80934 “HERITAGE OF THE USS HORNET” 1970 U.S. NAVY HISTORY FILM REVOLUTIONARY WAR to WWII

Heritage of the Hornet is a short 1970s film from McDonnell Douglas that looks at the heritage of the McDonnell Douglas F-18 Hornet—a heritage that is a history of naval ships, starting with the first Hornet in 1775 up through the eighth Hornet, which was decommissioned in 1970. The film opens with shots of the ocean, waves rolling in and hitting against rocks, and U.S. Navy ships at sea. A plane takes off from an aircraft carrier (01:22). Marines march in full uniform. An aerial view shows a fleet of ships moving on the ocean (02:05). The film shows what appears to be the eighth Hornet, CV-12 (02:30). It then shows a number of illustrations to take viewers through the first six Hornets in U.S. naval history. Illustrations show early U.S. ships, including the first Hornet, a merchant sloop captained by Captain William Stone as part of the fleet under Esek Hopkins. Illustrations show some of the early U.S. Navy ships, pirate vessels, and the second Hornet (06:01). More illustrations represent battles of the Hornet along the Barbary Coast, the third Hornet in engagements, including the battle against the Peacock. The film uses illustrations to depict the fourth Hornet (09:55), scenes from the Civil War including the siege at Fort Sumter, the fifth Hornet (11:41), and the sixth Hornet in 1898 as it fights in the Spanish-American War in the port of Manzanillo. The film then switches to video footage to show viewers the seventh Hornet (14:25), an aircraft carrier that is set out to sea after its commissioning. Footage shows the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor: bombs are dropped, ships are on fire, and American men scramble to remove bombs from damaged planes on the ground. Americans crowd around radios to listen to President Roosevelt’s address (16:10). B-25 bombers wait on the deck of the Hornet (16:20), under the command of Colonel James Doolittle. Bombs are loaded onto the B-25s. The B-25s take off from the Hornet (17:22) as Doolittle watches. The bombers fly at a low altitude just over the ocean. What appears to be Douglas SBD Dauntlesses take off from the Hornet during Battle of Midway (18:44). Footage shows the men of Torpedo Squadron 8—the squadron of Douglas TBD Devastators take off from the ship. More planes take off from the carrier during the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands. A squadron of Japanese planes approaches the Hornet (21:46), and American troops fire the ship’s guns at the planes, shooting them down from the sky. Footage shows the intense battle, and the Hornet as it is abandoned by the crew in the aftermath of the fighting. The Hornet drifts on the water, deserted, just before the U.S. Navy sinks the carrier. Footage shows the seventh Hornet and members of Torpedo 8. The eighth Hornet is launched (25:15) in August 1943. Aerial views show the naval task force. The film then shows footage of amphibious assaults on Pacific islands, the Hornet during the Korean War as jets take off from its deck (26:20), and the ship’s retrieval of Apollo 11 and its astronauts Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, Edwin Aldrin. The film ends with illustrations of the various Hornet ships throughout U.S. history, then illustrations of the new F-18 Hornet.

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