It’s no secret our team at The Transmogrifier thinks our jobs are the best. In our endless quest to photograph everything in the world (yep!), we are constantly on field adventures to capture our images. These adventures take us to abandoned places, long forgotten and dilapidated, needing to be preserved and appreciated for their story in time. They take us to gardens, full of beauty and color. They take us through neighborhoods of varying architectural styles. The adventures allow us to walk through history, discover, and learn. We are constantly learning new things both by photographing and by researching what we have photographed.
One recent field adventure was to the USS Hornet in Alameda, California. I have lived here for over 30 years and don’t recall ever hearing of it. And I liked school; I paid attention in classes! One day in a work meeting, Tim asked if I had ever been, expressing that pictures from the Hornet would be a great addition to our warships gallery. That was all the incentive I needed. Assignment accepted. That Friday, my little family headed out, eager to discover. Just imagine my two year old boy’s eyes when he saw this huge boat (actually it’s a ship)!!
The USS Hornet was a United States Navy aircraft carrier of the Essex class. She played a major part in the Pacific battles of World War II, served in the Korean War, Vietnam War, and also played a part in the Apollo program, recovering astronauts as they returned from the Moon. The first steps on Earth of returning moonwalkers Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, with Command Module Pilot Michael Collins, are marked on her hangar deck, as part of her Apollo program exhibit.
Some quick, fun facts about the USS Hornet: Aircraft based on the Hornet destroyed 1410 Japanese aircraft and 1,269,710 tons of enemy shipping; 72 enemy aircraft shot down in one day; 255 aircraft shot down in a month; She supported nearly every Pacific amphibious landing after March 1944; a quarter of the crew that built her were women. (Source: Wikipedia.org)
The USS Hornet is said to be one of the most haunted warships in the American Navy, with numerous reports of supernatural events occurring on board. Luckily I didn’t know this bit of information until AFTER we were back home. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have spent so much time alone in the corners of this floating piece of history!
You can read more about this ship on the website. And if you ever get a chance, be sure to visit this not-so-random piece of history. Her story is inspiring.