitting Hornet air group made
i've separate attacks and scored
more than IA direct hits and two
near-misses on Japanese warships,
heavily straffed . destroyer with
50-caliber machine gun fire. and shot
down three zeroes and two dive
bombers. In addition, the Hornet
acted as q foster home for the
famous Fighting Squadron Three,
credited with the destruction Of IS
enemy airplanes and probably Is