Shangri-La at 85

On the road this week, so an abbreviated Warship Wednesday. Some 85 years ago this week, the final Yorktown-class fleet carrier, USS Hornet (CV-8), was commissioned on 20 October 1941 at Naval Operating Base Norfolk, Capt. Marc Andrew “Pete” Mitscher (USNA 1910) in command. Laid down on 25 September 1939, three weeks after Hitler crossed into Poland, she had launched at Newport News on 14 December 1940; sponsored by Mrs. Annie Reid Knox (nee Reid), wife of SECNAV Frank Knox. These below LIFE images from Thomas Mcavoy cover her commissioning, after which she brought the U.S. Navy temporarily up to seven fleet carriers when counting the smallish but still capable Ranger and Wasp. It was a benchmark figure that, after May 1942 with the loss of Lexington, Yorktown, Wasp, and later Hornet herself, that the Navy would not see again until, ironically, an altogether different Hornet (CV 12) would enter the fleet in August 1943. She would soon receive her “warpaint,” a Measure 12 (Modified)…