From a newspaper clipping ....
Newspaper Not Identifed (No Date)
The wounded Wasp, Survivor of a Great Sea Disaster, Limps Into New York With a Battered Bow and 61 Survivors of the Hobson
The battered bow of the mighty aircraft carrier Wasp was
an awsome sight as the war-
ship headed into New York Harbor this morning, the survivor of
a collision 700 mile off
the Azores. The ship with which it collided, the minesweeper-destroyer
Hobson, rests
on the bottom of the ocean, having sunk within 4 minutes with
a loss of 176 lives. The
Wasp today brought home 61 survivors of the Hobson. The accident
occurred April 26
during manuevers. The Wasp will be taken to Brooklyn Navy Yard.
(A.P. Wirephoto)
Late on Saturday night, April 26, 1952, Wasp was completing night maneuvers and turned into the wind to recover her aircraft. The skipper of the USS Hobson apparently became confused in the dark and made a few turns that ended with the Hobson cutting in front of Wasp. The Wasp cut the Hobson in two.
During our last reunion (October 1999), Wasp shipmate Charlie Wolfrum approached me with an envelope of old news clippings about this incident. Charlie said that a friend of his, Chester Kendra, collected the clippings and gave them to him. Charlie thought I might be able to use them on our website. Charlie was right. Here are a few of the clippings.
I'll post more later.
Hobson I - The story breaks on Monday morning in the Buffalo Courier Express
Hobson II - Hobson's senior surviving officer testifies at an inquiry in Bayonne, New Jersey
Hobson III - Wasp's Captain McCaffree testifies at the inquiry
Hobson IV - A few news photos and accompanying captions
Back to the Wasp History Page.
