title: Captain Atom

text: This modern captain's name is established as Nathaniel Christopher Adam, a United States Air Force officer and Vietnam War veteran. Adam had been framed for a crime and was, under military justice, condemned to death; this taking place under the purview of Col. Wade Eiling in the year 1968. As an alternative to execution, Adam was "asked" to participate in 'Project: Captain Atom', a military experiment with a slim chance of survival. He agreed to this in exchange for an unconditional presidential pardon. The experiment involved testing the hull of a crashed alien ship's durability by placing a human being (Adam) within the metal craft and then exploding an atomic weapon under it. The weapon went off and Adam was seemingly disintegrated. Eighteen years later, Adam suddenly reappeared. The alien metal, now bonded around his body, afforded him incredible abilities far beyond that of a mere mortal. Bonded with the metal, Nathaniel Adam now had powers that resulted from the metal's ability to tap into the "Quantum Field". It was revealed that the alien metal could absorb energy but only past a certain threshold, any excess absorption would force it to jump forward in time based on the amount of energy obtained.


title: Captain Atom

text: Flung into the year 1986, Adam becomes literally a "man out of time". Wade Eiling is now a military general and the second husband of Adam's now-deceased wife Angela. Everyone had assumed that Nathaniel Adam died the day of the experiment, so his presidential pardon was never issued and the current government refused to acknowledge the previous pardon. Seizing the opportunity at hand, Eiling uses the outstanding murder/treason charges against Adam to blackmail him into acting as a military-controlled, government-sanctioned superhero codenamed Captain Atom. The events of the Charlton stories are used cleverly by Bates as a readymade, fabricated past to convince the world that Adam had secretly been a superhero for years enabling him to quickly gain the trust and reputation as an unsung patriot and hero. For his non-superhero activities, Nathaniel uses the alias Cameron Scott, an Air Force intelligence operative. During this time he meets the superpowered terrorist, Plastique, a recurring part of Nathaniel's life. Early conflicts involve him coming to terms with the lost time he missed with his now grown children, the death of his wife, her marriage to Eiling, and the overall ramifications of his newly acquired powers. Later, he learns that Project Atom, a secret government funded group that used new experimental machines to harness powerful energies had repeated the same process and created the supervillain Major Force, a bloodthirsty madman lacking Captain Atom's morality and classic military/A.F. discipline.


title: Captain Atom

text: Atom/Adam serves under Eiling reluctantly while befriending research scientist Doctor Heinrich Megala of Project Atom, who had previously helped to create an elaborate cover story for Atom/Adam. Doctor Megala is responsible for creating the X-Ionizer technology capable of cutting the skin of most invulnerable metahumans. In spite of his disabilities and poor health, he helped Atom/Adam learn about the Quantum Field as well as about his powers. Captain Atom later succeeds in clearing his name of the original treason charge and eventually rebels against Eiling, resigning from the Air Force and becoming an actual superhero. By "Captain Atom" #39, Megala's health would deteriorate to a point where he asked Captain Atom for help and attempted to use his atomic energy to neutralize the life threatening disease he is suffering from, but becomes blinded as a side effect. Fearing that Eiling would eventually turn on him, Megala claims that he intends to set up a contingency plan which would make public all of Project Atom's classified secrets once his heart ceased to function. Megala's plan proved to be a mere bluff when he is killed in a confrontation with the Ghost a.k.a. Alec Rois, but Captain Atom decides to become the actual whistleblower and discloses the truth on national television.


title: Captain Atom

text: Captain Atom joins the Justice League at the request of the U.S. government, eventually serving as leader of Justice League Europe. During his career, he has a brief romance with Catherine Cobert, develops a friendly "rivalry" with Firestorm (whose nickname is "the Nuclear Man"), becomes involved with and eventually marries Plastique (ironically, a one-time Firestorm foe), learns basic heroics from Batman when he briefly loses access to the Quantum Field, and commands the metahuman forces during the "Invasion" storyline where Earth was under attack by an alliance of alien forces. "Captain Atom" was canceled as of issue #57 in 1991 because Atom was slated to become the hero-turned-villain Monarch in DC's "Armageddon 2001" crossover event; however, when word of this leaked out, DC changed the ending at the last minute. Atom and the Monarch character continue battling through time in "Armageddon: The Alien Agenda" limited series, until he is returned to his own time at the conclusion. Captain Atom then returns to the League, involved in the Zero Hour Crisis in 1994, founding an offshoot team, Extreme Justice in 1995. While leading Extreme Justice, Captain Atom comes across another version of Monarch, this one claiming to be the real Nathaniel Adam. Later in 1999, he is a member of the poorly received team known as the Living Assault Weapons or L.A.W., the members of whom are all previously Charlton Comics characters. In 2003, he again teams up with several former members of the Justice League as the "Super Buddies" in the humorous limited series "Formerly Known as the Justice League". Around this time, various stories reintroduce Atom's conflict between his role in the superhero community and his responsibilities as a government agent.


title: Captain Atom

text: At some point, Atom's marriage to Plastique ends in divorce. Apart from a brief mention of her at the beginning of L.A.W., the marriage appears to be forgotten. Plastique has reappeared in 2006 as a villainess again, undoing her reformation into a heroine. A later confirmation is brought in by the "Captain Atom: Armageddon" miniseries in which, after falling in love with Angela Spica of the Authority, Captain Atom reminisces about his short marriage with Plastique, and attributes their divorce to their irreconcilable views about world and politics, since Nathaniel, even in his spousal life, could not stop being a loyal soldier of the U.S., and Plastique could not simply put aside her life as a terrorist.


title: Captain Atom

text: Later in 2003, writer Jeph Loeb returns Captain Atom to his roots as he went back to work for the government, this time for President Lex Luthor in the first story arc of the "Superman/Batman" series. Atom seemingly sacrifices his life to save Superman and Earth by piloting a starship to destroy a kryptonite meteor, but as it had previously been established that this type of accident could not kill him, he soon returns to life and to the background of the DC Universe. In a 2005 issue of "Superman/Batman", it is made clear that Captain Atom survived the collision with the kryptonite meteor, but has absorbed massive amounts of radiation and become a super villain described as a "Kryptonite Man". The radiation is siphoned out of Captain Atom using a device made by Hiro Okamura, the new Toyman, which returns Captain Atom to his usual self (if somewhat confused).


title: Captain Atom

text: In 2005/2006, Captain Atom appears in a nine-part limited series entitled "Captain Atom: Armageddon" under DC's Wildstorm imprint. Captain Atom's sacrifice in "Superman/Batman" sends him to the WildStorm universe for the duration of the series. In this title, he wears a yellow/red outfit that was first seen in the 1996 "Kingdom Come" limited series.


title: Captain Atom

text: At the moment of his apparent death, Captain Atom experiences a time-shift coinciding with his 2005 appearance in "Superman/Batman", resulting in his arrival in the Wildstorm Universe. He quickly gets into a fight with an overzealous Mister Majestic and the fight ends with Majestic soundly defeated. Seeing the frightened reactions of onlookers, and puzzling over his own altered appearance, he realizes that he has somehow become trapped on an alternate Earth, one where superheroes are feared by the general populace. Mistaken by the local superheroes as the force destined to destroy their universe, he is in fact an instrument used ultimately by Nikola Hanssen, new host for half the essence of the Void, to reclaim her whole power (partially lodged in his own body, and cause of his altered appearance) and use it to trigger the reboot of the WildStorm universe, in the WorldStorm event.


title: Captain Atom

text: Breach, who wields similar energy-manipulating abilities. The end of "Armageddon" has him reappear in the devastated Blüdhaven. A year later, Captain Atom is revealed to be contained inside Blüdhaven and used to administer radiation treatments to metahumans. Apparently Void, able to finally let him go home, is unable to ensure his safety, and multiple damages to his radiation-shielding skin had left him comatose and unable to keep down his body radiation to safe levels; this forces the Atomic Knights to keep him constantly contained. In 2008's "Countdown" #8, it is learned that these ruptures were caused as part of a greater plan by Solomon the Monitor, in his plans to "recreate the Monarch" as part of a larger scheme to force the assimilation of the other Monitors.


title: Captain Atom

text: After being fitted with an updated version of the Monarch armor ("Armageddon 2001") to contain his radiation, the Captain awakens. Seeming to be mentally unstable, he breaks free, apparently kills the rampaging Major Force, and then releases a vast amount of energy, obliterating what was left of Blüdhaven. He remains missing until Kyle Rayner, then known as Ion, discovers him in The Bleed, a place between dimensions. The Captain indicates that he is traveling through The Bleed to operate outside the gaze of the Monitors. He discusses his time in the Wildstorm Universe, and his desire to visit other alternate worlds.


title: Captain Atom

text: In the last panel of "Countdown" #45, Monarch is shown observing Forerunner. The following issue, "Countdown" #44, bears a cover by Ed Benes with the Monarch armor and features Monarch swaying Forerunner to his side, turning her against the Monitors. Monarch argues that the Monitors are genocidal overlords who must be defeated; however, the Monitors assert that Monarch is a supervillain whose plan is to cause a Multiversal war that will leave him the ruler of the unified Earth remaining in its wake. Monarch creates an army of foot soldiers, including the Extremists of Earth-8, the JL-Axis of Earth-10, and the Crime Society of Earth-3, and disposes of Forerunner when he reveals his plans for a multiversal arena tournament.


title: Captain Atom

text: The four-issue miniseries "" features Monarch battling alternate versions of characters throughout the Multiverse to compile the strike team for his new Multiverse army, specifically one Superman, one Batman, a Wonder Woman, a Green Lantern, a Flash, a Blue Beetle, a Nightshade, a Starman, and a Ray. Monarch's behavior becomes increasingly violent, notably in the form of his killing all residents of the Eve of Shadows' country in retribution for her attempt to violate the Monarch's rule of "no escaping". Monarch is now paranoid, and unwilling to share details of his past to his "subordinates", but the "" Superman and "" Batman discern that under the Monarch armor lies another Captain Atom, and so they employ his other counterparts—Breach (Tim Zanetti) and Quantum-Storm (Ronnie Raymond)—to assemble an army of Captain Atoms from the different dimensions to fight back. In "Arena"'s conclusion, Monarch reveals that Breach is his brainwashed accomplice and that he has lured his 51 counterparts to murder them and absorb their power. With his team of Eve of Shadows (Earth-13), Vampire Batman (), Ray "the Ray" Palmer (Earth-6), the monstrous Scarab (Earth-26), Hal Jordan Jr. (Earth-12), Starwoman (Earth-7), Johnny Quick (Earth-3), Wonder Woman (), Red Son Superman (), and himself—the sum power of 52 Captain Atoms—Monarch believes he is ready to confront the Monitors, and does so, finally launching his war on Earth-51 against the exposed Monitors.


title: Captain Atom

text: In a protracted fight against Superman-Prime, his suit is damaged, releasing a chain reaction that apparently destroys the entire universe of Earth-51 aside from its Monitor. It was later learned that the Monitor Solomon had attacked Captain Atom in Blüdhaven, rupturing his skin and setting into motion his transformation into Monarch.


title: Captain Atom

text: During Jimmy Olsen's investigation about Project 7734, the secret black-op commanded by Sam Lane to fight extraterrestrial menaces on Earth (including Kryptonians), it is discovered that an amnesiac and brainwashed Captain Atom is now one of the prized possessions of Sam Lane. "Project Breach" refers to his capture and brainwashing into a weapon (with Lane wanting to stress the similarities between Adam and Tim Zanetti) or "Planet Breaker". Captain Atom refers to his name and rank as "Codename: Captain Atom".


title: Captain Atom

text: Captain Atom returns in a co-feature in "Action Comics" #879 and appears in his normal costume instead of the Monarch armor he was last seen wearing. He is shown to reside in a mystical, medieval-reminiscent realm, attacking a highly fortified castle for unknown reasons other than, as he states, "his mission". After obliterating the castle's defenses, he has a brief flashback to a moment with the Justice League, then falls to the ground disoriented. No explanation is given for his return to his original appearance, his whereabouts since "Countdown to Final Crisis", or why he has reverted to his heroic persona rather than that of the conquest-seeking Monarch. In "Action Comics" #880 it is revealed that Captain Atom has little or no memory of who he is other than his name. It is revealed that this mysterious realm is connected to Project 7734 and is part of his conditioning. Later, he is attacked by Major Force, an enemy believed to have been destroyed by Captain Atom himself when he first became Monarch. Mon-El appears and helps Captain Atom escape, taking him to the Justice League's satellite, where the League members declare that they are going to bring him to justice for his actions as Monarch. After a struggle with the League, Captain Atom tells them what he can remember. The League reminds him he was a hero who once saved the planet. He feels he has changed from the man he once was, and that he needs to go back to the magic world to make right what he has done. The Shadowpact are called on to join him on his quest and provide a way for him to reach Sorcerers' World.


title: Captain Atom

text: Captain Atom appears as one of the central characters in "", a maxi-series that takes place during the wider "Brightest Day" event. At the start of the series, Captain Atom is recruited as part of a massive group of superheroes tasked with hunting down the JLI's founder and Ted Kord's murderer, Maxwell Lord. During an encounter with Max at the Justice League's former New York headquarters, Captain Atom is rendered unconscious alongside Fire, Ice, and Booster Gold. The former Justice League members awake to discover that Lord has used his mental abilities to erase his existence from the minds of every single human on the planet, save for those present at the embassy. and the others. Afterwards, Captain Atom discovers that Max has mentally influenced the US army into believing that he had betrayed them.


title: Captain Atom

text: Captain Atom shares with the group that when he absorbed a nuclear bomb Max had set off, he found himself thrown through time to the future of 24th century, an Earth that had fallen into chaos through metahuman wars and backward in technology. Atom found a woman elderly and grotesque, who turned out to be an aged Power Girl, telling him it was Maxwell Lord who was responsible for all of this. Atom is then pulled back into the present, and tells the rest of the team that the world needs them to stop the instigated Max.


title: Captain Atom

text: After discovering that the OMACs had dismembered a droid, Captain Atom was struck by Magog who simply scoffs at the notion and states that he has come to kill Captain Atom at the behest of Max. In their battle, Captain Atom manages to convince Magog he is being manipulated by Max. Magog stops the attacks as he remembers Max's existence and Captain Atom is prepared to help him. However, Max is on hand and forces Magog to kill himself with his spear. Max uses his powers to manipulate everyone into believing that Captain Atom has killed Magog before leaving. Captain Atom realizes Magog's spear is about to explode with energy. Captain Atom tries to absorb as much as he can, thrusting him into the time stream again as a crater is left behind.


title: Captain Atom

text: Captain Atom is propelled through time again to 112 years in the future, where a metahuman war against the OMACs had devastated the planet. Captain Atom battled for survival alongside the future versions of the Justice League, but they all are eventually contaminated by a new nanovirus version of the OMACs and one by one become OMACs themselves. As a dying Power Girl tells him that the catalyst for all this was the death of Wonder Woman by Max's hands, Captain Atom is returned into the present but not before Batman orders him to terminate the OMAC project to stop Max's plan.


title: Captain Atom

text: During the final battle against the new OMAC known as OMAC Prime, Captain Atom allows OMAC Prime to absorb his energy, before reabsorbing the energy and overloading his powers, resulting in him being thrown into the time stream once again. Just before this occurred, Captain Atom grabbed Max and threatened to pull him into the time stream as well, unless Max undid the global mindwipe of his existence. Max complied and everyone on the planet had their memories of him restored before Captain Atom was pulled away to a time and space unknown. Max later released a statement onto the internet exonerating Captain Atom of the deaths in Chicago, saying far worse would have happened if he had not intervened.


title: Captain Atom

text: In "The New 52" reboot of DC's continuity, Captain Atom is reintroduced with altered powers, appearance and origin. He is still USAF pilot Nathaniel Adam. In the new reality, Adam volunteers to participate in an experiment conducted by a research facility called the Continuum. At this facility, Dr. Megala's research is focused on the quantum field and on "dimensional transfer through M Theory". Adam is asked to pilot the dimensional-transfer vessel by Dr. Megala, who is now presented as a particle physicist working out of Colorado, but is seemingly atomized during the experiment. Soon afterwards, he reappears, now an energy-based life form. According to Dr. Megala, Captain Atom's abilities are largely nuclear in nature and involve tapping into the strong nuclear force, the energy that binds protons and neutrons in the nucleus. Adam's physical atoms are constantly splitting apart, giving him incredible power. His body maintains integrity by instantly re-merging these atoms, but extreme use of his powers can interfere with this process and cause Captain Atom's form to become unstable. This leads to a fear that at some point Captain Atom's brain might lose its molecular stability and he will not be able to fix it before it impairs his consciousness or causes him to suffer some form of brain death.


title: Captain Atom

text: In the new reality, Nathaniel Adam has been only Captain Atom for a few months and is still exploring his abilities, constantly learning new facets to them such as his ability to perceive wireless transmissions from cell phones and computers. He frequently returns to the Continuum so that Dr. Megala and the staff can help him further understand his abilities and occasionally so they can stabilize his body when he seems to be having problems. The world at large looks on Captain Atom with suspicion due to uncertainty about his agenda and the nature of his abilities. Some fear that he is leaking radiation and potentially poisoning those he comes into contact with. Several have remarked that the Justice League may have rejected Captain Atom for membership due to suspicion of how dangerous he is. Despite this, Nathaniel chooses to try and use his powers to help others on Earth, clandestinely if need be. During a fight with Megala, who had taken control of Firestorm's body, Atom is forced to absorb a massive amount of energy released which splits his molecules apart into the timestream. One of these pieces is found in the 31st Century, where he names himself Nathaniel Adym. Adym had become an agent of Echo, a covert branch of the Science Police assigned to monitor the timestream. As part of his duties, he had interacted with members of the Legion of Super-Heroes stranded in the past, in "Legion Lost", along with his subordinates Agent Jocelyn Lure and Agent Yera Allon. Adym is last seen escaping the threat of his own singularity bomb, launching himself into the past.


title: Captain Atom

text: Captain Atom (Nathaniel Adam) lost control of his powers and caused a devastating accident in this six-issue series set in 2012. Needing to contain his unstable abilities, he went into Dr. Megala's Subterranean Suppression Dome but seemingly exploded. The world believed Nathaniel Adam was killed in a blast; However, Adam took a subatomic trip through time and ended up without powers, 20 years in the past.It is revealed that the quantum blowback sent him back in time to 1994 as a normal man. Adam's wound distorted after being shot during an attempted car robbery, and his body was encased in liquid metal. As a result of the time stream correcting itself, he was thrown back to 2017.


title: Captain Atom

text: In the Post-"Crisis" DC Comics Universe, Captain Atom's Dilustel skin is tied into the Quantum Field, which enables him to absorb and manipulate theoretically infinite amounts of energy, limited by only his willpower and imagination. This energy can be used for flight (which is generally faster than the speed of sound in Earth's atmosphere and up to half-light speed in the vacuum of space), super strength (shown at times to be on par with Martian Manhunter, though another sourcethe DC Heroes Roleplaying Gamedefines his level of strength second only to Superman's among the heroes of the DC Universe, though as Monarch he was capable of effortlessly overwhelming three versions of Superman), durability (he has survived exploding nuclear weapons, and even energy sufficient to wipe out all life within the Universe of Earth 51although this was his own energy), self-sustenance and life support (allowing him to live and even speak in space), and controlling energy of any form. In addition to high speed flight he has been shown to possess enhanced reflexes. Atom's abilities stem from his link to the Quantum Field, which provides a virtually infinite source of Quantum Energy, which can be used for a vast number of effects. He commonly manipulates his energy into force field bubbles, or explosive "bombs", but the most common form is a simple energy blast. Atom has been shown to be capable of manipulating even exotic energies such as magic, and has a high degree of resistance to such attacks.


title: Captain Atom

text: Over the years, Captain Atom has become an expert at energy manipulation and he can fire energy blasts from any point on his body, although he usually uses his hands for better aim. He can fire in multiple directions at once or from every point of his body at once. Several times he has "detonated", releasing a massive amount of energy at once, destroying objects within a certain radius, as demonstrated by his destruction of Bludhaven. On more than one occasion, he has used his ability to manipulate all forms of energy to prevent a foe using their own powers, such as the Ray and Firestorm.


title: Captain Atom

text: If Atom absorbs too much energy at once, the energy transports him uncontrollably through time. Depending on the type of energy absorbed, he either goes forward or backward in time, though he also possesses the ability to voluntarily move forward in the time-stream. Captain Atom states that through concentration, he can briefly travel ahead in time ("about a week or so"). The process is exhausting and the period he can interact in the future appears to be limited to a few minutes before he returns to the present. In the case of involuntary quantum jumping, he is typically shown as being stuck in the time-stream for as long as it takes his body to process any absorbed energy.


title: Captain Atom

text: Captain Atom can also convert energy to matter in the same manner he manipulates energy. Originally, he needed a pair of gloves invented by the Blue Beetle to do so, but he has since learned to do so without them. He is capable of manipulating matter on an atomic or sub-atomic level at a limited scale. He has used his atomic transmutation powers to turn both Maul and the Engineer back to their human forms. This power can be used instinctively or through concentration, though Atom has conceded he is not very good at it. In the same way, he learned to access weak force energy. As a consequence of his energy manipulation abilities, he is able to telepathically interface with computer networks. He has on occasion used this to repel telepathic intrusions by downloading information directly into other telepaths. With focus and effort, Captain Atom can increase any of his abilities to match his current willpower, up to an unknown level. As Monarch prior to absorbing the Captain Atom Brigade his powers and abilities were increased to such a level that he was capable of effortlessly containing several versions of powerful heroes such as Superman, Wonder Woman and several Green Lanterns.


title: Captain Atom

text: Atom has shown the capacity to absorb matter, as well as energytypified by his absorption of the Captain Atom Brigade. As Monarch he possessed all of his inherent abilitiesat much higher levelsas well as teleportation, and awareness of and access to different realities. He was capable of storing enough energy, that upon its release, was capable of wiping all life from the alternate Earth 51except for its Monitor and a single plant.


title: Captain Atom

text: Later writers and editors have introduced a radioactive aspect of Captain Atom's physical makeup. This seems to contradict the quantum nature of Atom's powers as originally introduced, as he previously did not emit radiation when his skin was cut open. Towards the end of his series' run, it was speculated that Captain Atom is an Elemental (Quantum Elemental) along with the Swamp Thing (Earth), the Red Tornado (Air), Firestorm (Fire), and Naiad (Water).


title: Captain Atom

text: In addition to his superhuman abilities, Nathaniel Adam is also an experienced United States Air Force pilot. It is notable that he is one of the few superheroes with a "Captain" appellation that corresponds to a military rank he has actually held. He is especially skilled in combat piloting, is trained in military weaponry, strategy, and hand-to-hand combat and speaks multiple languages, including Russian. Adam also has strong survival instincts derived from his experiences during the Vietnam War.


title: Captain Atom

text: Captain Atom's metallic shell, or "skin", is composed of a portion of the alien being known as Silver Shield, and is called Dilustel. Pieces of the alien's metal body were used in Project Atom, and on later subjects like Major Force and Bombshell. Nathaniel is able to coat himself with the metal, either partially or totally. Atom's symbiosis with the metal is such that even partially armored he is able to access the Quantum Field. The metal is almost indestructible, resistant to various degrees of damage from energy, heat, lasers, etc. Only X-Ionizer technology can cut the metal, as established when the Captain Atom Project uses it to remove the Silver Shield's skin. The katana wielded by the "Cambodian" that once sliced through Atom's side was also X-Ionized. The magical guns of the Crimson Avenger were able to crack his skin. Breaking through it causes Captain Atom to Quantum Jump as if he has absorbed too much energy.


title: Captain Atom

text: The X-Ionizer is a hardening technology invented by the specialists of Project Atom, introduced in the Cary Bates run of the DC Comics published "Captain Atom". Because of the nearly invulnerable nature of the alien metal discovered, the scientists needed some way to cut it to perform experiments. Doctor Heinrich Megala, one of the lead researchers of the Project, developed a device that would make the molecular lattices of an object by knitting together positive & negative ion particles in such a way that it became superdense and compact. This, in effect, makes the object nearly indestructible. Also, any edge on an X-Ionized object would attain the sharpness of a monofilament, enabling both it and its user to cut finer and cleaner than the most advanced blade or laser. Once transformed, the object would then be able to cut through virtually any material, including the Dilustel (quantum metal) skin of the "Silver Shield" which was used to empower Captain Atom, Major Force, and Bombshell. A mercenary known as the Cambodian wore a suit of X-Ionized armor, and uses an X-ionized katana to cut through Captain Atom's skin in "Captain Atom" #7. A famous physicist and former C.I.A operative, turned dangerous cult leader and quantum powered supervillain called 'The Ghost' theorized that properties hardened and honed by such a device undergo a form of mantling taking on properties very similar to the extra-dimensional biometal belonging to the Silver Shield entity.


title: Captain Atom

text: After "DC Rebirth", Captain Atom is restored to his Post-"Crisis" powers. His "New 52" powers have seemingly disappeared.


title: Captain Atom

text: His former drastically altered "New 52" powers are a being whose atoms are constantly splitting and then reforming just as quickly, releasing massive amounts of energy. This surplus of power can be manipulated in a number of ways such as flight and the ability to transmute physical matter. Captain Atom has been seen to transform lava into snow by willing it and has been able to remove cancer from a human being. He can also absorb massive amounts of energy.


title: Captain Atom

text: Captain Atom's abilities are largely nuclear in nature and involve tapping into the strong nuclear force, the energy that binds protons and neutrons in the nucleus. Excessive or intense use of his abilities has resulted in Captain Atom temporarily losing his own molecular stability. It is not yet known if he will be able to conquer this weakness with practice.


title: Captain Atom

text: As an energy-based life form, Captain Atom's senses now operate on different levels than a normal person. He is able to sense and perceive radio signals, cell phone signals and other similar transmissions. He can also see the energy of certain molecules, such as when he notes the energy signature of the Flash and remarks that his molecules seem to be sparking with fire or lightning. He also does not need air, food or water to survive.


title: Captain Atom

text: An alternate future Captain Atom is featured prominently in the 1991 series "Armageddon 2001". A tragedy drives him insane and he uses his powers in vengeance. This also triggers a chain of events which brings Monarch to the present 'time'.


title: Captain Atom

text: Captain Atom appears briefly in flashback sequences of Alex Ross and Mark Waid's 1996 miniseries "Kingdom Come", printed under DC Comics' "Elseworlds" imprint. His death at the hands of the villain the Parasite, and the irradiation of Kansas this caused, results in Superman's return to action and sets the events of the story into motion. His outfit in this comic is a combination of his original Charlton uniform and his later DC costume. The "Kingdom Come" universe established and created by Waid and Ross would later be introduced to DC canon in the form of Earth-22. The Silver Age Captain Atom appears in the sequel "The Kingdom: Planet Krypton" #1 as one of the "ghosts" in the empty "Planet Krypton" restaurant.


title: Captain Atom

text: In 2004, DC launched an ongoing series called "Breach". The series was originally planned as a revamp of the Captain Atom concept, but Breach was subsequently re-conceived as a completely new character. The 2005 mini-series "Infinite Crisis" revealed that Breach would have been a native of Earth-Eight if the Multiverse had continued to exist after "Crisis on Infinite Earths" as his world's counterpart to Captain Atom. The 2007 series "" at first suggests that a new Breach was created on the Earth-8 of the new Multiverse, although whether this indeed happened is called into question when the Breach featured in the miniseries is revealed to be the same mainstream Breach featured in the eponymous limited series. Breach is killed when absorbed into Monarch in the last issue of "Countdown: Arena".


title: Captain Atom

text: In the final issue of "52", a new Multiverse is revealed, originally consisting of 52 identical realities. Among the parallel realities shown is one designated "Earth-4". As a result of Mister Mind "eating" aspects of this reality, it takes on visual aspects similar to the pre-Crisis Earth-4, including Captain Atom and the other Charlton characters. The names of the characters are not mentioned in the panel in which they appear, but the Captain Atom is visually similar to Charlton's original version of the character. According to comments by Grant Morrison, this alternate universe is not the pre-Crisis Earth-4.


title: Captain Atom

text: 2007's "" features Captains Atom from alternate universes. The combatants of the series are introduced as a new Breach of Earth-8, a Ronnie Raymond/Nathaniel Adam fusion called "Quantum-Storm" from Earth-37, and another from Earth-38 who rules over his Atomic Knights. Additionally, issue #1 introduces a "Brigadier Atom" from Earth-13 married to Nightshade, and in "Countdown: Arena" #3, Breach gathers together a group of alternate Captains Atom, including Earth-13's Brigadier, the Captain Atom as depicted in the graphic novel "Kingdom Come" (Earth-22), and a Captain in a red/silver variant of the Monarch's costume, one similar to the Charlton Comics Atom (Earth-4), and a Hulked-out variant named Attum from an unknown Earth. Several more variants are shown in "Countdown: Arena" #4, including a President Atom, a robot called Quantum Mechanix, Kid Quantum of the Legion of Super-Heroes, Captain Adamma, Quantum Boy, an anthropomorphic wolf version, a from Earth-30, a Doctor Manhattan-lookalike, an energy based-Atom who makes calculations during his attacks, and a giant-sized actual atom. Grant Morrison's "Final Crisis: Superman Beyond 3D" (2008) depicts a Captain Allen Adam from Earth-4, a cross between the original Charlton version, Superman, Reed Richards and Doctor Manhattan. The DC Multiverse is refreshed following "Flashpoint", but this last Grant Morrison-created Captain Atom is a main character in the 2016 comic "The Multiversity – Pax Americana" (2015).


title: Captain Atom

text: In the alternate timeline of the "Flashpoint" storyline, Nathaniel Adam is a general who never went through with the experiment, and is consequently much older than in the original timeline. General Adam controls the body and physical actions of Project Six's body, using it to attack Booster Gold, believing him to be an Atlantean threat. During the battle, General Adam's control link is destroyed by metahuman interference, causing Project Six's true personality to surface. General Adam loses control of Project Six, but Booster fixes the control link. General Adam then attempts to use the link to kill Booster Gold. Fortunately, General Adam takes Booster Gold back to the base for interrogation, allowing Booster Gold to escape when the sight of "Project Superman" causes Project Six's true personality to resurface again with the damage caused by the attack, causing the ceiling to collapse on General Adam, who is knocked unconscious.


title: Captain Atom

text: In Earth-4 of the DC Multiverse, Captain Atom's counterpart, Captain Adam, known as the Quantum Superman, is shown to exist. He is seemingly similar to Doctor Manhattan in many ways, having the iconic hydrogen atom symbol on his forehead and having bright blue skin which emits Cherenkov radiation, just like Doctor Manhattan's skin. However, he constantly needs to use drugs to keep his humanity, otherwise he risks turning uncontrollably powerful and emotionless just like Doctor Manhattan (although the latter can feel emotions), but he is still unable to become stronger than Doctor Manhattan even without his drugs.


title: Captain Atom

text: In the prequel comic to the , Captain Atom joins Batman's Insurgency to combat Superman's growing Regime after the Man of Steel decides to forcibly instill peace on the world through any means necessary. During the climax of Year One Atom is selected to join Batman, Catwoman, Black Canary, and Green Arrow on their mission to the Fortress of Solitude to retrieve an enhancer pill as he is the only one who can stand on par with Superman. When the plan to distract Superman goes awry, Captain Atom fights Superman to protect the others, bringing the Man of Steel to a standstill where he admits he was chosen by the government to kill Superman should he go rogue. Before he can decide if he wants to go ahead with it, Wonder Woman appears and slices his containment suit with her sword, an act which will kill him and destroy anything in their radius. He then makes up his mind to take Superman with him and leaves the North Pole so that only he and Superman will be harmed. Unknown to him, Wonder Woman is in close pursuit, so when he does detonate outside the atmosphere the shockwave hits her directly and leaves her in a coma. While Atom dies, Superman survives, going on to continue his Regime.


title: Captain Atom

text: The rights to Captain Atom and most other Charlton characters were purchased by DC Comics in the early 1980s. Originally, these Charlton characters were to be reintroduced in writer Alan Moore's limited series "Watchmen", but this would render the characters unusable for future stories. Thus new characters, inspired by the Charlton originals, were used instead. "Watchmen"s Doctor Manhattan is based on Captain Atom, and like Captain Atom, gained similar powers through a similar scientific mishap.


title: Jon Pardi

text: Jonathan Ryan Pardi (born May 20, 1985) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Signed to Capitol Nashville, he has released four studio albums: "Write You a Song" (2014), "California Sunrise" (2016), "Heartache Medication" (2019), and "Mr. Saturday Night" (2022). Pardi has also charted fourteen singles on the "Billboard" Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay charts, of which four have hit number one on the latter: "Head Over Boots", "Dirt on My Boots", "Heartache Medication" and "Last Night Lonely". Pardi's music style is defined by neotraditional country influences.


title: Jon Pardi

text: Pardi grew up in Dixon, California, where he attended Dixon High School, graduating in 2003. Pardi started writing music at age 12, and by 14, the young singer formed his own small band. After high school, he moved to Nashville to pursue his music career.


title: Jon Pardi

text: In March 2012, Pardi released his debut single, "Missin' You Crazy". It debuted at number 58 on the U.S. "Billboard" Hot Country Songs chart for the week of April 14, 2012, and peaked at number 29. It received three stars from "Taste of Country"'s Billy Dukes. "Up All Night", his second single, was released in that same month in 2013, and became his first top 10 hit. His third single, "What I Can't Put Down", was also released that month in 2014. The album's fourth single, "When I've Been Drinkin'", was released to country radio on September 22, 2014. Those four songs all appear on Pardi's debut studio album, "Write You a Song", which was released on January 14, 2014, via Capitol Nashville. In May 2015, Pardi released a six-song extended play of songs recorded for but not included on "Write You a Song", titled "The B-Sides, 2011–2014".


title: Jon Pardi

text: Pardi served as one of the opening acts on Alan Jackson's "Keepin' It Country Tour" and on Dierks Bentley's Riser Tour, both in 2014. His first headlining tour was the "Up All Night Tour" in late 2014, with Joey Hyde as the opening act. In August 2015, Pardi announced an 18-show headlining tour with Brothers Osborne as the opening act, named the All-Time High Tour, with dates from October through January 2016.


title: Jon Pardi

text: Pardi's second studio album, titled "California Sunrise", was announced in March 2016, with a release date of June 17, 2016. The album's lead single was "Head Over Boots". In 2016, this song became Pardi's first number-one single on the Country Airplay charts; it also held the number-one position on the "Billboard" Year-End chart for Country Airplay. After this came "Dirt on My Boots", written by Rhett Akins, Jesse Frasure, and Ashley Gorley, which also topped Country Airplay. The album accounted for three more singles after these: "Heartache on the Dance Floor", "She Ain't in It", and "Night Shift".


title: Jon Pardi

text: In 2019, Pardi joined Brooks & Dunn on a new version of their hit single "My Next Broken Heart" for their album "Reboot". In an interview, Ronnie Dunn revealed that, while some of the guest artists on their album had an ideas of what they wanted their duets to sound like that differed from Brooks & Dunn's recordings, Pardi was insistent that they record the song exactly as it had been in 1991 as he was such a big fan of the original.


title: Jon Pardi

text: On May 20, 2019, one day after appearing as a guest on the season finale of "American Idol" Pardi released the staunchly neotraditional track "Heartache Medication", the lead single and title track to his third studio album, also titled "Heartache Medication".


title: Jon Pardi

text: On March 16, 2020, Pardi released "Ain't Always the Cowboy" as a single, where it peaked at 3 on "Billboard"'s Country Airplay, 6 on the Hot Country Songs chart, and 55 on the Hot 100. On August 14, 2020, Pardi released the cover album "Rancho Fiesta Sessions", which included covers of various country and rock tracks. On August 28, 2020, Pardi released the "Western Version" of "Ain't Always the Cowboy". On October 2, 2020, Pardi released the deluxe edition of "Heartache Medication", which featured two new tracks and the "Western Version" of "Ain't Always the Cowboy". Pardi contributed a cover of the Metallica song "Wherever I May Roam" to the charity tribute album "The Metallica Blacklist", released in September 2021.


title: Jon Pardi

text: Pardi released his fourth album, "Mr. Saturday Night", in September 2022. The album's lead single "Last Night Lonely" charted earlier in the year.


title: Jon Pardi

text: On October 2, 2019, Pardi got engaged to his girlfriend, hairdresser Summer Duncan. He proposed to her while on stage during his concert at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. The couple married on November 21, 2020. On September 21, 2022, the couple announced that they were expecting their first child.


title: John Cheever

text: John William Cheever (May 27, 1912 – June 18, 1982) was an American short story writer and novelist. He is sometimes called "the Chekhov of the suburbs". His fiction is mostly set in the Upper East Side of Manhattan; the Westchester suburbs; old New England villages based on various South Shore towns around Quincy, Massachusetts, where he was born; and Italy, especially Rome. His short stories included "The Enormous Radio", "Goodbye, My Brother", "The Five-Forty-Eight", "The Country Husband", and "The Swimmer", and he also wrote five novels: "The Wapshot Chronicle" (National Book Award, 1958),


title: John Cheever

text: "The Wapshot Scandal" (William Dean Howells Medal, 1965), "Bullet Park" (1969), "Falconer" (1977) and a novella "Oh What a Paradise It Seems" (1982).


title: John Cheever

text: His main themes include the duality of human nature: sometimes dramatized as the disparity between a character's decorous social persona and inner corruption, and sometimes as a conflict between two characters (often brothers) who embody the salient aspects of both – light and dark, flesh and spirit. Many of his works also express a nostalgia for a vanishing way of life (as evoked by the mythical St. Botolphs in the "Wapshot" novels), characterized by abiding cultural traditions and a profound sense of community, as opposed to the alienating nomadism of modern suburbia.


title: John Cheever

text: A compilation of his short stories, "The Stories of John Cheever", won the 1979 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and a National Book Critics Circle Award, and its first paperback edition won a 1981 National Book Award.


title: John Cheever

text: On April 27, 1982, six weeks before his death, Cheever was awarded the National Medal for Literature by the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His work has been included in the Library of America.


title: John Cheever

text: John William Cheever was born in Quincy, Massachusetts, the second child of Frederick Lincoln Cheever and Mary Liley Cheever. His father was a prosperous shoe salesman, and Cheever spent much of his childhood in a large Victorian house, at 123 Winthrop Avenue, in the then-genteel suburb of Wollaston, Massachusetts. In the mid-1920s, however, as the New England shoe and textile industries began their long decline, Frederick Cheever lost most of his money and began to drink heavily. To pay the bills, Mary Cheever opened a gift shop in downtown Quincy—an "abysmal humiliation" for the family, as John saw it. In 1926, Cheever began attending Thayer Academy, a private day school, but he found the atmosphere stifling and performed poorly, and finally transferred to Quincy High in 1928. A year later, he won a short story contest sponsored by the "Boston Herald" and was invited back to Thayer as a "special student" on academic probation. His grades continued to be poor, however, and, in March 1930, he was either expelled for smoking or (more likely) departed of his own accord when the headmaster delivered an ultimatum to the effect that he must either apply himself or leave. The 18-year-old Cheever wrote a sardonic account of this experience, titled "Expelled", which was subsequently published in "The New Republic". (1930).


title: John Cheever

text: Around this time, Cheever's older brother, Fred, forced to withdraw from Dartmouth in 1926 because of the family's financial crisis, re-entered Cheever's life "when the situation was most painful and critical", as Cheever later wrote. After the 1932 crash of Kreuger & Toll, in which Frederick Cheever had invested what was left of his money, the Cheever house on Winthrop Avenue was lost to foreclosure. The parents separated, while John and Fred took an apartment together on Beacon Hill, in Boston. In 1933, John wrote to Elizabeth Ames, the director of the Yaddo artist's colony in Saratoga Springs, New York: "The idea of leaving the city", he said, "has never been so distant or desirable." Ames denied his first application but offered him a place the following year, whereupon Cheever decided to sever his "ungainly attachment" to his brother. Cheever spent the summer of 1934 at Yaddo, which would serve as a second home for much of his life.


title: John Cheever

text: For the next few years, Cheever divided his time between Manhattan, Saratoga, Lake George (where he was caretaker of the Yaddo-owned Triuna Island), and Quincy, where he continued to visit his parents, who had reconciled and moved to an apartment at 60 Spear Street. Cheever drove from one place to another in a dilapidated Model A roadster, but had no permanent address. In 1935, Katharine White of "The New Yorker" bought Cheever's story "Buffalo", for $45—the first of many that Cheever would publish in the magazine. Maxim Lieber became his literary agent, 1935–1941. In 1938, he began work for the Federal Writers' Project in Washington, D. C., which he considered an embarrassing boondoggle. As an editor for the "WPA Guide to New York City", Cheever was charged with (as he put it) "twisting into order the sentences written by some incredibly lazy bastards." He quit after less than a year and a few months later he met his future wife, Mary Winternitz, seven years his junior. She was a daughter of Milton Winternitz, dean of Yale Medical School, and granddaughter of Thomas A. Watson, an assistant to Alexander Graham Bell during the invention of the telephone. They married in 1941.


title: John Cheever

text: Cheever enlisted in the Army on May 7, 1942. His first collection of short stories, "The Way Some People Live", was published in 1943 to mixed reviews. Cheever himself came to despise the book as "embarrassingly immature", and for the rest of his life destroyed every copy he could lay his hands on. However, the book may have saved his life after falling into the hands of Major Leonard Spigelgass, an MGM executive and officer in the Army Signal Corps, who was struck by Cheever's "childlike sense of wonder." Early that summer, Cheever was transferred to the former Paramount studio in Astoria, Queens, New York City, where he commuted via subway from his apartment in Chelsea, Manhattan, New York City. Meanwhile, most of his old infantry company was killed on a Normandy beach during the D-Day invasion. Cheever's daughter Susan was born on July 31, 1943.


title: John Cheever

text: After the war, Cheever and his family moved to an apartment building at 400 East 59th Street, near Sutton Place, Manhattan; almost every morning for the next five years, he would dress in his only suit and take the elevator to a maid's room in the basement, where he stripped to his boxer shorts and wrote until lunchtime. In 1946, he accepted a $4,800 advance from Random House to resume work on his novel, "The Holly Tree", which he had discontinued during the war. "The Enormous Radio" appeared in the May 17, 1947 issue of "The New Yorker" — a Kafkaesque tale about a sinister radio that broadcasts the private conversations of tenants in a New York apartment building. A startling advance on Cheever's early, more naturalistic work, the story elicited a fan letter from the magazine's irascible editor, Harold Ross: "It will turn out to be a memorable one, or I am a fish." Cheever's son Benjamin was born on May 4, 1948.


title: John Cheever

text: Cheever's work became longer and more complex, apparently a protest against the "slice of life" fiction typical of "The New Yorker" in those years. An early draft of "The Day the Pig Fell into the Well"—a long story with elaborate Chekhovian nuances, meant to "operate something like a rondo", as Cheever wrote to his friend and "New Yorker" editor William Maxwell—was completed in 1949, though the magazine did not make space for it until five years later. In 1951, Cheever wrote "Goodbye, My Brother", after a gloomy summer in Martha's Vineyard. Largely on the strength of these two stories (still in manuscript at the time), Cheever was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship. On May 28, 1951, Cheever moved to Beechwood, the suburban estate of Frank A. Vanderlip, a banker, in the Westchester hamlet of Scarborough-on-Hudson, where he rented a small cottage on the edge of the estate. The house, coincidentally, had been occupied before the Cheevers by another suburban chronicler, Richard Yates. In Scarborough, he was a casual volunteer for the Briarcliff Manor Fire Department.


title: John Cheever

text: Cheever's second collection, "The Enormous Radio", was published in 1953. Reviews were mostly positive, though Cheever's reputation continued to suffer because of his close association with "The New Yorker" (considered middlebrow by such influential critics as Dwight Macdonald), and he was particularly pained by the general preference for J. D. Salinger's "Nine Stories", published around the same time. Meanwhile, Random House demanded that Cheever either produce a publishable novel or pay back his advance, whereupon Cheever wrote Mike Bessie at Harper & Brothers ("These old bones are up for sale"), who bought him out of his Random House contract. In the summer of 1956, Cheever finished "The Wapshot Chronicle" while vacationing in Friendship, Maine, and received a congratulatory telegram from William Maxwell: "WELL ROARED LION". With the proceeds from the sale of film rights to "The Housebreaker of Shady Hill", Cheever and his family spent the following year in Italy, where his son Federico was born on March 9, 1957 ("We wanted to call him Frederick", Cheever wrote, "but there is of course no K in the alphabet here and I gave up after an hour or two").


title: John Cheever

text: "The Wapshot Scandal" was published in 1964, and received perhaps the best reviews of Cheever's career up to that point (amid quibbles about the novel's episodic structure). Cheever appeared on the cover of "Time" magazine's March 27 issue, this for an appreciative profile, "Ovid in Ossining". (In 1961, Cheever had moved to a stately, stone-ended Dutch Colonial farmhouse in Ossining, on the east bank of the Hudson.) "The Swimmer" appeared in the July 18, 1964, issue of "The New Yorker". Cheever noted with chagrin that the story (one of his best) appeared toward the back of the issue—behind a John Updike story—since, as it happened, Maxwell and other editors at the magazine were a little bewildered by its non-"New Yorker"ish surrealism. In the summer of 1966, a screen adaptation of "The Swimmer", starring Burt Lancaster, was filmed in Westport, Connecticut. Cheever was a frequent visitor on the set, and made a cameo appearance in the movie.


title: John Cheever

text: By then Cheever's alcoholism had become severe, exacerbated by torment concerning his bisexuality. Still, he blamed most of his marital woes on his wife, and in 1966 he consulted a psychiatrist, David C. Hays, about her hostility and "needless darkness". After a session with Mary Cheever, the psychiatrist asked to see the couple jointly; Cheever, heartened, believed his wife's difficult behavior would finally be addressed. At the joint session, however, Hays said (as Cheever noted in his journal) that Cheever himself was the problem: "a neurotic man, narcissistic, egocentric, friendless, and so deeply involved in [his] own defensive illusions that [he has] invented a manic-depressive wife." Cheever soon terminated therapy.


title: John Cheever

text: "Bullet Park" was published in 1969, and received a devastating review from Benjamin DeMott on the front page of "The New York Times Book Review": "John Cheever's short stories are and will remain lovely birds... But in the gluey atmosphere of "Bullet Park" no birds sing." Cheever's alcoholic depression deepened, and in May he resumed psychiatric treatment (which again proved fruitless). He began an affair with actress Hope Lange in the late 1960s.


title: John Cheever

text: On May 12, 1973, Cheever awoke coughing uncontrollably and learned at the hospital that he had almost died from pulmonary edema caused by alcoholism. After a month in the hospital, he returned home vowing never to drink again; however, he resumed drinking in August. Despite his precarious health, he spent the fall semester teaching (and drinking, both with fellow writer-teacher, Raymond Carver) at the Iowa Writers' Workshop, where his students included T. C. Boyle, Allan Gurganus, and Ron Hansen. As his marriage continued to deteriorate, Cheever accepted a professorship at Boston University the following year and moved into a fourth-floor walkup apartment at 71 Bay State Road. Cheever's drinking soon became suicidal and, in March 1975, his brother Fred, now virtually indigent, but sober after his own lifelong bout with alcoholism, drove John back to Ossining. On April 9, Cheever was admitted to the Smithers Alcoholic Rehabilitation Unit in New York, where he shared a bedroom and bath with four other men. Driven home by his wife on May 7, Cheever never drank alcohol again.


title: John Cheever

text: In March 1977, Cheever appeared on the cover of "Newsweek" with the caption, "A Great American Novel: John Cheever's "Falconer."" The novel was No. 1 on the "New York Times" Best Seller list for three weeks. "The Stories of John Cheever" appeared in October 1978, and became one of the most successful collections ever, selling 125,000 copies in hardback and winning universal acclaim.


title: John Cheever

text: Cheever was awarded the Edward MacDowell Medal for outstanding contribution to the arts by the MacDowell Colony in 1979.


title: John Cheever

text: Cheever's marriage was complicated by his sexuality. Variously described as gay, homosexual, or bisexual, Cheever had relationships with both men and women, including a short relationship with composer Ned Rorem and an affair with actress Hope Lange. Cheever's longest affair was with a student of his, Max Zimmer, who lived in the Cheever family home. Cheever's daughter, Susan, described her parents' marriage as "European", saying: "they were people who felt their feelings weren't necessarily a reason to shatter a family. They certainly hurt each other plenty but they didn't necessarily see that as a reason for divorce."


title: John Cheever

text: In the summer of 1981, a tumor was discovered in Cheever's right lung, and, in late November, he returned to the hospital and learned that the cancer had spread to his femur, pelvis, and bladder. His last novel, "Oh What a Paradise It Seems," was published in March 1982; it received respectful reviews in part because it was widely known the author was dying of cancer. On April 27, he received the National Medal for Literature at Carnegie Hall, where colleagues were shocked by his ravaged appearance after months of cancer therapy. "A page of good prose", he declared in his remarks, "remains invincible." John Updike wrote that "All the literary acolytes assembled there fell quite silent, astonished by such faith."


title: John Cheever

text: When Cheever died on June 18, 1982, flags in Ossining were lowered to half staff for ten days. He is buried at First Parish Cemetery, Norwell, Massachusetts.


title: John Cheever

text: In 1987, Cheever's widow, Mary, signed a contract with a small publisher, Academy Chicago, for the right to publish Cheever's uncollected short stories. The contract led to a long legal battle and a book of 13 stories by the author entitled "Fall River and Other Uncollected Stories", published in 1994 by Academy Chicago Publishers.


title: John Cheever

text: Two of Cheever's children, Susan and Benjamin, became writers. Susan's memoir, "Home Before Dark" (1984), revealed Cheever's bisexuality, which was confirmed by his posthumously published letters and journals. This was parodied to comedic effect in a 1992 episode of the TV sitcom "Seinfeld", when the character Susan discovers explicit love letters from Cheever to her father.


title: John Cheever

text: After Blake Bailey published his biography of Richard Yates, "A Tragic Honesty" (2003), Cheever's son Ben suggested Bailey write an authoritative biography of Cheever. It was published by Knopf on March 10, 2009, and won that year's National Book Critics Circle Award in Biography and the Francis Parkman Prize, and was a finalist for the Pulitzer and James Tait Black Memorial Prize.


title: John Cheever

text: Also in 2009, Cheever was featured in "Soul of a People: Writing America's Story", a 90-minute documentary about the WPA Writers' Project. His life during the 1930s is also highlighted in the companion book, "Soul of a People: The WPA Writers' Project Uncovers Depression America".


title: USS Hornet (CV-12)

text: USS "Hornet" (CV/CVA/CVS-12) is an "Essex"-class aircraft carrier built for the United States Navy (USN) during World War II. Completed in late 1943, the ship was assigned to the Fast Carrier Task Force (variously designated as Task Force 38 or 58) in the Pacific Ocean, the navy's primary offensive force during the Pacific War.


title: USS Hornet (CV-12)

text: In early 1944, she participated in attacks on Japanese installations in New Guinea, Palau and Truk among others. "Hornet" then took part in the Mariana and Palau Islands campaign and most of the subsidiary operations, most notably the Battle of the Philippine Sea in June that was nicknamed the "Great Marianas Turkey Shoot" for the disproportionate losses inflicted upon the Japanese. The ship then participated in the Philippines Campaign in late 1944, and the Volcano and Ryukyu Islands campaign in the first half of 1945. She was badly damaged by a typhoon in June and had to return to the United States for repairs.


title: USS Hornet (CV-12)

text: After the war she took part in Operation Magic Carpet, returning troops to the U.S. and was then placed in reserve in 1946. "Hornet" was reactivated during the Korean War of 1950–1953, but spent the rest of the war being modernized to allow her to operate jet-propelled aircraft. The ship was modernized again in the late 1950s for service as an anti-submarine carrier. She played a minor role in the Vietnam War during the 1960s and in the Apollo program, recovering the Apollo 11 and Apollo 12 astronauts when they returned from the Moon.


title: USS Hornet (CV-12)

text: "Hornet" was decommissioned in 1970. She was eventually designated as both a National Historic Landmark and a California Historical Landmark, and she opened to the public as the USS "Hornet" Museum in Alameda, California, in 1998.


title: USS Hornet (CV-12)

text: The "Essex"-class ships were much larger than the preceding s, which allowed them to carry more aircraft, armor, and armament. The initial ships had a length of overall and at the waterline, although this was revised to an overall length of in the "long-hull" sub-class when the bow was reshaped to accommodate a pair of quadruple mounts in the bow compared to the single mount in the earlier "short-hull" ships like "Hornet".


title: USS Hornet (CV-12)

text: All of the ships had a beam of at the waterline and a draft of at deep load. They displaced at standard load and at deep load. Their designed complement was approximately 268 officers and 2,362 enlisted men, but more men were added even before the ships were completed; the addition of more light weapons and other equipment greatly increased the overcrowding so that "Hornet"s sister had a crew of 382 officers and 3,003 enlisted men in 1945. The ships had four geared steam turbines, each driving one shaft, using steam supplied by eight Babcock & Wilcox boilers. The turbines were designed to produce a total of , enough to give a maximum speed of . The ships carried enough fuel oil to give them a range of at .


title: USS Hornet (CV-12)

text: The short-hull "Essex"s had a flight deck that was long and had a maximum width of . Below it was a hangar with a height of . The hangar was connected to the flight deck by three aircraft elevators, two in the flight deck and a folding one on the port side of the flight deck, abreast the island. Catapult arrangements for the early "Essex"s varied between ships; "Hornet" was built with a single hydraulic catapult on the forward part of the flight deck and another was fitted transversely on the hangar deck. All of the "Essex"s were fitted with arresting gear to allow them to land aircraft over both the stern and the bow.


title: USS Hornet (CV-12)

text: Early in the design process, the "Essex"s were intended to carry over 100 aircraft: 27 fighters, 37 scout or dive bombers, 18 torpedo bombers, 3 observation and 2 utility aircraft, plus 21 partially disassembled spares. Early war experience increased the number of fighters to 36 at the expense of the observation and utility aircraft and reduced the number of spares to 9. By mid-1945, the air group typically consisted of 36 or 37 fighters, an equal number of fighter bombers, and dive and torpedo squadrons of 15 aircraft apiece for a total of 103. By this time, the fighter squadrons included specialist photo-reconnaissance and night fighter aircraft.


title: USS Hornet (CV-12)

text: The main armament of the "Essex"-class ships consisted of a dozen 38-caliber dual-purpose guns arranged in two superfiring pairs of twin-gun turrets fore and aft of the island and four guns in single mounts on the port side of the flight deck. These guns were controlled by a pair of Mk 37 directors, mounted on the top of the island; each director was fitted with a Mk 4 fire-control radar. The early short-hull "Essex"s were equipped with eight quadruple Bofors anti-aircraft (AA) guns; one mount each at the bow and stern, four atop the island and two on the port side of the flight deck, next to the 5-inch guns. Each mount was controlled by its own Mk 51 director. The carriers were also fitted with 46 Oerlikon light AA guns on single mounts along the sides of the flight deck and on the island.


title: USS Hornet (CV-12)

text: The waterline armor belt of the carriers was high, long and covered the middle 62% of the hull. It was thick, tapering to at its bottom edge. The hangar deck was also 2.5 inches thick and the protective deck below it was thick. Transverse 4-inch bulkheads closed off the ends of the belt armor to form the ship's armored citadel. The steering gear was protected by 2.5-inches of special treatment steel.


title: USS Hornet (CV-12)

text: The "Essex"-class carriers were designed with little space reserved for radar and the additional systems added while under construction contributed to the general overcrowding of the crew and the cramped island of the ships. "Hornet" was completed with most of her radars mounted on the tripod mast atop her island. It carried the SK early-warning radar, SM height-finding radar and the SG surface search radar. A SC early-warning radar was positioned on a stub lattice mast on the starboard side of the funnel.


title: USS Hornet (CV-12)

text: Changes to the numbers of 20 mm guns aboard "Hornet" during the war are not available in the sources, although she had 35 single mounts by the end of the war. The ship did not return to any naval base in Hawaii or the West Coast until July 1945 when she arrived at San Francisco, California, for repairs for her typhoon damage, so it is unlikely that any major modifications were done before then. Facilities in Ulithi Atoll were limited, but they had been able to install some of the new equipment that was fielded in late 1944 and 1945. Some of the ship's Mk 51 directors may have been replaced by Mk 57 directors with an integral Mk 34 fire-control radar and the Mk 4 fire-control radar atop the Mk 37 directors may have been upgraded to a Mk 12 system that shared its mount with a Mk 22 height finder. The SP height finder was a lighter version of the SM and began to be installed in "Essex"-class ships in March 1945.


title: USS Hornet (CV-12)

text: While being repaired, the Navy took the opportunity to refit the ship to the latest standard. Her SK radar was upgraded to a SK-2 model with a dish antenna that improved its performance and her hangar-deck catapult was replaced by one on the flight deck. Her island was remodeled to expand the flag bridge which caused the removal of the forward lower 40 mm mount on the island and 10 new quadruple mounts were added along the sides of the flight deck and the hull for a total of 68 guns in 17 mounts.


title: USS Hornet (CV-12)

text: The Chief of Naval Operations had ordered three "Essex"-class carriers on 10 May 1940 in anticipation of Congress passing the Two-Ocean Navy Act, although the ship that later became "Hornet" originally had the name "Kearsarge" with the hull number of CV-12. The contract to build her was awarded to Newport News Shipbuilding on 9 September 1940, and her keel was laid down on 3 August 1942. The seventh was sunk in the Battle of Santa Cruz on 26 October 1942, and the CV-12 hull was renamed "Hornet" shortly afterwards. The ship was launched on 30 August 1943 with her sponsor being Annie Reid Knox, wife of Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox. She was commissioned on 29 November 1943 with Captain Miles R. Browning in command.


title: USS Hornet (CV-12)

text: "Hornet" worked up off Bermuda before departing Norfolk, Virginia, on 14 February 1944 to join Task Force 58 at Majuro Atoll in the Marshall Islands where she arrived on 20 March. Two days later the Task Force departed to attack warships and airfields in the Palau Islands and the Kossol Roads to eliminate any threat to the scheduled operations in New Guinea and the Admiralty Islands. To block the exits from Kossol and trap all of the ships inside the lagoon, the torpedo bomber squadrons from "Hornet" and her sisters and had trained on aerial minelaying. To avoid detection, the American ships steamed far south of the Japanese naval base at Truk. They were spotted on the 28th and Admiral Mineichi Koga, commander of the Combined Fleet, ordered his warships to withdraw to Tawi-Tawi Island in the Philippines and for the merchant shipping to disperse.


title: USS Hornet (CV-12)

text: As Task Force 58 approached its targets on the morning of 30 March, its carriers launched a fighter sweep that shot down 30 Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighters already airborne and they were soon followed by 39 Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo bombers, each of which carried a pair of magnetic mines that effectively bottled up the 40-odd ships in Kossol Roads. This was the first and only time that carrier aircraft laid mines during the Pacific War. Despite reinforcing fighters that flew in overnight, the Americans sank 24 merchant and auxiliary ships, totaling nearly of shipping, plus two old destroyers, four subchasers and a pair of repair ships on 30 and 31 March. American pilots claimed to have shot down 63 aircraft and destroyed over 100 more on the ground while losing 25 aircraft of their own. On their way back to Majuro, the carriers attacked targets on Woleai on 1 April to little effect.


title: USS Hornet (CV-12)

text: Before Task Force 58 departed Majuro on 13 April, Rear Admiral Joseph J. Clark had hoisted his flag in "Hornet" as commander of Task Group 58.1 that consisted of his flagship and the three light carriers, , and . The task group was ordered to attack Sarmi, Sawar, and Wakde Airfields in Western New Guinea while the other task groups supported the amphibious landings at Hollandia. There was little Japanese air activity while the ships were off New Guinea, although the Task Group's fighters did shoot down two Mitsubishi G4M (Allied reporting name "Betty") bombers that were searching for them. Task Force 58 withdrew to Seeadler Harbor on Manus Island on 25 April to replenish for a few days before leaving to attack the shore facilities at Truk. The Japanese spotted the ships during the night of 28/29 April, but their weak attack later that morning was ineffective and the 84 Grumman F6F Hellcats of the morning fighter sweep were opposed by about 60 Zeros. Bad weather and a heavy overcast prevented the Americans from gaining complete air superiority until the mid-afternoon, but they were able to severely damaged the naval base's infrastructure over the next two days. They lost 9 aircraft in accidents and 27 in combat, mostly to anti-aircraft fire while claiming 59 aircraft in the air and 34 on the ground.


title: USS Hornet (CV-12)

text: En route to Majuro, Task Group 58.1 was detached to cover the bombardments of the airfields at Satawan and Ponape by the portions of the Task Force's escorting ships. Both islands had already been previously attacked and little additional damage appears to have been done in exchange for the loss of one aircraft shot down by AA guns. Task Force 58 arrived at Majuro on 4 May and spent the next month preparing for the Mariana and Palau Islands campaign. The abrasive Browning had made many enemies and his mistakes led him to be relieved for cause on 29 May; he was replaced by Captain William Sample.


title: USS Hornet (CV-12)

text: By June "Hornet"s air group (Carrier Air Group 2 (CVG-2)) mustered 40 Hellcat fighters, including 4 night-fighter versions, 33 Curtiss SB2C Helldiver dive bombers and 20 Avengers. Task Group 58.1 had exchanged "Cowpens" for "Hornet"s sister so it mustered a pair each of fleet and light carriers for the campaign. Task Force 58 departed Majuro on 6 June in time to begin the air strikes on the southern Marianas six days later, three days prior to the planned amphibious assault on Saipan, although the Japanese discovered that it had left Majuro on 8 June. "Hornet"s night fighters began shooting down Japanese reconnaissance aircraft on the night of 10 June. Vice Admiral Marc Mitscher, commander of the task force, decided to move the air strikes forward to 11 June, hoping to catch the Japanese off guard.


title: USS Hornet (CV-12)

text: The task group's fighters discovered 30 Zeros over Guam during their sweep and claimed to have shot them all down, with "Hornet"s 16 Hellcats claiming 23 of them as kills. A picket line of destroyers was stationed between the carriers and Guam and they controlled interceptions by the task group's fighters of about a dozen reconnaissance and attack aircraft that afternoon. The following days the task group continued to attack Guam to eliminate all of the aircraft based there as well as any reinforcements. Later that afternoon, "Hornet"s aircraft discovered a seven-ship reinforcement convoy east of Guam, but it was too far away to attack if the aircraft were to land during daylight. That night the task group closed the distance while the convoy continued to approach Guam and was only when it launched 20 bomb-armed Hellcats. Their pilots were not trained for anti-shipping missions and failed to significantly damage the ships of the convoy before it reached Guam.


title: USS Hornet (CV-12)

text: The new commander of the Combined Fleet, Admiral Soemu Toyoda, was uncertain if the Americans were merely attacking the Japanese facilities in the Marianas until the fast battleships escorting Task Force 58 were detached to make a preliminary bombardment of Saipan on 13 June. Even before he received the report of the bombardment, he ordered the 1st Mobile Fleet to move forward to Guimaras Island to start training their inexperienced aviators in a more protected environment. He then alerted all forces to prepare to implement Plan A-Go, effective on 19 June, once he had word of the bombardment. The plan was intended to inflict a decisive defeat on the USN and cause the American government to sue for peace after the collapse of public will to continue the war. An American submarine spotted the movement and alerted Vice Admiral Raymond Spruance, commander of the entire operation. Not knowing the Japanese intentions, he believed that the Japanese ships would not be able to attack before 17 June. To take advantage of this window of opportunity to destroy Japanese aerial reinforcements gathering in the Bonin Islands, Spruance ordered Task Groups 58.1 and 58.4 to rendezvous on the 14th, attack the airbases there the following day and return in time to concentrate for the battle that he expected on the 17th.


title: USS Hornet (CV-12)

text: On 15 June, fighters from the two task groups conducted fighter sweeps over Iwo Jima, Hahajima and Chichi Jima, claiming to have shot down 20 Zeros over Iwo Jima for the loss of two Hellcats. Clark stationed his nightfighters over Iwo Jima that night to prevent the Japanese from launching reconnaissance missions or air strikes before launching more air strikes on the 16th. The bulk of the reinforcements intended for A-Go were still in Japan at this time, but the American carriers claimed to have destroyed a total of 81 aircraft, including 40 in the air, for the loss of 4 aircraft in combat and 7 others in accidents, before departing the area later that afternoon.


title: USS Hornet (CV-12)

text: Vice Admiral Jisaburō Ozawa, commander of the 1st Mobile Fleet, ordered A-Go to begin on 16 April while he concentrated and refueled his forces east of the Philippines. At nightfall on the 17th his ships were spotted by an American submarine some west of Saipan, although Spruance did not receive its report until the early morning of 18 June. Japanese reconnaissance aircraft located Task Force 58 on that afternoon, but the shorter-ranged American aircraft failed to find the Japanese carriers. Ozawa decided to attack on the 19th rather than subject his inexperienced pilots to night landings that they had not trained for and turned south to keep the range from the Americans constant. Spruance had no idea where the Japanese were until a radio transmission from Ozawa was triangulated at a point west of his task force on the night of the 18th. A radar-equipped Martin PBM Mariner patrol bomber discovered the 1st Mobile Fleet at 01:15 on 19 June, but its message was not received for another eight hours due to radio troubles. The early morning searches by the Americans were not successful, but the Japanese had been tracking them continuously since 01:00.


title: USS Hornet (CV-12)

text: That night the Americans had tracked reinforcements flying from Truk to Guam and Mitscher ordered fighters from Task Group 58.1 to patrol over Orote Field. Hellcats from "Belleau Wood" were the first to engage Japanese aircraft taking off at 07:00 and they had to be reinforced by fighters from "Hornet" and "Yorktown". By 09:30 they had claimed to have shot down 45 fighters and 5 other aircraft while only losing a pair of Hellcats. At that time "Hornet" launched an air strike of 17 Helldivers and 7 Avengers, escorted by a dozen Hellcats, that bombed Orote without encountering Japanese aircraft. At 09:50 an incoming Japanese air strike had been picked up on radar and the carriers turned into the wind to begin launching 140 fighters; at 10:04, the fighters patrolling over Guam were summoned to reinforce the Combat Air Patrol (CAP) over Task Force 58, although they were too late to participate in the aerial battle. The CAP, reinforced by the newly launched Hellcats, intercepted the Japanese, shooting down 40 of the 57 Zeros involved and seriously disrupting the Japanese attack which only inflicted minor damage on one battleship. "Hornet" contributed Hellcats who claimed to have shot down 9 Zeros and 3 Nakajima B6N "Jill" torpedo bombers. The second wave of aircraft was detected at 11:07, but "Hornet"s fighters did not participate in their defeat. The third wave was given erroneous locations for the American ships and were northwest of them at 12:40. Most of them turned back, but about a dozen did not and were detected by Task Group 58.1 at 12:56. They were intercepted by 17 Hellcats from "Hornet" and "Yorktown" which shot down 6 Zeros and a Jill, with "Hornet"s fighters claiming 9 aircraft in exchange for a damaged Hellcat. The fourth wave was also misdirected and most of the aircraft decided to continue onwards and land on Guam. They arrived there around 15:00 and were intercepted by 41 Hellcats from "Hornet", her sister , "Cowpens" and . They shot down 40 of the 49 aircraft; two of "Hornet"s pilots shot down five Japanese aircraft as they were attempting to land.


title: USS Hornet (CV-12)

text: Two hundred and ninety-five Hellcats, together with five Avengers and Dauntlesses, had engaged the Japanese during the day and they shot down 208 aircraft of the 373 flown off by the carriers. The Americans lost seven Hellcats at sea, nine over Guam and six by accidents; seven bombers had been shot down by AA guns over Guam and two others had crashed. All told they lost 31 aircraft to all causes during the day. The Japanese lost 35 aircraft in accidents and aboard the two carriers sunk by submarines during the battle, together with 18 Guam-based aircraft shot down and 52 destroyed on the ground for a grand total of 313 to all causes, an exchange ratio of almost exactly 10:1 in favor of the Americans. Not without cause did they nickname the battle "The Marianas Turkey Shoot".


title: USS Hornet (CV-12)

text: At dusk, the Japanese turned away to the northwest to regroup and to refuel and the Americans turned west to close the distance. They discovered the retiring Japanese fleet during the afternoon of the following day and Mitscher ordered an air strike launched even though it meant recovering the aircraft at night. It consisted of 54 Avengers and 51 Helldivers, escorted by 85 Hellcats. The Japanese carriers launched their remaining 68 Zeros of which all but three were shot down for the loss of 20 American aircraft to all causes. "Hornet"s aircraft badly damaged the carrier while the other aircraft sank the carrier , two tankers and lightly damaged three other carriers and a few other ships. Clark ordered his task group to turn on their lights to guide his pilots home before Mitscher ordered the entire task force to do the same. Despite these precautions, 6 Hellcats, 35 Helldivers and 28 Avengers were lost in deck-landing accidents or ran out of fuel, although most of their crews were rescued that night or over the next few days.


title: USS Hornet (CV-12)

text: After refuelling on 22 June, most of Task Force 58 sailed to Eniwetok in the Marshall Islands, but Clark took his task group north to attack the Bonins again to interdict any reinforcements for the Marianas. A reconnaissance aircraft spotted his ships on the morning of the 22nd and alerted the Japanese defenders. They scrambled about 60 Zeros and a few Yokosuka D4Y "Judy" dive bombers to intercept the inbound 51 Hellcats. They shot down 6 Hellcats for the loss of 24 Zeros and 5 Judys. The Japanese had enough remaining aircraft to mount two attacks against the task group. The first airstrike of about 20 torpedo bombers had every aircraft shot down by fighters and anti-aircraft fire and the second of 23 Zeros, 9 Judys and 9 Jills never found the American ships. They were intercepted and the Hellcats shot down 10 Zeros and 7 Jills.


title: USS Hornet (CV-12)

text: That same day, Sample was relieved to take command of a carrier division and Captain Austin Doyle replaced him. Unwilling to serve under Vice Admiral William Halsey, Clark hauled down his flag and was relieved by Vice Admiral John McCain on 18 August. Clark remained aboard "Hornet" to assist McCain however he might and to serve as the reserve carrier-experienced admiral in case of need. Eight days later, Halsey relieved Spruance and Task Force 58 was redesignated as Task Force 38.


title: USS Hornet (CV-12)

text: In a strategy conference in Pearl Harbor in July, President Franklin Roosevelt agreed with General Douglas MacArthur that the Philippines, an American territory, would be liberated and they set the date for 20 December. This required a series of preliminary operations to assault the Japanese bases in the western Caroline Islands and the approaches to the Philippines, including Yap and the Palaus. Mitscher began the process by taking three of his task groups, including "Hornet"s TG 38.1, to attack the Palaus on 6–8 September before moving further west to attack Mindanao on 9–10 September, the southernmost large island of the Philippines. Encouraged by the lack of opposition, Halsey ordered Mitscher to attack the central Philippine islands, including Leyte and the other Visayan Islands. Resistance was weak during the attacks on 12–13 September and the American pilots claimed 173 aircraft shot down, 305 destroyed on the ground and 59 ships sunk for the loss of 9 aircraft to all causes. The reality was slightly different, the First Air Fleet defending the central Philippines had a strength of 176 aircraft before the American attacks and 85 after them; the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force (IJAAF) lost 31–40 aircraft during the attacks.


title: USS Hornet (CV-12)

text: One of "Hornet"s Hellcats was shot down off Leyte on 10 September. The pilot was rescued by Filipino fishermen and he had been contacted by members of the Filipino Resistance and informed that there was no Japanese garrison on Leyte. Halsey, coupling this information with the weak resistance put up by the Japanese during his raids on the Philippines, believed that most of the preliminary attacks planned before invading Luzon on 20 December, could be skipped and suggested to the Joint Chiefs of Staff that the landing date be moved forward to 20 October. They agreed, although Admiral Chester Nimitz, commander of the Pacific Fleet, still required that he should conduct those parts of the plan regarding seizing bases in the Palaus and the Western Carolines.


title: USS Hornet (CV-12)

text: Halsey sent TG 38.1 south to attack Japanese airfields in the area during the invasion of Morotai that began on the 15th, but summoned them back to rejoin the bulk of TF 38 before his planned attack on Manila on 21 September. "Hornet"s aircraft participated in the second wave of attacks on Manila Bay and sank the elderly destroyer . The American pilots claimed to have shot down 110 aircraft and destroyed 95 on the ground, although the First Air Fleet actually lost less than two dozen aircraft to all causes. TF38 claimed to have sunk or damaged seven oil tankers, but Japanese records show that nine were sunk or wrecked. Bad weather forced the cancellation of most of the airstrikes planned for the second day, but Halsey decided to attack Coron Bay in the Calamian Islands instead, an anchorage often used by Japanese oilers, on the other side of the Philippines with TGs 38.1 and 38.3. "Hornet"s air group led the combined airstrike which sank two oilers, six freighters, several escorts and the seaplane tender . TG 38.1 then sailed to Seeadler Harbor to replenish and exchange Air Group 2 for Air Group 11. Clark finally departed "Hornet" on 1 October.


title: USS Hornet (CV-12)

text: The four carrier groups of TF 38 rendezvoused west of the Marianas on 7 October, after weathering a typhoon that inflicted only minor damage. At this time, "Hornet"s Air Group 11 consisted of 39 Hellcats, 25 Helldivers and 18 Avengers. After refueling the following day, they proceeded north with the mission of destroying Japanese aircraft that could reinforce the defenses of the Philippines. Analysis of American radio traffic had alerted the Japanese and they were expecting an attack along the arc between the Ryukyu Islands and Formosa or in the northern Philippines. The Americans obliged with an attack on the Ryukyus on 10 October, claiming to have shot down over 100 aircraft while losing 21 of their own to all causes. This attack caused the Japanese to activate the Sho-1 and Sho-2 variants of their plan that provided for the defense of the Philippines and for the islands between the Philippines and Japan. As part of the plan, the carrier-based aircraft would operate from land bases. After recovering their aircraft, TF 38 headed south that night to refuel east of Luzon the next day. In the early afternoon of 11 October, TG 38.1 and 38.4 launched an airstrike again the airfield in Aparri, on the northern coast of Luzon, which claimed to have destroyed 15 aircraft on the ground.


title: USS Hornet (CV-12)

text: Before dawn, TF 38 launched a fighter sweep of 199 Hellcats against an alerted defense which already had fighters in the air. Despite this, Japanese losses were very heavy while the Americans lost 48 aircraft to all causes on 12 October. Throughout the night, the Japanese made multiple attacks, losing 42 aircraft to no effect. Another series of airstrikes followed on 13 October, although fewer defending aircraft made an appearance and TF 38's carriers lost 12 aircraft to all causes. At twilight, torpedo bombers attacked TG 38.1; "Hornet" evaded one torpedo that eventually crippled the heavy cruiser . Halsey had originally planned to withdraw that night to refuel on the 14th, but he had plenty of fuel left and decided to attack the airfields from which the Japanese might mount attacks on "Canberra" as she was towed westwards. Little opposition was encountered when the naval aviators flew their morning airstrike over Formosa and the carriers began to withdraw that afternoon, having lost 23 aircraft to all causes. TG 38.1 remained behind to protect the ships escorting "Canberra". The Japanese repeated their twilight attacks against TG 38.1 and managed to cripple the light cruiser with a torpedo, but both cruisers reached Ulithi about a week later. Admitted Japanese losses during the airstrikes and on the attacks on the fleet amounted to 492 aircraft, including 100 from the IJAAF.


title: USS Hornet (CV-12)

text: On 18 October TG 38.1 rendezvoused with TG 38.4 off the eastern coast of Luzon. Later that morning TG 38.1's aircraft attacked targets near Clark Air Base and San Bernardino Strait, losing seven aircraft to all causes. Pilots claimed to have shot down 30 aircraft and to have destroyed 29 more on the ground. The following day, the aviators were tasked to attack airfields near Clark Air Base and Manila and claimed to have destroyed 23 aircraft on the ground. After recovering their aircraft, both task groups headed south to where they could support the amphibious landings on Leyte scheduled for 20 October. Halsey ordered on 19 October that the air groups aboard the "Essex"-class carriers be reorganized with 54 fighters, 24 Helldivers and 18 Avengers, using locally available replacement aircraft beginning on 29 October.


title: USS Hornet (CV-12)

text: That morning TG 38.1 launched a fighter sweep over northern Mindanao; there was no evidence of Japanese aerial activity in the air or on the ground. One aircraft was reportedly destroyed at Del Monte Airfield and six others were damaged. Both task groups launched large airstrikes later that morning to attack the defenses of the landing beaches themselves and the area immediately behind them. Their effectiveness was inhibited by the dense foliage, heavy smoke in the air and the large number of aircraft involved over a relatively small area. Many aircraft had to wait almost two hours before receiving their targets for lack of sufficient communications channels. That evening the task groups departed the area to refuel the next morning, returning to the area by the morning of the 22nd, although the bad weather prevented most flying. That evening Halsey ordered TG 38.1 to proceed to Ulithi to prepare for the attacks on the Japanese mainland scheduled for 11 November. After receiving reports of Japanese surface ships in the Sibuyan Sea, Halsey ordered the task group to reverse course on the night of 23/24 October.


title: USS Hornet (CV-12)

text: The task group was too far away to intervene when the Japanese surprised the American escort carriers off the coast of Samar on the morning of 25 October with their force of battleships and cruisers, but McCain's carriers were able to close the distance enough by the early afternoon to launch two long-range airstrikes that accomplished little. The Americans lost 14 aircraft to all causes and failed to significantly damage any of Vice Admiral Takeo Kurita's ships. The following morning, after TG 38.1 and 38.2 rendezvoused, they launched an 257-aircraft airstrike that attacked Kurita's ships. Avengers from "Hornet" and "Cowpens" hit the light cruiser with one bomb that started a quickly extinguished fire. About twenty minutes later another Avenger put a torpedo into the cruiser; the detonation disabled all of her boilers and left her dead in the water. About an hour and a half after that, 28 of "Hornet"s Avengers and Helldivers hit "Noshiro" again with a torpedo and she sank an hour later.


title: USS Hornet (CV-12)

text: Afterwards TG 38.1 resumed their interrupted voyage to Ulithi on the 27th. Four days later McCain relieved Mitscher as commander of TF 38 and Rear Admiral Alfred Montgomery assumed command of TG 38.1. The task group, together with TGs 38.2 and 38.3 returned to the Philippines in early November and attacked airfields in Luzon on 5 November, claiming to have destroyed 439 aircraft, most on the ground, while losing 36 aircraft to all causes. The aviators sank the heavy cruiser , an oiler and a cargo ship. On 11 November a troop convoy heading for Ormoc Bay was spotted; it was attacked by a large airstrike that sank five troop ships and four of the escorting destroyers despite its defending fighters for the loss of 9 US aircraft. Two days later TF 38 attacked Manila again and sank the light cruiser , four destroyers and seven merchant ships. The aviators claimed to have damaged forty-three other ships and destroyed 84 aircraft while losing 25 aircraft. McCain attacked Manila again on 19 November, but with much less effect; sinking three merchantmen, damaging thirteen others and claimed to have destroyed 116 aircraft, mostly on the ground, for the loss of 13 planes in combat. TGs 38.1 and 38.2 attacked targets in Luzon on the 25th, sinking the crippled heavy cruiser and a few smaller ships, and claimed to have shot down 26 Japanese aircraft and destroyed 29 on the ground. Having interdicted the flow of reinforcements to Leyte and maintained control of the air over the Philippines, the carriers retired to Ulithi to recuperate now that the Army Air Force had enough operable aircraft of its own to assume those roles. After "Hornet" arrived there, Clark hoisted his flag aboard her again, although he was not in command of the task group.


title: USS Hornet (CV-12)

text: The increasing threat from kamikaze suicide aircraft that had damaged seven carriers since the invasion of Leyte caused the navy to reassess its air group composition. Fighters were obviously needed more to intercept the kamikazes before they could reach the fleet so the groups were reorganized to consist of 73 fighters and 15 dive and torpedo bombers each. The change would take several months to implement and a single fighter squadron that large would prove to be too big for one man to lead, so they were split into two squadrons in January 1945.


title: USS Hornet (CV-12)

text: The temporary loss of the damaged carriers for repairs caused the reorganization of TG 38 in which "Hornet" was transferred to TG 38.2 for the upcoming operations in support of the assault on Mindoro scheduled for 5 December. The landings were postponed 10 days and TF 38 sortied on 11 December. The ship mustered 51 Hellcats, 15 Helldivers and 18 Avengers at this time. For this operation, the Army would cover all targets south of Manila, the escort carriers would provide direct support while the fast carriers would gain air supremacy over Luzon. Starting on the 14th, TF 38 flew continuous missions in support of that objective until they had to refuel three days later. The aviators claimed to have destroyed 269 aircraft, mostly on the ground, sunk a few merchant ships and heavily damaged roads and railroads while losing 27 aircraft in combat and 38 to accidents. The task force was unable to refuel on the 17th due to worsening weather and another attempt the next morning also failed before Halsey sailed unwittingly into the path of Typhoon Cobra later that day. Low on fuel, many ships were top-heavy and rolled heavily which sometimes broke aircraft free from their tie-down chains. Across the fleet 146 aircraft were destroyed, three light carriers were damaged when aircraft broke loose inside the hangars and three destroyers were sunk. The Third Fleet was able to refuel on 19 December, but follow-on operations over Luzon scheduled for the 21st had to be canceled when the Americans realized that the typhoon was over Luzon, so TF 38 returned to Ulithi.


title: USS Hornet (CV-12)

text: On 30 December, TF 38 departed Ulithi to attack Japanese airfields and shipping in Formosa, French Indo-China, Luzon, China, the Ryukyus and the Pescadores Islands in support of the scheduled landings at Lingayen Gulf in Luzon on 9 January 1945 and to interdict the maritime traffic between the Japanese home islands and her conquests in Southeast Asia. The carriers first attacked Formosa on 3–4 January before turning to Luzon for airstrikes on the 6th and 7th and then returned to bomb targets in Formosa on the 9th. While claiming to have destroyed over 150 aircraft with little aerial opposition, the Americans lost 46 aircraft in combat and 40 more in accidents. With his obligation to cover the Lingayen Gulf area until the landings were done, Halsey's ships entered the South China Sea during the night of 9–10 January in search of the two s that had been partially turned into seaplane carriers and had been mistakenly reported at Cam Ranh Bay.


title: USS Hornet (CV-12)

text: After refueling on the 11th, the carriers flew off almost 1,500 sorties against targets in French Indochina and off the coast. Halsey turned his ships northward and attacked Formosa and the Hong Kong area on 15–16 January and reattacked Formosa on the 21st after having exited the South China Sea. Until this date, the Third Fleet had not been attacked by the Japanese, but the kamikazes badly damaged "Hornet"s sister . En route back to Ulithi, TF 38's planes flew reconnaissance missions over Okinawa on 22 January to aid the planned invasion of that island while also attacking Japanese positions. All told the carriers destroyed some 300,000 GRT of shipping and claimed to have destroyed 615 aircraft while losing 201 aircraft to all causes during their excursion.


title: USS Hornet (CV-12)

text: On 27 January, Spruance relieved Halsey, Clark assumed command of TG 58.1 and brought "Hornet" back to the task group. The fast carriers, now renumbered as TF 58, departed Ulithi on 10 February for full-scale aerial assaults on the Tokyo area scheduled for 16–17 February that were intended to isolate Iwo Jima. TF 58's pilots claimed to have shot down 341 aircraft and destroyed 190 on the ground; attacks on industrial targets were not very effective and little shipping was sunk, with the most notable example being the recently completed Imperial Japanese Army escort carrier "Yamashio Maru". The Japanese admitted losing at least 78 aircraft in aerial combat while claiming to having shot down 134 aircraft themselves; the Americans lost 88 aircraft to all causes. The Japanese did not attack TF 58 during their time off the coast of Honshu.