cause of the tragedy. The opinion of the court of inquiry was "that the sole cause of the collision was the unexplained left turn made by the Hobson about 2224. In making this left turn the Commanding Officer committed a grave error in judgement." Since the commanding officer did not survive the collision, the reason for this error could not be determined. No one else was considered to be at fault and the crew of Wasp was absolved of any responsibility for the collision. The commanding officer of Hobson had six months of prior command experience on a High-speed transport (APD), but had been in command of Hobson for only five weeks. Seven days of that were underway and only days were with the task group. The cost of repairs to Wasp was said to be $1 million ($ today). As a direct result of the sinking of Hobson, upon recommendation of the court of inquiry, the Allied Navy Signal Book was changed. A special signal was to be put into use for carriers during aircraft operations. The court of inquiry also stated in its findings that, in the future, proposed schedules for aircraft launching and recovery should be provided to the vessels performing plane guard duties. The court of inquiry also noted that Wasp, Rodman, and Hobson were all running without normal marine navigation lights, just red aircraft warning lights on top of their masts. USS Hobson Memorial, Charleston, SC In 1954, the USS Hobson Memorial Society erected an obelisk memorial of Salisbury Pink granite, quarried from Salisbury, North Carolina, at the city where Hobson had been built 14 years earlier, Charleston, South Carolina. The memorial is dedicated to the 176 men of the Hobson who perished in the collision with Wasp. Surrounding the obelisk are stones from each of the 38 states where the men came from. Their names are inscribed and can also be seen in the 1954 dedication program for the memorial. Honors and awards Hobson received six battle stars for World War II service, five in the European theater and one in the Asiatic Pacific theater, and shared in the Presidential Unit Citation awarded to the ships in the Bogue antisubmarine task group in the Atlantic, for the period 26 February to 25 March 1944. Hobsons engagements were: Allied landing at Casablance, French Morocco – 8 Nov. 1942; Carrier strike at Bodo, Norway – Oct.