Bald-faced hornet coloring differentiates it from its mostly black and yellow genus mates. Baldfaced hornets are distinguished from other yellowjackets by their white and black coloring. It has a white or "baldfaced" head, which is the source of its colloquial name. These wasps also have three white stripes at the end of their bodies. They are notably larger than other species of "Dolichovespula", as adults average about in length. Queen and worker wasps have similar morphologies. However, workers are covered by small hairs while the queen remains hairless. Queens are always larger than workers in their colonies, though size distributions can vary
USS Hornet (CV-8) a halt, another damaged "Val" deliberately crashed into "Hornet"'s port side near the bow. With power knocked out to her engines, "Hornet" was unable to launch or land aircraft, forcing its aviators to either land on "Enterprise" or ditch in the ocean. Rear Admiral George D. Murray ordered the heavy cruiser to tow "Hornet" clear of the action. Since the Japanese planes were attacking "Enterprise", this allowed "Northampton" to tow "Hornet" at a speed of about . Repair crews were on the verge of restoring power when another flight of nine "Kate" torpedo planes attacked. Eight of these aircraft were