The Haunted Hornet

USS Hornet (CV/CVA/CVS-12) is a United States Navy aircraft carrier of the Essex class. Construction started in August 1942; she was originally named USS Kearsarge, but was renamed in honor of the USS Hornet (CV-8), which was lost in October 1942, becoming the eighth ship to bear the name.

Hornet was commissioned in November 1943, and after three months of training joined the U.S. forces in the Pacific War. She played a major part in the Pacific battles of World War II, and also took part in Operation Magic Carpet, returning troops back to the U.S. Following World War II, she served in the Vietnam War, and also played a part in the Apollo program, recovering astronauts as they returned from the Moon.

Hornet was finally decommissioned in 1970. She was eventually designated a National Historic Landmark, and in 1998 she opened to the public as a museum at the former Naval Air Station Alameda in Alameda, California.

Hornet is said to be one of the most haunted warships in the American Navy, with numerous reports of supernatural events occurring onboard. Hornet has been the subject of several nationally aired television paranormal-related programs including MTV's Fear, and Beyond Investigation Magazine performed an instrumented investigation of large areas of the ship for Scariest Places On Earth. It was also investigated by the TAPS team on the Sci Fi Channel show Ghost Hunters.

What makes the Hornet one of the most interesting hauntings to me is that, like many warship museums, it hires veterans from WW2 who served aboard her to act as tour guides. Not only have these guides been able to have several paranormal encounters, but, they've also been in the position to identify the spirits they've seen as men they've formerly served with which is not always possible when investigators try to identify ghosts from historical records. And just when you think it couldn't get more interesting, it does. There are also accounts that some of the spirits identified on the Hornet didn't die in the war but actually survived, returned home and lived for years after the war before passing away.... meaning that they returned to their ship after their deaths by choice!! This certainly challeges the traditional view that ghosts are trapped, helpless souls that want to be rescued from their hauntings as much as we want to get them out of our houses or off our property.