they were designed to be the best
they met enemies face to face
endure tragedies and enjoy victories
they went down in history due to the bravery of their crews
they are the ships that deserve to be called
naval legends
in this episode
USS Yorktown
pride of US Navy
on December 7th 1941 Japan attacked US naval vessels moored at Pearl Harbor
without a declaration of war the majority the US fleet station there was sunk or disabled
the main strike was delivered by Japanese planes
brought to Hawaii by aircraft carriers
the attack signal the United States
entry into World War two
the assault on Pearl Harbor showed that powerful arm the battleships
ceased to be the main naval force
the US navy needed a fleet of aircraft carriers
to successfully operate in the Pacific Ocean
the lead ship from a new class USS Essex
was laid down in April 1941
the USS Yorktown cv5 that bravely fought the Japanese
and was sunk during the Battle of Midway served as prototype for the new class
the second ship initially named Bon Homme Richard
was then renamed USS Yorktown to honor her predecessor
when designing the Essex class
American engineers took shortcomings from earlier carriers into
consideration the New Yorktown was bigger
had increased anti-aircraft armament powerful air group
and host other new features
USS Yorktown was commissioned in 1943 at Newport News Virginia
and where she left for her sea trials in the Atlantic
and then she was sent to the Pacific theater of operations
from 1943 through the end of the war in 1945
length 266 meter
beam 54 meters
height almost 25 meters
total displacement 36200 tons
draft about 8,4 meters
anti-aircraft artillery 12 times 127 mm
mark 12 guns 17 times quadruple Bofors mark two 40 mm
51 times Oerlicon mark.4 20 mm
armor belt 64 to 102 mm
pilot house roof 37 mm
air group up to a 100 aircraft
F6F Hellcat destroyers
SB2C Helldiver Bombers
TBF Avenger torpedo bombers
propulsion 8 times boilers from Babcock & Wilcox
4 times Westinghouse geared steam turbines
power 150000 horsepower
maximum speed 32.7 knots
range 15,000 nautical miles
at 15 knots
Yorktown is one of the heavy strike aircraft carriers Essex Class
Constructed by the US during world war 2
the US Navy Commission 17 ships at this class between 1942 and 1945
In total, 24 Essex class aircraft carriers were built
It was the first time in history vessels that size were mass-produced
the USS Essex first the class receive the hull numbers CV-9
USS Yorktown built later was assigned CV-10
USS Yorktown was commissioned on the 15th of April 1943
Captain Joseph Clock commanded the ship during her sea trials
and first training air group flights
Yorktown lacked thick armor and powerful main guns but aircraft carrier does not need either
she stays away from the line of fire
and uses her air group to attack the enemy
Yorktown launched aircraft from to catapult on the flight deck
one was located port and the other starboard
the catapults were operated from below decks
These big tanks here to store all the hydraulic fluid that was needed
to propel the piston
this thing would be pulled
tight
and then the hydraulic fluid would be pumped
into the cylinder and which would push the bar all away forward
and these cable with run backward
and then it would propel the aircraft off the flight deck that very intricate very
complicated because you had cable
that would running through the show to get to the flight deck
compared to her predecessor Yorktown was faster
And could go 3,000 miles farther
another important advantage of Yorktown was the independent work for four engine boiler rooms
she was the first aircraft carrier to have this feature
each machine had boiler and turbine rooms
in the event of loss of three machines
the ship could still function properly with one remaining engine boiler room
this is their boiler right here the you something called bunker oil
which is very very thick like a pudding
they have to heat it before to the boiler
they could burn it then and then that would heat up the steam the water into steam which will go into the next room for to run the turbines
Crew quarter on Yorktown was situated very close to workshops
which could cause serious problems in the event the ship was hit
special attention was paid to the safety of the ship and her crew
all of Yorktown's ordinance was stored on the lower decks at the cabin
in case of a fire these compartments could be easily flooded
to prevent explosions
A bomb would be brought up from the bunker down below
any would be brought and the bomb would be assembled on a on a carrier
and they would put the the fins on the back to the bomb
they will put that against the bomb itself but they wouldn't put the fuse in
the fuse would be waiting for them already up
on the flight deck because if you put a fuse in a bomb
there's the possibility that the bomb would explode in damage the carrier
all the carrier’s decks have their own damage control compartments
which gave access to venting and fire fighting systems
another important issue was the safety of the ship and her crew
in case the ship was struck by enemy bomb or torpedo
right here in 1944
A bomb actually went through here and then went down the side the ship exploded on the whole
The systems with special escape hatches were designed
to save the lives of the crew
if the ship was hit below the waterline sailors could abandon the damaged
or flooding compartment and climb up to the next level
once all the crew members were safe the hatches to the department was sealed shot
the pilot house have direct control of the ship
the control station gathered all the information about ship status
such as heading and speed
Yorktown also had several backup control rooms
it tells everything it reads same way
as it does up in a bridge the revolutions, the direction,
the shaft speed it's all here
and the shaft can be controlled from here
in the fall of 1943 the aircraft carrier took part in her first major operation
near the Gilbert Islands, the Battle of Tarawa
later in the beginning in 1944 the ship support the invasion of the Marshall Islands
and attacked Japanese air force bases on Guam
USS Yorktown another Essex class aircraft carriers
became a US Navy's main weapon in the Pacific theater of operations during world war 2
they participated in nearly every operation in the pacific
the ships were considered so dangerous by the Japanese they were frequently
selected his targets by kamikaze pilots
Yorktown was lucky enough to avoid them
USS Bunker Hill for example sustained heavy damage after a kamikaze attack
Despite the extensive damage Bunker Hill survives
the Essex class vessels were incredibly durable ships
in fact none of these ships were ever sunk by the Japanese
on April the first 1945
the assault on the Okinawa Island began over the course of the next six weeks
Yorktowns aircraft provided continuous Air Support to troops landing on the island
every 3 days the ship would leave the battlefield
to refuel and resupply
this routine was broken only once when Yorktown received the order
to repel the attack with the famous Japanese battleship Yamato
the flagship for the Combined Imperial Japanese Navy
by 1945 the Japanese Navy was on the brink of destruction
the high command was forced to resort to extreme measures
Yamato was tasked with repealing the attack to the US aviation
and defend the Ryukyu Island against invasion
it was effectively a suicide mission
as the ships did not have enough fuel to come back from Okinawa
on April 27 Yorktown together with the other carriers of Task Force 58
advance to intercept the Japanese ships that by the steel monster Yamato
after two waves of attack took the US aircraft Yamato seemed invincible
Yorktown participated in the final two attacks on the Japanese battleship
on her first wave
Yorktown's aircraft managed to destroy most Yamato's gun batteries
and damage the engine room and the battleship lost maneuvering control
after more than 20 direct torpedo and bomb hits
Yamato began to this as earnest increased she capsized
and ammunition stores detonated a monstrous blast tore the ship apart
a smoke billow rose up to four miles even crew members on Yorktown
some tens of miles away from the battle could see the effect to the explosion
the destruction of Yamato established the defeat to the Japanese Navy
Japan did not have large battleships anymore
the Land of the Rising Sun was powerless to stop the US Navy in the pacific
after sinking Yamato, Yorktown's Air Group participate
in a bombing at the Cure Naval Base
the military targets near Tokyo
Yorktown received 11 battle stars for her service in the pacific
she was decommission in the beginning of the 1947
Mothballed for 5 years the ship then went on several modernizations
and was recommissioned in 1953
the newly modernized Yorktown assume different roles
ranging from a movie set to a flagship during a large scale US Navy deployment in the Pacific
in 1965 she participated in combat operations again
this time in South China Sea during the Vietnam War
towards the end of her military service Yorktown served as the recovery ship for Apollo 8 space station
in 1970 the old town was decommissioned
and in 1975 she was formally opened as a museum in Charleston, South Carolina
where she remains to this day
the purpose of the Yorktown being here is to perpetuate the memories
and sacrifices of those who served on this vessel
and to make it more interactive than it has been in the past
and the young people will see more about the history and they will enjoy it more