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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060
Online Library of Selected Images:
-- EVENTS -- World War II in the Pacific --
Battle of the Coral Sea, 7-8 May 1942 --
Damage to USS Yorktown, 8 May 1942
The same Japanese air attack that fatally injured USS Lexington
also hit the carrier Yorktown (CV-5). The more smaller
and more nimble Yorktown evaded several enemy torpedoes
that came her way, but she was dented and punctured by dive bombers'
near misses off her port side amidships and off the starboard
bow. More seriously, a third bomb hit the flight deck near the
after end of the island, penetrated five decks down into the ship
and exploded above the fourth deck. Its blast and the resulting
fires killed and injured dozens of crewmen.
Fires were controlled quickly and Yorktown's effectiveness
was not seriously harmed. However, structural damage was serious
enough to require correction at the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard during
the ship's two day emergency repair period late in May. The near
miss damage amidships also needed shipyard attention, as it had
ruptured fuel tanks, producing a highly visible oil slick.
This page features views relating to damage received by USS
Yorktown on 8 May 1942.
For links to other Battle of the Coral Sea photographs taken
on 8 May 1942, see:
Events of 8 May 1942.
For links to additional pictorial coverage on the Battle
of the Coral Sea, see:
Battle of the Coral Sea, 7-8 May
1942 -- Overview and Special Image Selection.
Click on the small photograph to prompt
a larger view of the same image.
Photo #: NH 95572
USS Yorktown (CV-5)
View of the underside of her flight deck structure, showing the
impact hole made by the Japanese bomb that struck the ship amidships
during the Battle of Coral Sea, 8 May 1942. This bomb penetrated
several decks before exploding, killing or seriously injuring
66 crewmen.
This view looks upward, with a patch over the flight deck visible
within the hole. Note structural beam in lower part of the photo,
distorted by the bomb's passage.
Copied from USS Yorktown war damage report of 20 May 1942.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
Online Image: 70KB; 740 x 535 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 95573
USS Yorktown (CV-5)
View of damage on the third and fourth decks, amidships, caused
by a 250 kilogram bomb hit received during the Battle of Coral
Sea, 8 May 1942.
This view looks forward and to starboard from the ship's centerline
at frame 110. The photographer is in compartment C-301-L, shooting
down through the third deck into compartment C-402-A. The large
hole in the deck was made by the bomb's explosion. Many men were
killed or badly injured in C-301-L, a crew's messing space that
was the assembly area for the ship's engineering repair party.
Copied from USS Yorktown war damage report of 20 May 1942.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
Online Image: 82KB; 740 x 525 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 95297
Lieutenant Milton Ernest Ricketts, USN (1913-1942)
Halftone photograph copied from Medal of Honor, The Navy.
Lt. Ricketts was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for
heroism during the Battle of Coral Sea, 8 May 1942.
He was in charge of a USS Yorktown (CV-5) damage control
party that suffered many casualties from a bomb explosion. Despite
mortal wounds, Lt. Rickets deployed a fire hose and successfully
contained the resulting fire before he died.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
Online Image: 172KB; 640 x 765 pixels |
 |
For links to other Battle of the Coral Sea photographs taken
on 8 May 1942, see:
Events of 8 May 1942.
For links to additional pictorial coverage on the Battle
of the Coral Sea, see:
Battle of the Coral Sea, 7-8 May
1942 -- Overview and Special Image Selection.
Return to Naval
Historical Center home page.
Page made 25 July 2000
Coding updated 6 May 2001