Rolf Sabye

Rolf Sabye Joined the volunteers on Hornet in early 1998, and became a Trustee in 1999. He has also been a member of the USS Hornet Association since 1991. He was appointed by the Museum’s Board of Trustees as the liaison to the Association in 2001. He continues in that role.

Rolf immigrated with his parents from Norway in 1957, and joined the Navy in 1967. In March 1968, after QM school, he was assigned to the USS Hornet. He served as a member of the Navigation Div. during Hornet’s last Vietnam Yankee Station tour, the recoveries of Apollo 11 and 12 and the decommissioning in 1970 in Bremerton. He left Hornet as a QM2 and was assigned to COMFAIR Alameda, serving on the staff of RAdm. James Ferris. Rolf left active duty on July 27, 1971.

After leaving the Navy, Rolf graduated with a degree in Electronic Engineering, and later completed post graduate work at Cal State Hayward. He worked for Westinghouse’s R&D Div. on automated transit systems, assigned to the BART Project. The following year he was hired by BART working in their vehicle computer div. Rolf retired from BART as an engineering project manager in 2004.

Rolf remains active with the USS Hornet Association and was the Association President in 2006 and 2019. Although he and his wife Chris have move out of the immediate Bay Area, he remains involved with the museum as much as possible. Some of his most interesting times at the museum were his involvement with the restoration teams on the bridge and Captains Plot room, the flight deck escalator, and the early creation of the Hornet History compartment. However he believes the highlight was the 2019 SD50 celebration of Apollo 11, which included more than 100 members of the Hornet Association.

Rolf and Chris have been married for 48 years. They have a son and daughter and four grandchildren, all thankfully living with their families in the Bay area.