The Wilmington morning star., 1942-09-17
NAVY ANNOUNCES
YORKTOWN Loss
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e numerically equal to and
at ltas l't;aaatively superior to Japan's
Qlan,@t nt aircraft carrier force, are
pfeSft Enterprise, sister ship of the
ne ,T5srktown; Saratoga, sister ,t ship 42 Of
lolI ts : exington; and the Wasp, Hor-
ast 11s and Ranger
las ,.:as had participated in the Cor
Tlll.n caa fighting along with the Lex
al 'en osa went down somewhere be-
1s.sn ns.Y Midway Island and a hav-
I.asUspresumably Ias Pearl Harbor-to
EN- +, salvage crews were trying
olsn oll'sanaerately to remove her. The
assp l,sa,s which doome daere were de-
olv"e o..lY,red by a Japanese submarine
n' .+se very moment when the sal
ss ~ force began to hold strong
wy wy If getting her to port.
p s,t the submarine itself is be-
,.osd os to have been sunk, in turn,
s' as'tS Navv said, just as the Japa-
ls ". ~ carrier whose planes first
lss~ lls,ss~.ssstully attacked the York
susv s.,n had been destroyed two days
,vsn ,'.sars by the Yorktown's own air.
c'Tts Ths euic of the Yorktown's end
beean g on the afternoon of June 4,
-s;cb Ds was the climactic day Of the
Midway MI" engagement. The Japa-
ssss s. had already lost three of
4ssir s, best carriers, the Kaga,
ll. lEssi. and Soryu, when a force of
a 'r nanes from fourth, the Hiryu,
y, vet undamaged, roared in to-
ward the Yorktown.
BEFORE they could reach the car
-sr II of 1S Japanese bombers in
me- attacking group were shot
ioun by American fighters. Sew
On GOT through the first fighter
rreen. but three of those were de-
sroved as they approached close
h their target. The four that
rere left scored three direct dive
bomb hits and escaped.
Wnedell Webb. Associated Press
correspondent with the Pacific fleet
who saw this attack, reported that
the carrier took fire and gave off
huge cloud of black smoke. Wit
resses despaired of the ships sur
vival But hten the fire was
brought under controY and the car
rsr and her escort got under way
sssn.
Ahw minutes later between u
and Is enemy torpedo planes with
FIGHTER protection followed up the
first attack. United States fighter
planes got four to seven of these
and anti-aircraft fire accounted
| 70 rhree more. But five succeed
di launching their torpedoes be-
fore they, too, were destroyed and
The resulting hits put the York
town completely out of action.
Th most distinct memory ]
im of the moment. is that every
Gun on the Yorktown was blaz.
4' Webb wrote a few hours aft.
zperiencing the hell of this
tae. Ssh e was putting up a
nap if any ship ever did"
he Yorktown was so badly
anaged that she listed danger
aly and naval officers feared she
Blld capsize then and there. Her
lght deck, of course, useless but
In aircraft in the air were ordeE
d 10 continue the fight from the
Inks of other carriers.
Captain Elliott Buckmaster, So,
columbus, Ohio, who had skip
ged the Yorktown and her wing
d brood through a brilliant per-
finance in the Coral Sea, ordered
abandon ship"
Salvage forces then took over
I'D tugs and other ships began
be tedious job of getting the York
town back to port.
4 Meanwhile, the Yorktown's
planes had located the Hiryu and
'ne other half of a carrier duel
v walen has become classic in this
II, raclhc war quickly developed.
Z, MI repeatedly, the Hiryu was left
Oazng from stem to stern and
sank the next morning. These
Same planes also FOUNDER two enc
my Oattleships and a heavy
cruiser.
a the second day of ceaseless
sluggle with the Yorktown, Off
,aS 1lnally decided they had a
5'0u chance to save her and the
sssHoyer Hammann was placed
sruilsSloe to assist in the work.
d., Dll shortly after noon the Jap
.uOmarlne attacked. Two torpe.