Word: hornet
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Dates: during 1940-1949
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Until this week few knew that Enterprise played an important part in the Doolittle raid on Tokyo. She met the carrier Hornet in the Western Pacific, and provided air cover for the task force's final approach to the Japanese mainland. Hornet had her flight deck cluttered with Doolittle's big B-25 bombers, and would have been unable to get her fighter planes up to fend off a sudden enemy air attack...
Announced U.S. losses (not including those in naval actions during the last fortnight-see p. 23): two carriers (Hornet, Wasp), six cruisers, 13 destroyers, five transports, "hundreds" of men, an undisclosed number of airplanes...
Lieutenant Commander William J. ("Gus") Widhelm, U.S.N., was the skipper of Scouting Eight (dive-bombers) and the bigheart of the Hornet. Gus always kept five dollars in nickels so he could buy everybody cokes in the wardroom after evening general quarters. He could play badminton on the hangar deck better than anyone else. He had better luck at Bingo in the ready room than anyone else. There was always a wisecrack on his tongue, but he was a flyer's flyer. George Stokely, his radio man and gunner, called him "the crazy flying...
About 100 miles out they passed a great covey of Jap planes which were heading for the Hornet's task force. Later they found the Jap ships-but to get to them they had to fly 75 miles with Zeros buzzing around their heads...
...Navy began the war with seven carriers. Four were sunk in the first year: Lexington, York town, Wasp, Hornet. That left three. The Japs, though they had lost between six and eight, still had perhaps five...