The USS Hornet Sea, Air & Space Museum hosts the Hornet Amateur Radio Club (HARC). USS Hornet (CVS-12) is a heavily decorated WWII aircraft carrier whose final missions were Apollos 11 & 12 recovery of crewmen and capsules. Hornet has been a Museum ship since 1998, located at what was Naval Air Station Alameda.

The current USS Hornet Amateur Radio Club was formed in July of 2002. The club’s goal is to become the The Voice of the Hornet. Hornet’s radio call sign during its entire service was NBGC. In honor of the original call the Hornet Amateur Radio club operates with a call sign of NB6GC. HARC’s purpose is to promote interest in Amateur Radio and the USS Hornet Museum Sea, Air & Space Museum for the community, Hornet’s past crew members and current club members. Over the years, many club members have assisted in preservation of the Hornet and museum displays.

NB6GC operates Special Events from the Ken Fowler Radio Room located in what was last used as the Air Operations Office of COMASWGRU Five, a group of anti-submarine air squadrons.

Our radio room is equipped with five Flexradio 6400 transceivers and an Icom IC-7000. During special events we will attempt to support SSB, CW and Digital operations using multiple transceivers. Our HF operation use various HF antennas that are original to the ship and were in service up to CVS-12’s decommissioning in 1970.

As part of the USS Hornet Museum Ships Live-Aboard program, HARC members have provided Boy Scout Radio Merit Badge Programs.

HARC members have also facilitated one-day Tech class exam preps with exam sessions for all three elements.