At nearly 900 feet in length, weighing in at more than 27,000 ton and bristling with weapons and war planes,
the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown (CV-10) was one of the most imposing modern marvels on the planet during WWII.
But it was her crew, some 2,500 sailors, who brought her to life, generated her fearless spirit and christened her
with the nickname The Fighting Lady.
CV-10’s keel was laid on December 1, 1941 at Newport News, Virginia. This was a new breed of ship; the Essex class
carrier. Longer, wider and heavier than its predecessor, the Essex class could hold more aircraft and became the
backbone of the WWII Navy. Originally, CV-10 was to be known as the Bon Homme Richard but was renamed in honor of the
only American carrier lost in the pivotal Battle of Midway, USS Yorktown (CV-5).
Launched by First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, this new Yorktown would take on Japanese forces in epic battles; the Battle
of the Philippine Sea, the Marshall Islands, Truk, The Mariana Islands; Iwo Jima, to name a few. And in the open
waters of the Pacific Yorktown became a target of desperate Kamikaze missions.
Yorktown and her valiant crew would earn many honors for extraordinary heroism including the Presidential Unit
Citation.
In the years that followed WWII, continued to play a vital role for the Navy including involvement in the Vietnam War.
Yorktown even earned a place in space exploration history with the recovery of NASA’s Apollo 8 crew in 1968.
To find out more about the history of USS Yorktown (CV-10) we invite you to visit
Naval Historical Center as well as
the USS Yorktown Association. To learn more about historic naval ships throughout the United States we invite you to visit the Historic Naval Ships Association website. |
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The USS Yorktown participated in the recovery of NASA's Apollo 8 crew in 1968.
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