Vist to Doolittle Pier: Aboard the US Hornet Museum

By John Tate

During early June 2026 I had a chance to visit the USS Hornet (CV-12) museum ship moored at Doolittle Pier at the former Naval Air Station in Alameda, CA. My visit aboard was part club business, part sightseeing and part historical education, as I had a chance to hear a lecture on the June 1942 Battle of Midway.

Club business consisted of delivering two models to IPMS/USA Historian and Publications Director Chris Bucholtz for display aboard the ship. These were a 1/48 scale Battle of Midway SBD-2 Dauntless built by the late Glenn Bingham, and a D4Y1-C Suisei I built for a Battle of Midway 1/72 scale model display.

For sightseeing, as a visitor I had the run of the hangar deck as well as adjacent spaces below deck.  The hangar deck contained some great examples of Naval Aviation history:  a TBM-3 Avenger, an FM-2 Wildcat, an F-4J Phantom II, an F-18C Hornet and an F-14A Tomcat, as well as several helos. A special treat was the Apollo 11 display, which included the quarantine trailer, Apollo capsule and Sea King retrieval helicopter.

On the second day I was there, I was able to take in a lecture on the Battle of Midway, presented in the officer’s wardroom by USN veteran and aerospace industry manager David F. Nagel, which provided new insights into the Battle as well as lessons learned, which apply to today’s carrier operations in the Persian Gulf region.

Time aboard the Hornet was well spent and gave a good introduction to a modern aircraft carrier, as it is still mostly unmodified from its active service days.  In fact, you can still smell the bunker oil fumes wafting through the ship.  And from the stern, a million dollar view of San Francisco across the Bay, worth the $15 admission fee.  Highly recommended!