USS Vincennes, CA-44, in 1/350 Scale

Blackstone said:

The Hornet is now a museum in Alameda's Naval Air Station, and they hold an annual New Year's Eve party, with period music from WW2. It's a fun and worthwhile event, because the proceeds go to operating the museum. Check it out if you're ever in the Bay Area.

Click to expand...

The Hornet that is the Museum is not the same Hornet I built or show, or that led the attack against Tokyo with Doolittle.

That Hornet was sunk in 1942, later in the year.

The Museum ship is the USS Hornet, CV-12 which was launched in August of 1943 (a year after CV-6 was sunk), and then fought on through the end of the war, and was then refit to handle jet aircraft

That refit started in december 1955 and took until 1957 to complete. she then operated as a more modern carrier (with the angled deck, hurrican bow, new elevators, new catapults, etc.. In June 1970 she was decommissioned and ut into the reserve fleet, and finally struck in 1989 and made into a museum ship...where she proudly sits today!

I show all of the US aircraft carrier museum ships here:


I saw one like her, the USS Lexington, CV-16, also an Essex class that was modernized in Corpus Christi a little over a year ago:[/B][/CENTER]

It was a lot of fun and I would recommend anyone taking the time to visit one of these vessels if you are within a days drving distance. It would be well worth it for any enthusiast