The second of the South Pacific carrier wrecks I have looked at, USS Hornet is in far better shape than Lexington. Hornet is also split into more than one piece, admittedly, but she isn’t broken into three pieces. Moreover, her main hull is far more intact than Lexington’s, albeit buried deeply in the mud.
What makes Hornet really interesting, though, is the level of preservation. Such as the various smaller details on her wreck that you don’t see on a lot of other contemporary shipwrecks.
The CBS video of her discovery:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/uss-hornet-wreckage-world-war-two-warship-discovered/
source
Long after the US completely descends into a failed 3rd world mess, these wrecks will remain to remind some future explorer of what this country once was.
Good thing the divers didn’t use a Triton submersible, and that they didn’t hire Stockton Rush.
Oh, the Thresher.
Now her reactor is still,
But very good company she keeps.
Men from the Lexington, Hornet, and the Wasp
Are down there with her in the deep.
~Kingston Trio
Those are incredible pictures. Sharp and shows how not disturbing the wrecks with constant tourism leads to their preservation, unlike the Titanic.
It's bittersweet, but I'm glad they're keeping the resting place redacted so the CCP can't harvest the prewar steel.
That old International Harvester tug would probably run again with fresh oil, gas, and electrical. They were overbuilt and super tough as my family has several 80 years old and the engines haven't been touched.
I hate seeing ships a the bottom of an ocean. I hate seeing ships sinking even more. Ships are beautiful things to behold, that are meant to be above the ways not below.
Ships sailing the world's oceans are sights that amaze people at how something so huge can float and you look in awe of what man can build.
Some sank with people inside, which makes it more disturbing.
A once beautiful thing, full of life, laughter and excitement, now alone and silent.
So sad.
Brimg up the international harvester and restore it.
What if you could raise these ships with very powerful electromagnets and extraordinary floating pontoons?
Theoretically, You could raise any large magnetic object from the ocean floor in this way.
I wonder if those tyres still have air in them, from way back then.
Paint surviving 100 years is not surprising for one specific reason.
Copper. Copper Sulfate to be specific. Copper resists corrosion very efficiently, even when used as a colorant in paint.
Now to protect these ships from the Chinese cutting them up for low radiation iron.
I wonder if any pictures were taken of the deck showing the 2 white stripes used by the B-25s?
Thank you for the content !. Can't wait to know what's in there beyond the tractor.🤔
Thanks for this. I had a Revell model of the USS Hornet with its B-25 planes for the Doolittle Raid👍✈️
With Paul Allan being deceased i doubt there will ever be any interest in diving on any of these ships. He was the driving force of the search for our lost WWII warships. The video of these ships he took will be the last.
Hornet has a new lease of life in Azur Lane, both as CV-8, and CV-12 in the Essex-Class.
My uncle (VADM Levering Smith) was onboard during the battle. He told a story (laughing) about how Kinkaid was climbing up a stairwell and a bomb hit and back down he went.
Can’t look at these pics without thinking of all the kids that went down with her. WW2 greatest generation ever
👍 Great video.
Perfect