<p>The bow of the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS <i>Hornet</i> (CV-12) in drydock is cut out at the New York Naval Shipyard to be fitted to USS <i>Wasp</i> (CV-18).<br></p>
<i>Wasp</i> collided with USS <i>Hobson</i> (DMS-26) on 26 April 1952 while conducting night flying operations in the Atlantic, en route to Gibraltar. <i>Hobson</i> was cut in two and sank, 61 men of her crew could be rescued, but 176 were lost. <i>Wasp</i> sustained no personnel casualties but her bow was severely damaged. As the carrier was urgently needed for duty in the Mediterranean, <i>Wasp</i> entered drydock at Bayonne, New Jersey (USA), on 8 May. Her damaged bow was immediately cleared out with blow torches and the following day she received the bow of USS <i>Hornet</i> (CV-12) which was undergoing conversion at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, New York. Her repair was completed in only 10 days, enabling the carrier to get underway on 21 May and resume her deployment just three days later.
U.S. Navy
<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.navy.mil/ah_online/department_arch.html">U.S. Navy All Hands magazine</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.navy.mil/ah_online/department_arch.html">U.S. Navy All Hands magazine</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.navy.mil/ah_online/archpdf/ah195207.pdf">July 1952</a>, p. 3.