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Description
USS Yorktown, the oldest and first of the Yorktown sisters was busy hunting the 5th carrier division, lead by the carriers Shokaku and Zuikaku. By her side the retrofitted Battlecarrier Lexington.
While unsuccessful to locate the main carrier fleet, their planes came across the light carrier Shoho, which they managed to sink.
The next day, torpedo bombers of Shokaku and Zuikaku located the US carriers and began their attack, critically striking Lexington which had to be abandoned and later scuttled by friendly fire.

Yorktown took on as many crew and planes from Lexington as possible before the list of the smaller carrier made starts impossible.

Already airborne planes from Lexington finally found Shokaku and a combine assault with Yorktown-Bombers heavily damaged the japanese carrier, which managed to retreat.

Having been struck by a torpedo and several bombs herself, Yorktown limped back to the still badly damaged Pearl Harbor on Hawaii, where it was estimated that repairs would require a drydock and at least 2 weeks.
With the Battle of Midway looming at the horizon, Yorktown left the dock after only 48 hours, joining her two younger sisters Hornet and Enterprise in the defense of the strategically important archipelago.

Due to damages that could not yet be repaired, her contingent of planes was reduced, her speed lower and her maneuverability impaired but her commanding officer Captain Elliott Buckmaster would later write "It was our duty to protect the two other carriers by providing a more interesting target to the enemy. We were battered and bruised but we would not sit on the sideline."

Flying an expanded Combat Air Patrol around herself and her sisters, Yorktown attempted to ward off the initial air assault on Midway, soaking most of the attention and freeing the other two carriers to launch their bombers towards the Kido Butai.
Once the initial attack was beaten back, Yorktown herself launched all of her bombers which, accompanied by the second wave of planes leaving Enterprise, reached their targets unopposed.

Yorktown's dive-bombers attacked Sōryū, making three lethal hits with 1,000 pounds (450 kg) bombs and setting her on fire. Enterprise's planes, meanwhile, hit Akagi and Kaga, heavily damaging the former and destroying the latter in a terrible explosion. The bombs from the Dauntlesses caught all of the Japanese carriers in the midst of refueling and rearming operations, causing devastating fires and explosions.

Three of the four Japanese carriers had been destroyed. The fourth, Hiryū, separated from her doomed sisters, launched a striking force of 18 "Val" bombers and soon located Yorktown.

Being in the middle of refueling her CAP, Yorktown was forced to emergency launch half empty planes in a desperate attempt to ward off the incoming attack. Deck crew scrambled to empty fuel valves, pushed an auxiliary fuel tank overboard to reduce fire risk and prepared for the worst. Below deck, all watertight compartments were sealed and the boilers run as hot as they could, providing more power to the propellers.

Air patrols of Enterprise and Hornet rushed to aid their comrades in the defense of Yorktown but arrived to late.
They had to watch helplessly as three "Vals" scored hits. Two of them were shot down soon after releasing their bomb loads; the third went out of control just as his bomb left the rack. It tumbled in flight and hit just abaft the number two elevator on the starboard side, exploding on contact and blasting a hole about 10 feet (3 m) square in the flight deck.

Fragments piercing the flight deck hit three planes on the hangar deck, starting fires. One of the aircraft, a Yorktown Dauntless, was fully fueled and carrying a 1,000 pounds (450 kg) bomb. Only the fast actions of the crew prevented an internal detonation that would have doomed the carrier then and there. Activating the sprinkler system, the flames were doused.

The second bomb to hit the ship came from the port side, pierced the flight deck, and exploded in the lower part of the funnel, in effect a classic "down the stack shot."
It ruptured the uptakes for three boilers, disabled two boilers, and extinguished the fires in five more boilers.
Despite having taking losses and damage themselves, the men at Number One boiler remained at their post and kept it alight, maintaining enough steam pressure to allow the auxiliary steam systems to function.

A third bomb hit the carrier from the starboard side, pierced the side of number one elevator and exploded on the fourth deck, starting a persistent fire in the rag storage space, adjacent to the forward gasoline stowage and the magazines. The prior precaution of smothering the gasoline system with carbon dioxide undoubtedly prevented the gasoline from igniting.

Captain Buckmaster was later quoted to have said that "The training and selfless dedication of the crew had prevented the worst".

Due to the damage taken to the boilers, Yorktown crawled to a halt, dead in the water. The lone remaining boiler just enough to keep auxiliary systems running. Repairs began 20 minutes after the first bomb impact and lasted only one hour.

Only due to the fact that Boiler 1 was still burning, the damage control systems of the carrier kept functioning and the other boilers could be reignited with leeched pressure from boiler 1.

Still smoking heavily, the captain ordered the American Flag to be hoisted on the fore mast in order to rally his battered crew, something that according to witnesses worked perfectly.

Only minutes after finally picking up speed again, Yorktown spotted a new wave of incoming fighters, this time "Kate" torpedo bombers

The ship maneuvered frantically and avoided two incoming torpedoes and the continued AA fire as well as the Wildcat fighters of the CAP managed to down three incoming bombers.
It was not enough.

Yorktown was hit by two torpedoes on her port side, only seconds from each other. The detonation rocked the mighty carrier. Damage crews reported that the fires in all boilers had been doused due to flooding or damages, which meant the fire suppression system and the emergency pumps were inoperable. Yorktown was dead in the water and taking on a list to port. Without the boilers, rescue efforts were deemed impossible and when the list became so severe that capsizing was imminent, the captain ordered to abandon ship in an attempt to save the lives of as many sailors as possible.

Over the next few minutes the crew lowered the wounded into life rafts and struck out for the nearby destroyers and cruisers to be picked up by their boats, abandoning ship in good order. After the evacuation of all wounded, the executive officer, Commander Irving D. Wiltsie, left the ship down a line on the starboard side. Captain Buckmaster, meanwhile, toured the ship one last time, to see if any men remained. After finding no "live personnel", Buckmaster lowered himself into the water by means of a line over the stern, by which time water was lapping the port side of the hangar deck

He later transferred his flag to the cruiser Astoria after having been picked up by the destroyer Hammann.

While efforts to save Yorktown had been proceeding apace, her planes were still in action, joining those from Enterprise in striking the last Japanese carrier Hiryū late that afternoon. Taking four direct hits, the Japanese carrier was soon helpless. She was abandoned by her crew and left to drift out of control.

With the destruction of the Kido Butai, the US forces once again attempted to salvage the stricken carrier. Buckmaster selected 29 officers and 141 men to return to the ship in an attempt to save her. Five destroyers formed an antisubmarine screen while the salvage party boarded the listing carrier on the morning of 6 June. The destroyer Hammann moored herself alongside Yorktown, providing the ship with emergency electricity from her own boilers. Damage crews boarded Yorktown and began work. With pumps working again and fires mostly under control, things looked good and preparations were made to tow the massive ship back to Pearl.

Soon, the fleet tug USS Vireo took Yorktown (with Hammann still attached) under tow.

Unknown to Yorktown and the six nearby destroyers, however, Japanese submarine I-168 had discovered the disabled carrier and achieved a favorable firing position. Due to debris in the water, the submarine was not spotted in time and was able to fire four torpedoes at the carrier.

Three torpedoes hit. Two detonated against Yorktown's hull, having passed right below Hammann, while one torpedo struck the destroyer itself, breaking it in half. The depth charges. carried by Hammann detonated shortly after, killing most of the survivors in the water.

The remaining destroyers initiated a search for the enemy submarine (which escaped), and commenced rescue operations for Hammann survivors and the Yorktown salvage crew. Vireo cut the tow and doubled back to assist in rescue efforts.

Throughout the night of 6 June and into the morning of 7 June, Yorktown remained afloat, despite the massive damage she had taken; but by 05:30 on 7 June, observers noted that her list was rapidly increasing to port. Shortly afterwards, the ship turned over onto her port side, and lay that way, revealing the massive torpedo hole in her starboard bilge, the result of the submarine attack. Captain Buckmaster's American flag was still flying above water.

Eye witnesses described the scenes that followed "All ships half-mastered their colors in salute; all hands who were topside took off their caps and helmets, then came to attention, with tears in their eyes. Two patrolling PBY Catalina search planes that had taken part in the submarine hunt appeared overhead and dipped their wings in a final salute to the big lady. "

Two hours after her turning on her side, USS Yorktown rolled further and began to slowly sink, stern first.
Those who attended noted that the Yorktown went quietly and with enormous dignity "like the great lady she was"

In all, Yorktown's sinking on 7 June 1942 claimed the lives of 141 of her officers and crewmen.

After the loss of the Yorktown, an Essex-class carrier, under construction at the time was renamed to Yorktown (from his originally intended name Bonhomme Richard) in honor of the "Fighting Lady" and her crew.

On 19 May 1998, the wreck of Yorktown was found and photographed by oceanographer Dr. Robert Ballard, discoverer of the wrecks of the RMS Titanic and the German battleship Bismarck.
To his surprise he noted that the wreck of Yorktown, 3 miles (5 km) beneath the surface, was sitting upright on the bottom, having rolled upright again during her descent and being in excellent condition although she had spent 56 years on the deep-sea floor.

Description
USS Yorktown, the oldest and first of the Yorktown sisters was busy hunting the 5th carrier division, lead by the carriers Shokaku and Zuikaku. By her side the retrofitted Battlecarrier Lexington.
While unsuccessful to locate the main carrier fleet, their planes came across the light carrier Shoho, which they managed to sink.
The next day, torpedo bombers of Shokaku and Zuikaku located the US carriers and began their attack, critically striking Lexington which had to be abandoned and later scuttled by friendly fire.

Yorktown took on as many crew and planes from Lexington as possible before the list of the smaller carrier made starts impossible.

Already airborne planes from Lexington finally found Shokaku and a combine assault with Yorktown-Bombers heavily damaged the japanese carrier, which managed to retreat.

Having been struck by a torpedo and several bombs herself, Yorktown limped back to the still badly damaged Pearl Harbor on Hawaii, where it was estimated that repairs would require a drydock and at least 2 weeks.
With the Battle of Midway looming at the horizon, Yorktown left the dock after only 48 hours, joining her two younger sisters Hornet and Enterprise in the defense of the strategically important archipelago.

Due to damages that could not yet be repaired, her contingent of planes was reduced, her speed lower and her maneuverability impaired but her commanding officer Captain Elliott Buckmaster would later write "It was our duty to protect the two other carriers by providing a more interesting target to the enemy. We were battered and bruised but we would not sit on the sideline."

Flying an expanded Combat Air Patrol around herself and her sisters, Yorktown attempted to ward off the initial air assault on Midway, soaking most of the attention and freeing the other two carriers to launch their bombers towards the Kido Butai.
Once the initial attack was beaten back, Yorktown herself launched all of her bombers which, accompanied by the second wave of planes leaving Enterprise, reached their targets unopposed.

Yorktown's dive-bombers attacked Sōryū, making three lethal hits with 1,000 pounds (450 kg) bombs and setting her on fire. Enterprise's planes, meanwhile, hit Akagi and Kaga, heavily damaging the former and destroying the latter in a terrible explosion. The bombs from the Dauntlesses caught all of the Japanese carriers in the midst of refueling and rearming operations, causing devastating fires and explosions.

Three of the four Japanese carriers had been destroyed. The fourth, Hiryū, separated from her doomed sisters, launched a striking force of 18 "Val" bombers and soon located Yorktown.

Being in the middle of refueling her CAP, Yorktown was forced to emergency launch half empty planes in a desperate attempt to ward off the incoming attack. Deck crew scrambled to empty fuel valves, pushed an auxiliary fuel tank overboard to reduce fire risk and prepared for the worst. Below deck, all watertight compartments were sealed and the boilers run as hot as they could, providing more power to the propellers.

Air patrols of Enterprise and Hornet rushed to aid their comrades in the defense of Yorktown but arrived to late.
They had to watch helplessly as three "Vals" scored hits. Two of them were shot down soon after releasing their bomb loads; the third went out of control just as his bomb left the rack. It tumbled in flight and hit just abaft the number two elevator on the starboard side, exploding on contact and blasting a hole about 10 feet (3 m) square in the flight deck.

Fragments piercing the flight deck hit three planes on the hangar deck, starting fires. One of the aircraft, a Yorktown Dauntless, was fully fueled and carrying a 1,000 pounds (450 kg) bomb. Only the fast actions of the crew prevented an internal detonation that would have doomed the carrier then and there. Activating the sprinkler system, the flames were doused.

The second bomb to hit the ship came from the port side, pierced the flight deck, and exploded in the lower part of the funnel, in effect a classic "down the stack shot."
It ruptured the uptakes for three boilers, disabled two boilers, and extinguished the fires in five more boilers.
Despite having taking losses and damage themselves, the men at Number One boiler remained at their post and kept it alight, maintaining enough steam pressure to allow the auxiliary steam systems to function.

A third bomb hit the carrier from the starboard side, pierced the side of number one elevator and exploded on the fourth deck, starting a persistent fire in the rag storage space, adjacent to the forward gasoline stowage and the magazines. The prior precaution of smothering the gasoline system with carbon dioxide undoubtedly prevented the gasoline from igniting.

Captain Buckmaster was later quoted to have said that "The training and selfless dedication of the crew had prevented the worst".

Due to the damage taken to the boilers, Yorktown crawled to a halt, dead in the water. The lone remaining boiler just enough to keep auxiliary systems running. Repairs began 20 minutes after the first bomb impact and lasted only one hour.

Only due to the fact that Boiler 1 was still burning, the damage control systems of the carrier kept functioning and the other boilers could be reignited with leeched pressure from boiler 1.

Still smoking heavily, the captain ordered the American Flag to be hoisted on the fore mast in order to rally his battered crew, something that according to witnesses worked perfectly.

Only minutes after finally picking up speed again, Yorktown spotted a new wave of incoming fighters, this time "Kate" torpedo bombers

The ship maneuvered frantically and avoided two incoming torpedoes and the continued AA fire as well as the Wildcat fighters of the CAP managed to down three incoming bombers.
It was not enough.

Yorktown was hit by two torpedoes on her port side, only seconds from each other. The detonation rocked the mighty carrier. Damage crews reported that the fires in all boilers had been doused due to flooding or damages, which meant the fire suppression system and the emergency pumps were inoperable. Yorktown was dead in the water and taking on a list to port. Without the boilers, rescue efforts were deemed impossible and when the list became so severe that capsizing was imminent, the captain ordered to abandon ship in an attempt to save the lives of as many sailors as possible.

Over the next few minutes the crew lowered the wounded into life rafts and struck out for the nearby destroyers and cruisers to be picked up by their boats, abandoning ship in good order. After the evacuation of all wounded, the executive officer, Commander Irving D. Wiltsie, left the ship down a line on the starboard side. Captain Buckmaster, meanwhile, toured the ship one last time, to see if any men remained. After finding no "live personnel", Buckmaster lowered himself into the water by means of a line over the stern, by which time water was lapping the port side of the hangar deck

He later transferred his flag to the cruiser Astoria after having been picked up by the destroyer Hammann.

While efforts to save Yorktown had been proceeding apace, her planes were still in action, joining those from Enterprise in striking the last Japanese carrier Hiryū late that afternoon. Taking four direct hits, the Japanese carrier was soon helpless. She was abandoned by her crew and left to drift out of control.

With the destruction of the Kido Butai, the US forces once again attempted to salvage the stricken carrier. Buckmaster selected 29 officers and 141 men to return to the ship in an attempt to save her. Five destroyers formed an antisubmarine screen while the salvage party boarded the listing carrier on the morning of 6 June. The destroyer Hammann moored herself alongside Yorktown, providing the ship with emergency electricity from her own boilers. Damage crews boarded Yorktown and began work. With pumps working again and fires mostly under control, things looked good and preparations were made to tow the massive ship back to Pearl.

Soon, the fleet tug USS Vireo took Yorktown (with Hammann still attached) under tow.

Unknown to Yorktown and the six nearby destroyers, however, Japanese submarine I-168 had discovered the disabled carrier and achieved a favorable firing position. Due to debris in the water, the submarine was not spotted in time and was able to fire four torpedoes at the carrier.

Three torpedoes hit. Two detonated against Yorktown's hull, having passed right below Hammann, while one torpedo struck the destroyer itself, breaking it in half. The depth charges. carried by Hammann detonated shortly after, killing most of the survivors in the water.

The remaining destroyers initiated a search for the enemy submarine (which escaped), and commenced rescue operations for Hammann survivors and the Yorktown salvage crew. Vireo cut the tow and doubled back to assist in rescue efforts.

Throughout the night of 6 June and into the morning of 7 June, Yorktown remained afloat, despite the massive damage she had taken; but by 05:30 on 7 June, observers noted that her list was rapidly increasing to port. Shortly afterwards, the ship turned over onto her port side, and lay that way, revealing the massive torpedo hole in her starboard bilge, the result of the submarine attack. Captain Buckmaster's American flag was still flying above water.

Eye witnesses described the scenes that followed "All ships half-mastered their colors in salute; all hands who were topside took off their caps and helmets, then came to attention, with tears in their eyes. Two patrolling PBY Catalina search planes that had taken part in the submarine hunt appeared overhead and dipped their wings in a final salute to the big lady. "

Two hours after her turning on her side, USS Yorktown rolled further and began to slowly sink, stern first.
Those who attended noted that the Yorktown went quietly and with enormous dignity "like the great lady she was"

In all, Yorktown's sinking on 7 June 1942 claimed the lives of 141 of her officers and crewmen.

After the loss of the Yorktown, an Essex-class carrier, under construction at the time was renamed to Yorktown (from his originally intended name Bonhomme Richard) in honor of the "Fighting Lady" and her crew.

On 19 May 1998, the wreck of Yorktown was found and photographed by oceanographer Dr. Robert Ballard, discoverer of the wrecks of the RMS Titanic and the German battleship Bismarck.
To his surprise he noted that the wreck of Yorktown, 3 miles (5 km) beneath the surface, was sitting upright on the bottom, having rolled upright again during her descent and being in excellent condition although she had spent 56 years on the deep-sea floor.