Reserve a Group Tour
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All reservations must be made at least 1 week in advance
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Private docents are $60.00 for 3 hours and the ratio is 1:20
Our Group Admission discount rate is for groups of 15 or more visiting during General Admission hours from 10AM to 5PM. Following a brief safety orientation, your group is free to explore the many passageways, compartments, and decks of this historic ship. To reserve a Group Tour, please complete our online Reservation Form. After completing your form, you will receive a tour invoice via email and information to share with your group. Groups also have access to add-ons if desired. Groups Tours can still be booked on days the museum is shut.
Group Discount Rates
| Adults | $13.00 |
| Seniors/Military/Students | $11.00 |
| Youth (5-17) | $8.00 |
Group Tour Add-Ons
- “Tour at Sea”
Reserve a docent tour guide. $30.00/hr per docent, minimum 2 hours (1 docent suggested for every 15 people)
- Lunch in the Officers’ Mess
Eat lunch in Hornet’s Officers’ Mess! With advance reservation, catered lunches can be provided. Please refer to Lunch Order Form for options.
Want to Tour At Night?
Sunset Tour
Come aboard after sunset! Private evening tours are available for groups of 15 or more. The price per head is $25.00 and docent guides are included. Evenings tours are typically available Monday-Thursday. The hours are 7PM – 10PM.
Reserve a Sunset Tour
Specialty Tours
These tours are for visitors who want a behind-the-scenes or themed look at our exhibitions and the ship’s restored spaces. Led by long-time volunteers and Navy veterans, these multi-hour tours take participants throughout the ship to spaces unavailable to the Museum’s daily visitors.
VIP Behind the Scenes Tour
Explore the ship early in the morning and receive a special 4 hour tour of areas onboard the USS Hornet Museum that have not yet been opened to the public or have limited daytime access! This includes areas such as Combat Information Center (CIC), Engine Room, Catapult Room, Arresting Gear Engine Room, Brig, and Message Center (Radio Central). Visitors are welcome to bring a flashlight with them, since you’ll get to explore dark hidden spaces even during the daytime! Following the guided tour guests are invited to explore the rest of the museum on their own when the tour ends.
Times
9 AM Check-In
VIP Behind the Scenes Tours are generally held on the third Saturday of each month. See our Calendar to confirm dates.
Rates
| Participant | $50.00 |
| Museum Member | $40.00 |
Advance reservations required.
Upcoming VIP Behind the Scenes Tour Dates & Tickets
May 18th, 2024
July 20th, 2024
August 17th, 2024
Perspective Tours – Note: The following tours are on Tuesdays when the Museum is closed to the general public
These tours average about 3 hours long and travel all over the ship! Your tour guides are sailors and veterans who worked with the topics of the tours and are experts on the ins and outs of the subject matter!
ADVANCE TICKET PURCHASE REQUIRED
Aircraft Carrier Air Operations Tour (Pilot’s Perspective)
Join a veteran carrier pilot on a 3 to 3.5 hour tour and explore the ship and her spaces from the perspective of a pilot! This tour incorporates a discussion and tour of specific spaces of the ship that deal with air operations and the interaction the pilot has with each of those areas. It would include the air group, squadrons, detachments of different squadron’s (sharing of ready rooms), and how they interacted with each other.
Spaces Visited May Include
- Forward Catapult room
- Bomb locker/Torpedo locker
- Wardroom
- Sick Bay
- Ready Room 4
- Pilots staterooms
- Clementine & Flight gear display
- Cockpit manning
- Flight Deck tour
- Flight deck control
- Primary flight control
- Aerology
- Combat Information Center
- Arresting gear room
Times
The tour takes place the first Tuesday of every month and starts at 10 AM.
Rates
| Participant | $40.00 |
Advance reservation required. No physical tickets will be mailed out. These tours are “Will Call” only.
Meet Your Tour Guides
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This Tour is Currently NOT AVAILABLE
Aircraft Carrier Propulsion Engineering Tour (Engineer’s Perspective)
Join a veteran carrier engineer on a 2.5 to 3-hour tour and explore the ship and her spaces from the perspective of personnel who maintained and operated the ship’s engineering spaces! This tour gives our visitors an in-depth feel of a day in the life of enlisted and officer engineering personnel in the course of a normal day at sea or in port. It would be a specific and semi-technical tour and discussion of the main engineering spaces including how main propulsion affects all other areas of the ship from being anchored or import steaming auxiliary, or in port cold iron, to lighting off the plant, getting underway, getting meals and showers to aircraft handling and flight operations.
Spaces Visited May Include
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Number 2 Fire Room
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Forward Engine Room
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Marine Berthing Compartment
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3rd Deck Ships Diagrams and Liquid Load Diagram/Log Room
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Forward Diesel Generator
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Enlisted Crews Mess/Galley
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Ward Room/Galley
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Junior Officer Berthing
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Forward Auxiliary Space (after restoration is complete)
Times
The tour takes place the second Tuesday of every month and starts at 10 AM.
Rates
Participant |
$40.00 |
Purchase Tickets HERE. Select your tour from the following list
Meet Your Tour Guides
Ron Cappa, CWO3, USN (Ret)
Main Propulsion Operator (both Fire Room and Engine Room), Steam Generating Plant Inspector, Engineering Officer of the Watch, and Chief Engineer
Cold War Anti Submarine Warfare Tour (ASW)
Join a veteran Combat Information Center (CIC) Watch Officer for a tour of the operational spaces of the ship that partnered with each other to hunt and detect Soviet Submarines during the Cold War. On the tour, you will learn how the tactical combination of sea, air, and land assets combined to diminish the threat of Soviet Submarines.
Spaces Visited May Include
- ASW Aircraft in the Hangar Deck
- Radio Communications Center
- CATCC ( Carrier Air Traffic Control Center)
- Flag Operations Area
- CIC ( Combat Information Center)
- ASCAC (Anti-Submarine Classification and Assessment Center)
Times
The tour takes place the third Tuesday of every month and starts at 10 AM.
Rates
| Participant | $40.00 |
Advance reservations required. No physical tickets will be mailed out. These tours are “Will Call” only.
Meet Your Tour Guides
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This Tour is Currently NOT AVAILABLE
Air Defense Tour
This tour explores the revolution in defense against air attack that turned this task from mission impossible into mission accomplished during World War Two..
Spaces Visited May Include
- Hornet’s World War Two Scoreboard A record of Hornet’s WW II victories
- Miss June A WW II TBM Avenger Torpedo Bomber
- Wildcat Fighter An example of the Navy’s frontline fighter at the start of WW II
- Ready Room 4 Where pilots were briefed and de-briefed on their missions
- Combat Information Center Where information from various sensors was received and routed.
- Upper Handling Room Where ready service ammunition for mount 51 was stored
- Mount 51 An example of an open air 5” 38 caliber gun mount
- Director/Fire Control Room 51 An example of a Mark 56 Firecontrol System
Times
The tour takes place the third Tuesday of every month and starts at 10 AM.
Rates
| Participant | $40.00 |
Meet Your Tour Guides
Brian Crisp is a former Coast Guard (weapons) Firecontrol Technician.
As such, he was tasked with operating, maintaining, troubleshooting, and repairing the radars and computers that directed naval gunfire. He spent time aboard Coast Guard Cutter Midgett (WHEC-726) working on a Mark 56 system. The seeds for this tour were planted at that time when he and his fellow FTs speculated on “who banged their head against the bulkhead and cooked this stuff up”. He was further encouraged in it’s development by his friend, mentor, and Hornet shipmate, Eldon Brodie, to whom it is dedicated.
A quick aside; the reason that I added the (weapons) to my title as a Firecontrol Technician is the confusion associated with that title. When I reported to my first duty station after “A” school, the Coast Guard Yard, they tried to send me to the base firehouse until I convinced them that I started ‘em instead of putting ‘em out.
Tuesday VIP Tours
Explore USS Hornet and receive an exclusive behind-the-scenes guided 6-hour VIP tour! Visit exhibits and restored spaces such as Combat Information Center (CIC), the Torpedo Workshop, Apollo, and the Island Superstructure. View vintage aircraft and historic spacecraft up close. Discover rarely visited spaces and hear authentic sea stories from your veteran tour guide! This Docent-led VIP tour is customizable and designed to accommodate your particular interests.
Times
10 AM Check-In
Rates
| Participant | $40.00 |
| Museum Member | $35.00 |
Advance reservations required.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the restrictions for Specialty Tours?
To see all available parts of the ship, you will be required to climb steep ladders. Visitors who cannot negotiate steep ladders or who might have claustrophobia or other intense anxieties with heights or tight spaces are advised against taking a Specialty Tour.
Do you offer special prices for seniors or active military?
Tour prices are as listed for each type, with no other discounts available. Museum Members do receive discounts for a number of tours, such as the the Perspective Tours and Tuesday VIP Tour.
Where do we meet for the tour?
All tour participants should expect to enter the museum using the General Admissions gangway and to check in at the Admissions Desk unless explicitly instructed to do otherwise. Doors open at 10AM.
What happens if I arrive late?
If you arrive after your tour start time, you can still join a tour which is already in progress. This will mean, however, that you may miss those parts of the ship that have already been seen on the tour.
Are visitors allowed to take photographs?
You are welcome to take pictures throughout the museum, but your camera must have a neck or wrist strap so that both hands are free when climbing or descending ladders.
How should I dress for the tour?
The ship is not heated or air-conditioned, though it does tend to be cooler than the ambient temperature. Wear clothing that would be appropriate for the local weather that day and closed-toed, comfortable shoes.
Will I be able to explore parts of the ship alone?
Visitors who sign up for the Group Tour rate can explore the publicly-accessible parts of the Museum as they would like. However, for all other tours, including the “Tour at Sea” Group Tour add-on, participants will be expected to stay with their tour guide at all times unless specifically told they are free to roam or until that tour ends. If you are not with a tour guide, you will be expected to stay in areas meant for the general public and to not go beyond any closed doors, chains, or into any unlit spaces.
Will I be able to leave the tour early, if necessary?
You are always allowed to leave the tour early if you like, but you may not be able to return after leaving. If you would like to leave, be sure to let your tour guide know so that they can direct you to an appropriate route.
Is lunch included?
Unless specifically stated, lunch is not included with the ticket price. There is a food truck on the pier at about 1:00 PM. Guests are also welcome and encouraged to bring their own lunch to the Museum.
