The Hornet is an old friend of mine. When I was a kid in Bremerton, WA, she used to be moored at the very edge of the mothball fleet. There was also no guard at the gate down at the very end, and as kids we used to be able to sneak aboard her. We never had the guts to stay on for long and really look around, but she was always there, the first thing you'd see when you were coming into Bremerton from Gorst. Of all the Essex class ships that have managed to survive as museums, I am glad Hornet is one.
Me too. It was the first CV I ever saw as a kid and the first I ever set foot on. The first time I saw it it was about 6 months away from being scrapped. It was a wreck, everything was rusty, broken, missing, ect. During fleet week in SF, some navy big wig was retiring and they had his going away party on the Hornet, they opened up the hanger deck and flight deck to the public after... but my brother and I managed to get into a lot more of the ship. We got lost actually for a long time. But we saw a lot of the ship.. and it was in really bad shape. I was so happy to see how well they have restored and repaired her last year. It was like a totally differant ship. They have done a very, very good job.
