The USS Hornet CV-12 was launched in 1943 and served throughout the second half of World War II in the Pacific. After various modifications, she was active during the Cold War and the Vietnam War. After this, she joined the Apollo Space Program, recovering the astronauts from the Apollo 11 and 12 moon missions. After being decommissioned for the final time, she rested for decades in the mothball fleet and was destined for the scrap yard until saved and turned into a floating museum. Today, eighty years after construction began, the Hornet is still serving this country with distinction, this time as an educational venue and community asset. This book tells the story of this ship over these eighty years, from design and construction to service in times of war and times of peace. The design was a pre-war design, before any of the lessons of World War II could be added, and yet this ship and its crew were able to meet every challenge they were faced with from 1943 until it was decommissioned in 1970 and then again as a museum ship starting in 1998 and continuing today.