Harpy wrote:
I was looking at the Merit USS Hornet instructions and the only difference they call out is an extra motor launch on the port side for the Doolittle raid vs. Battle of Midway. I hadn't heard the difference noted on the thread or and unable to find any pictures. The extra motor launch is next to the first approx. under the 20mms.
Not sure where they dug that up. I just compared a port side shot of Hornet on the return from the Doolittle launch with a capture from John Ford's color Midway footage. I don't see any difference. Barge ahead of the crane, big boat aft of it, small whale boat atop the big launch. Same as the Tokyo Raid. I think they may have looked at a photo from her commissioning period. She had a second barge under the gun battery location that was lowered on a large swing-out overhead davit. It was removed when her 20mm's were installed.
8/23/14 Edit: I checked the plans for the boat types. On starboard, aft of the hangar deck boat crane was a 50 foot officers boat (had cabin top) and ahead of the crane was a 50 foot motor launch (open top) normally stowed backwards on the plans ie., boat's bow facing aft. (Hornet usually had a 26 foot motor whale boat nested atop this one.) Moving to port, we have aft of the crane, a 50 foot motor launch and a 26 foot motor whale boat nested on top of it. Ahead of the crane we have a 40 foot motor boat (admiral's barge- had cabin top). There was a third boat pocket ahead of the reach of the crane, and a swing out overhead davit was there to handle a 35 foot motor boat (had a cabin). This one was removed, along with all the boats stored along the island's starboard side, when the three Yorktown class ships were readied for war. There was also a 36 foot open motor launch carried on the platform above the fantail. It was moved back on runners and lowered from the flight deck overhang. It shows in Tokyo Raid photos.