It was commanded by Lt. Com. James Doolittle but this carrier is another one the one that carried the B 25 Mitchels was sunk in the Battle of Santa Cruz, it was sunk by torpedoes but the Big E along side her was hit by a bomb, Big E's Sisters the Yorktown and the Hornet were sunk. And the elevators could not carry the Mitchels, and the Mitchels wings are not fittable for a WW2 Carriers elevator
Some are confused by the name "Hornet" because there were two aircraft carriers named "Hornet." The first was designated as CV-8 and when it was sunk the one you visited is CV-12 built and named for the first one. The bombers that CV-8 carried, 16 US Army Aircorps Mitchel B-25s, were all on the Flight Deck and none were carried in the Hanger Deck as the wing's on the Army bombers do not fold to fit the in elevators that would lower them down to the hanger deck.
They have three separate hangars below decks that are there to store aircraft, and also as a spot to repair them. On a recent tour, I don't remember them saying that the Hornet was involved in the firebombing of Tokyo. I believe it was back being repaired from massive typhoon damage to its deck during that period. It was back in service around the Vietnam War.
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