USS Hornet, a 19,800 ton Yorktown class aircraft carrier, was constructed at Newport News, Virginia. Commissioned in October 1941, she spent the next four months shaking down in the Atlantic. Transferred to the Pacific in March 1942, Hornet was immediately employed on the Doolittle raid. On 18 April 1942, she launched 16 Army B-25 bombers to attack Japan, a strike that caused relatively little damage, but which had enormous strategic implications.

Hornet was then sent to the South Pacific to reinforce U.S. units there following the Battle of Coral Sea, but was recalled to Pearl Harbor in mid-May. She then took part in the Battle of Midway, on 4-6 June, during which her planes shared in the sinking of the Japanese cruiser Mikuma.

In August 1942, Hornet returned to the South Pacific to join in the fight for Guadalcanal. During much of September and October, she was the only operational U.S. aircraft carrier available to oppose the Japanese in that area. On 26 October 1942, during the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, her planes attacked and badly damaged the Japanese carrier Shokaku. In return, however, Hornet received heavy bomb and torpedo damage, necessitating her abandonment. Though accompanying U.S. destroyers attempted to scuttle her, she remained afloat until torpedoed and sunk by Japanese ships early in the morning of 27 October.