This is a very faithfully preserved ship - kept in the condition that it was when the Navy decommissioned the Hornet in 1970. The ship was launched in August 1943, and was an active participant during the Pacific War against Japan. From Wikipedia:
Repeated raids were made against the Tokyo plains industrial complex, and Okinawa was hard hit. On 1 April, Hornet planes gave direct support to the amphibious assault landings on Okinawa. On 6 April, her aircraft joined in attacks which sank the mighty Japanese battleship Yamato and her task force as it closed on Okinawa. The following two months found Hornet alternating between close support to ground troops on Okinawa and hard-hitting raids to destroy the industrial capacity of Japan. She was caught in a howling typhoon 4–5 June which collapsed some 25 ft (8 m) of her forward flight deck.
For 16 continuous months, she was in action in the forward areas of the Pacific combat zone, sometimes within 40 mi (60 km) of the Japanese home islands. Under air attack 59 times, she was never hit. Her aircraft destroyed 1,410 Japanese aircraft; only Essex exceeded this record. 10 of her pilots attained "Ace in a Day" status; 30 of her 42 VF-2 F6F Hellcat pilots were aces. In one day, her aircraft shot down 72 enemy aircraft, and in one month, they shot down 255 aircraft. Hornet supported nearly every Pacific amphibious landing after March 1944. Her air groups destroyed or damaged 1,269,710 tons (1,151,860 tonnes) of enemy shipping, and scored the critical first hits in sinking Yamato.
The volunteers that run and operate the museum are a dedicated and knowledgeable bunch - many of them are veterans themselves, some who served on the Hornet, and on other vessels. They take great pride in maintaining and working on the Hornet, and I had the opportunity to speak with several docents - whom all had interesting stories to tell.
Some photos below - I wholeheartedly recommend this if you're in the East Bay and have an afternoon to kill...
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