On October 26, 1942, the USS Hornet was mortally wounded in a Japanese onslaught during the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands. It carried 2,200 crew, 140 of whom were lost that day.

When the warship slipped beneath the waves early the next morning, it was the last time a human eye had gazed upon the Hornet's gray hull.

Until now.

Late last month a research vessel called the R/V Petrel found the World War II aircraft carrier's wreckage more than 17,000 feet below the surface of the South Pacific, near the Solomon Islands.

It had lain dormant on the murky ocean floor -- some three miles beneath the surface -- for more than 76 years.