Battle of Midway - Part 2

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Destroyer Escorts

The Yorktown class was the successor of the Ranger, and the second purpose-build class of US carriers.
To the class's history. The class was generally based on Ranger, but it had superior ability. As Ranger was still designed with a big sidelook towards the battlewagons of the fleet, her top-speed was only slightly higher than theirs. Yorktown, however, was supposed to go along with cruisers; her top-speed exceeded Ranger's by four knots, an achievement created by the doubling of horse power in it's powerplants (speed-Hp ratio is not linear). 
Their superstructure, like on theLexingtons, was dominated by a smokestack, although Yorktowns stack was more properly placed in the superstructure. 

These ships were most durable. Each of them suffered damage at a number of occasions, and although two of the class were sunk, they had had to
Yorktown, Enterprise and Hornet, at this time the only available carriers in the Pacific, stopped the tide of Japanese assaults during the Battle of Midway in June 1942. Yorktown, having served in the Coral Sea together with Lexington, was sunk at Midway, but had proven that her construction was a good one: she had suffered an attack by dive-bombers, was hit durng this attack by three bombs, but was soon again driving 20 knots and flying off fighters. She was then hit by a force of torpedo-bombers, scoring twice. Abandoned, by the very next day she was - although damage control had been lacking all night! - re-occupied by her crew. Only when a submarine found her was she sunk.  
Even more dramatic was the story of Hornet. She came to the Pacific in early 1942 from the Atlantic, and carried the B-25 Bombers during the famous Doolittle Raid. Upon returning to Hawaii, she was sent to Midway along with her sisters, then participated in the fights around Guadalcanal. Fighting in the Battle of Santa Cruz, she was hit by three waves of planes, and abandoned due to heavy fires aboard. Two US destroyers shelled her with 400 127mm shells, and fired sixteen torpedoes in her direction. However, none (!) of these torpedoes hit (says Anthony Preston, contrary to S.E.Morison's believe, who thinks eight torpedoes hit the ship, and Frank's figure of three hits). She was left behind, still swimming, and only sank after two Japanese destroyers put four of the deadly Long Lance torpedoes into her.

  
Enterprise meanwhile continued to serve the Navy. She participated, with mixed success, in the battles of the Eastern Solomons and Santa Cruz, suffering damage in both. At Santa Cruz, she showed the abilities of her SDBs once more, when two of them, on a scout mission, put two bombs into the flight-deck of Zuiho, forcing the Japanese flattop out of action. Her torpedo-bombers were instrumental in the sinking of Hiei, and were the final reason for the Japanese to leave the ship behind. She then served with success in the Central Pacific campaign, in the raids on Truk, and in the Battle of the Philippine Sea.

 
Her planes took part in the dusk strikes against the Japanese fleet, in course of which the carrier Hiyo was sunk.  
Her next assignment took her to further "island-hopping" campaigns and finally to the Battle of the Leyte Gulf, where her planes were part of the strike group hitting Admital Kurita Takeo's battleships in Sibuyan Sea. Her planes played a part in the sinking of Musashi. After that, she went north together with the rest of Admiral Halsey's fast carriers and helped in the destruction of Admiral Ozawa Jisaburo's deception force near Cape Engaņo.

  
After this last battle, Enterprise and the rest of the fast carriers fought down Japanese air forces on Formosa, Iwo Jima, Okinawa and finally Japan itself. In the course of these operations, Enterprise was hit three times, suffering major damage only once, on 11 May 1945, a hit which drove her home for fourteen weeks.  

Yorktown

The Yorktown hold a special place in Midway folklore. Damaged in the Battle of The Coral Sea, Yorktown was hastily prepared to engage at the Battle of Midway. At Midway, Yorktown took tremendous punishment.

Hit by bomb on the flight deck, creating a ten foot hole

Delayed action bomb knocked out 3 boilers

Bomb through an elevator, exploding next to the forward gasoline storage

Two torpedo hits, piercing fuel tanks and cutting off all power.

Hit by multiple torpedoes for the Japanese submarine I-168

With all this, the Yorktown still did not sink until the next day

A First Lady's Ship
The keel for the Yorktown was laid at Newport News Shipbuilding in Newport News, Virginia, in 1934. The U.S. was in the midst of the Great Depression, and funds from the Work Projects Administration—the WPA, created to make jobs for the jobless—helped to build the Yorktown. Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of the President, christened her in 1936, starting a new tradition: the naming of U.S. carriers after historic naval ships and battles.

Yorktown CV-5
Displ: 25,484 tons full load Dim: 761 x 83.25 x 21.75 ft
Extr: 809.5 x 83.25 x 21.75 ft
Prop: Steam turbines, 9 400 psi boilers, 4 shafts, 120,000 shp, 32.5 knots
Crew: 2,200
Arm: 8 single 5/38, 4 quad 1.1 inch AA, 24 .50 cal MG,
100 aircraft
Armor: 2.5-4 inch belt

Built by Newport News, laid down 21 May 1934, launched 4 April 1936, commissioned 30 Sept 1937.
Heavy damage at Coral Sea 8 May 1942, temporary repairs at Pearl Harbor, severely damaged at
Midway by bombs and torpedoes 4 June 1942, towing efforts failed, sunk 7 June 1942 by Japanese submarine.

Yorktown after Battle of Coral Sea

As Yorktown and her consorts retired from Coral Sea to lick their wounds, the situation in the Pacific stood altered. The Japanese had won a tactical victory, inflicting comparatively heavy losses on the Allied force, but the Allies, in stemming the tide of Japan's conquests in the South and Southwest Pacific, had achieved a strategic victory. They had blunted the drive toward strategic Port Moresby and had saved the tenuous life-line between America and Australia.

Yorktown had not achieved her part in the victory without cost, but had suffered enough damage to cause experts to estimate that at least three months in a yard would be required to put her back in fighting trim. Unfortunately, there was little time for repairs, because Allied intelligence-most notably the cryptographic unit at Pearl Harbor-had gained enough information from decoded Japanese naval messages to estimate that the Japanese were on the threshold of a major operation aimed at the northwestern tip of the Hawaiian chain-two islets in a low coral atoll known as Midway.

Thus armed with this intelligence, Admiral Nimitz began methodically planning Midway's defense, rushing all possible reinforcement in the way of men, planes and guns to Midway. In addition, he began gathering his naval forces-comparatively meager as they were-to meet the enemy at sea. As part of those preparations, he recalled TF 16, Enterprise and Hornet (CV-8), to Pearl Harbor for a quick replenishment.

Yorktown, too, received orders to return to Hawaii; and she arrived at Pearl Harbor on 27 May. Miraculously, yard workers there-laboring around the clock-made enough repairs to enable the ship to put to sea. Her air group-for the most part experienced but weary-was augmented by planes and flyers from Saratoga (CV-3) which was then headed for Hawaiian waters after her modernization on the west coast. Ready for battle, Yorktown sailed as the central ship of TF 17 on 30 May.

Northeast of Midway, Yorktown, flying Rear Admiral Fletcher's flag, rendezvoused with TF 16 under Rear Admiral Raymond A. Spruance and maintained a position 10 miles to the northward of the latter. Over the days that ensued, as the ships proceeded toward a date with destiny, few men realized that within the next few days the pivotal battle of the war in the Pacific would be fought.

Patrols, both from Midway itself and from the carriers, proceeded apace during those days in early June. On the morning of the 4th as dawn began to streak the eastern sky, Yorktown launched a 10-plane group of Dauntlesses from VB-5 which searched a northern semicircle for a distance of 100 miles out but found nothing.

Meanwhile, PBY's flying from Midway had sighted [537] the approaching Japanese and broadcast what turned out to be the alarm for the American forces defending the key atoll. Admiral Fletcher, in tactical command, ordered Admiral Spruance, with TF 16, to locate the enemy carrier force and strike them as soon as they were found.

Yorktown's search group returned at 0830, landing soon after the last of the six-plane CAP had left the deck. When the last of the Dauntlesses had landed, a flight deck ballet took place in which the deck was spotted for the launch of the ship's attack group-17 Dauntlesses from VB-3; 12 Devastators from VT-3, and six Wildcats from "Fighting Three." Enterprise and Hornet, meanwhile, launched their attack groups.

The torpedo planes from the three American flattops located the Japanese carrier striking force but met disaster. Of the 41 planes from VT-8, VT-6, and VT-3, only six returned to Enterprise and Yorktown, collectively. None made it back to Hornet.

The destruction of the torpedo planes, however, had served a purpose. The Japanese CAP had broken off their high-altitude cover for their carriers and had concentrated on the Devastators, flying low "on the deck." The skies above were thus left open for Dauntlesses arriving from Yorktown and Enterprise. Virtually unopposed, the SBD's dove to the attack. The results were spectacular.

Yorktown's dive-bombers pummeled Soryu, making three lethal hits with 1,000-pound bombs that turned the ship into a flaming inferno. Enterprise's planes, meanwhile, hit Akagi and Kaga-turning them, too into wrecks within a very short time. The bombs from the Dauntlesses caught all of the Japanese carriers in the midst of refueling and rearming operations, and the combination of bombs and gasoline proved explosive and disastrous to the Japanese.

Three Japanese carriers had been lost. A fourth however, still roamed at large-Hiryu. Separated from her sisters, that ship had launched a striking force of 18 "Vals" that soon located Yorktown.

As soon as the attackers had been picked up on Yorktown's radar at about 1329, she discontinued the fueling of her CAP fighters on deck and swiftly cleared for action. Her returning dive bombers were moved from the landing circle to open the area for antiaircraft fire. The Dauntlesses were ordered aloft to form a CAP. An auxiliary gasoline tank-of 800 gallons capacity-was pushed over the carrier's fantail, eliminating one fire hazard. The crew drained fuel lines and closed and secured all compartments

All of Yorktown's fighters were vectored out to intercept the oncoming: Japanese aircraft, and did so some 15 to 20 miles out. The Wildcats attacked vigorously, breaking up what appeared to be an organized attack by some 18 "Vale" and 18 "Zeroes." "Planes were flying in every direction," wrote Capt. Buckmaster after the action, "and many were falling in flames."

Yorktown and her escorts went to full speed and, as the Japanese raiders attacked, began maneuvering radically. Intense antiaircraft fire greeted the "Vals" and "Kates" as they approached their release points.

Despite the barrage, though, 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 number two elevator on the starboard side, exploding on contact and blasting a hole about 10 feet square in the flight deck. Splinters from the exploding bomb decimated the crews of the two 1.1-inch gun mounts aft of the island and on the flight deck below. 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-pound bomb. Prompt action by Lt. A. C. Emerson, the hangar deck officer, prevented a serious conflagration by releasing the sprinkler system and quickly extinguishing the fire.

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. It ruptured the uptakes for three boilers, disabled two boilers themselves, and extinguished the fires in five boilers. Smoke and gases began filling the firerooms of six boilers. The men at number one boiler, however, remained at their post despite their danger and discomfort and kept its fire going, 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 explode 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 CO, undoubtedly prevented the gasoline's igniting.

While the ship recovered from the damage inflicted by the dive-bombing attack, her speed dropped to six knots; and then-at 1440, about 20 minutes after the bomb hit that had shut down most of the boilers-York- town slowed to a stop, dead in the water.

At about 1540, Yorktown prepared to get underway again; and, at 1550, the engine room force reported that they were ready to make 20 knots or better. The ship was not yet out of the fight.

Simultaneously, with the fires controlled sufficiently to warrant the resumption of fueling operations, Yorktown began fueling the gasoline tanks of the fighters then on deck. Fueling had just commenced when the ship's radar picked up an incoming air group at a distance of 33 miles away. While the ship prepared for battle-again smothering gasoline systems and stopping the fueling of the planes on her flight deck-she vectored four of the six fighters of the CAP in the air to intercept the incoming raiders. Of the 10 fighters on board, eight had as much as 23 gallons of fuel in their tanks. They accordingly were launched as the remaining pair of fighters of the CAP headed out to intercept the Japanese planes.

At 1600, Yorktown churned forward, making 20 knots. The fighters she had launched and vectored out to intercept had meanwhile made contact, Yorktown received reports that the planes were "Kates." The Wildcats downed at least three of the attacking torpedo planes, but the rest began their approach in the teeth of a heavy antiaircraft barrage from the carrier and her escorts.

Yorktown maneuvered radically, avoiding at least two torpedoes before two "fish" tore into her port side within minutes of each other. The first hit at 1620. The carrier had been mortally wounded; she lost power and went dead in the water with a jammed rudder and an increasing list to port.

As the list progressed, Comdr. C. E. Aldrich, the damage control officer, reported from central station that, without power, controlling the flooding looked impossible. The engineering officer, Lt. Comdr. J. F. Delaney, soon reported that all fires were out; all power was lost; and. worse yet, it was impossible to correct the list. Faced with that situation, Capt. Buckmaster ordered Aldrich, Delaney, and their men to secure and lay up on deck to put on life jackets.

The list, meanwhile, continued to increase. When it reached 26 degrees, Buckmaster and Aldrich agreed that the ship's capsizing was only a matter of minutes. "In order to save as many of the ship's company as possible," the captain wrote later, he "ordered the ship to be abandoned."

Over the minutes that ensued, the crew left ship, lowering the wounded to life rafts and striking out for the nearby destroyers and cruisers to be picked up by boats from those ships. After the evacuation of all wounded, the executive officer, Comdr. I. D. Wiltsie, left the ship down a line on the starboard side. Capt. Buckmaster, meanwhile, toured the ship for one last time, inspecting her 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 that point, water was lapping the port side of the hangar deck.

Picked up by the destroyer Hammann (DD-412), Buckmaster was transferred to Astoria (CA-34) soon thereafter and reported to Rear Admiral Fletcher, who had shifted his flag to the heavy cruiser after the first dive-bombing attack. The two men agreed that a salvage party should attempt to save the ship since she had stubbornly remained afloat despite the heavy list and imminent danger of capsizing.

Interestingly enough, while the efforts to save Yorktown had been proceeding apace, her planes were still in action, joining those from Enterprise in striking the last Japanese carrier-Hiryu-late that afternoon. Taking four direct hits, the Japanese flattop was soon helpless. She was abandoned by her crew and left to drift out of control and manned only by her dead. Yorktown had been avenged.

Yorktown, as it turned out, floated through the night; two men were still alive on board her-one attracted attention by firing a machine gun that was heard by the sole attending destroyer, Hughes. The escort picked up the men, one of whom later died.

Meanwhile, Buckmaster had 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, the fire in the rag storage still smoldering on the morning of the 6th. Vireo (AT-144), summoned from Pearl and Hermes Reef, soon commenced towing the ship. Progress, though, was painfully slow. Yorktown's repair party went on board with a carefully predetermined plan of action to be carried out by men from each department-damage control, gunnery air engineering, navigation, communication, supply and medical. To assist in the work, Lt. Comdr. Arnold E. True brought his ship, Hammann, alongside to starboard, aft, furnishing pumps and electric power.

By mid-afternoon, it looked as if the gamble to save the ship was paying off. The process of reducing topside weight was proceeding well-one 5-inch gun had been dropped over the side, and a second was ready to be cast loose; planes had been pushed over the side; the submersible pumps (powered by electricity provided by Hammann) had pumped out considerable quantities of water from the engineering spaces. The efforts of the salvage crew had reduced the list about two degrees.

Unknown  to the Yorktown and the six nearby destroyers the Japanese submarine I-168 had achieved a favorable firing position. Remarkably-but perhaps understandable in light of the debris and wreckage in the water in the vicinity-none of the destroyers picked up the approaching I-boat. Suddenly, at 1536, lookouts spotted a salvo of four torpedoes churning toward the ship from the starboard beam.

Hammann went to general quarters, a 20-millimeter gun going into action in an attempt to explode the "fish" in the water. One torpedo hit Hammann-her screws churning the water beneath her fantail as she tried to get underway-directly amidships and broke her back. The destroyer jackknifed and went down rapidly. Two torpedoes struck Yorktown just below the turn of the bilge at the after end of the island structure. The fourth torpedo passed just astern of the carrier.

Approximately a minute after Hammann's stern disappeared beneath the waves, an explosion rumbled up from the depths-possibly caused by the destroyer's depth charges going off. The blast killed many of Hammann's and a few of Yorktown's men who had been thrown into the water. The concussion battered the already-damaged carrier's hull and caused tremendous shocks that carried away Yorktown's auxiliary generator, sent numerous fixtures from the hangar deck overhead crashing to the deck below; sheared rivets in the starboard leg of the foremast; and threw men in every direction, causing broken bones and several minor injuries.

Prospects for immediate resumption of salvage work looked grim, since all destroyers immediately commenced searches for the enemy submarine (which escaped) and commenced rescuing men from Hammann and Yorktown. Capt. Buckmaster decided to postpone further attempts at salvage until the following day.

Vireo cut the towline and doubled back to Yorktown to pick up survivors, taking on board many men of the salvage crew while picking up men from the water. The little ship endured a terrific pounding from the larger ship but nevertheless stayed alongside to carry out her rescue mission. Later, while on board the tug, Capt. Buckmaster conducted a burial service, two officers and an enlisted man from Hammann were committed to the deep.

The second attempt at salvage, however, would never be made. Throughout the night of the 6th and into the morning of the 7th, Yorktown remained stubbornly afloat. By 0530 on the 7th, however, the men in the ships nearby noted that the carrier's list was rapidly increasing to port. As if tired, the valiant flattop turned over at 0701 on her port side and sank in 3,000 fathoms of water, her battle flags flying.

Yorktown (CV-5) earned three battle stars for her World War II service; two of them being for the significant part she had played in stopping Japanese expansion and turning the tide of the war at Coral Sea and at Midway.

(CV-6: dp. 19,800; 1. 809'6"; b. 83'1"; cw. 114'; dr. 28',s. 33 k.; cpl. 2919; a. 8 5", 38 cal.; cl. Yorktown)

The seventh Enterprise (CV-6) was launched 3 October 1936 by Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Co., Newport News, Va, sponsored by Mrs. Claude A. Swanson, wife of the Secretary of the Navy; and commissioned 12 May 1938, Captain N. H. White in command.

The USS Enterprise was a Yorktown Class Aircraft carrier, She was the sixth carrier built by the US Navy and was commissioned on 5/12/38. She participated in every major battle in the pacific except Coral Sea as she was escorting the Hornet on the Dolittle Raid. The Enterprise many times held the line alone in the pacific. She was the most decorated ship in US History. She Earned 20 Battlestars, Sank 72 ships and destroyed 911 planes. She recieved the Presidential & Navy unit Citations

The carrier entered Pearl Harbor on 26 May and began intensive preparations to meet the expected Japanese thrust at Midway Island. Two days later she sortied as flagship of Rear Admiral Raymond A. Spruance, CTF 16, with orders "to hold Midway and inflict maximum damage on the enemy by strong attrition tactics." With Enterprise in TF 16 were Hornet, 6 cruisers, and 10 destroyers. On 30 May, TF 17, Rear Admiral Frank J. Fletcher in Yorktown (CV-5), with two cruisers, and six destroyers, sailed to support TF 16; as senior officer, Rear Admiral Fletcher became "Officer in Tactical Command."

Battle was joined on the morning of 4 June 1942 when four Japanese carriers, unaware of the presence of U.S. forces, launched attacks on Midway Island. Just 3 hours after the first bomb fell on Midway, planes from Hornet struck the enemy force, and 30 minutes later Enterprise and Yorktown aircraft streaked in to join in smashing the Japanese carriers. Each side hurled attacks at the other during the day in one of history's most decisive battles. Though the forces were in contact to 7 June, by the end of the 4th the outcome had been decided and the tide of the war in the Pacific had been turned in the United States' favor. Yorktown and Hammann (DD412) were the only United States ships sunk, but TFs 16 and 17 lost a total of 113 planes, 61 of them in combat, during the battle. Japanese losses, far more severe, consisted of 4 carriers, 1 cruiser, and 272 carrier aircraft. Enterprise and all other ships of TFs 16 and 17 came through undamaged, returning to Pearl Harbor on 13 June 1942

Sinking of the Yorktown and the Destroyer USS Hammann DD 412

By The Japanese Submarime I.168

I.168 (ex 1.68) in a pre-war photo.

Based upon the information received on June 5 from Chikuma's No.4 scout and planning on making first contact at dawn on June 6, CDR Yahachi Tanabe moved I.168 into position. At 0410, a lookout spotted a "black spot starboard ahead!" Within a few moments Tanabe identified Yorktown 20,000 meters away. Tanabe spotted the first two destroyers at 0600, so he submerged and slowed to three knots. As he closed, he counted a total of seven destroyers circling about 1000 meters away. (Actually, there were only six. The seventh was the minesweeper Vireo, which had taken Yorktown in tow.)

Five minutes after Tanabe's sighting, the salvage party re-boarded Yorktown in the continuing effort to save the ship. Some of the party started their work by extinguishing the last of the fires (in the rag storage compartment) and determine the extent of the damage below the waterline. Others began to get rid of weight on the port side and push those planes that were left on board overboard in an effort to correct her list. CAPT Buckmaster ordered Hammann back along side to provide houses to pump water from the stricken carrier and to provide food and water for the salvage party.

Tanabe's next periscope observation was made at 15,000 meters, prompting him to order his crew to prepare for depth charges. It was also during this and subsequent observations that Tanabe noticed Yorktown was drifting (she was actually being towed), but he couldn't tell at what direction or speed. He did know that the movement of the carrier meant he would have to attack from starboard instead of the port attack he had hope to carry out. So he put the scope down and steered by chart and sound for the next few hours.

At 1237 Tanabe raised the periscope and found he was only 500 meters away from Yorktown, so close that his torpedoes would travel under the target. He also was now well inside the circle of destroyers. So he lowered the periscope, moved away from the carrier, again navigated through the labyrinth of destroyers.

When Tanabe looked again, he was 1500 meters from Yorktown, which was just about the perfect distance. At about 1330, I.168 launched two, two torpedo spreads. Monaghan spotted the torpedoes first, and used the talk between ship (TBS) circuit to warn Yorktown. Next to spot the torpedoes was the helpless Hammann, still moored next to the carrier, less than 1,000 yards off the starboard beam. The alarm was sounded on Yorktown at 1335- machine guns blazing- as the first torpedo struck the Hammann and broke her back. The next two passed under the destroyer and struck Yorktown at "frame 85 on starboard side". The fourth torpedo passed astern of Yorktown.

Until the time of I.168's attack, it looked very much like Yorktown would be saved. The fire in the rag storage compartment had been extinguished. Pumps had transferred water from the third deck on port side to the fourth deck on starboard, effectively counter flooding the carrier in spite of her lack of power. Other pumps in the aft engine room were removing water from that compartment and depositing it overboard. Still more pumps aboard Hammann transferred water from the destroyer into Yorktown's empty starboard fuel tanks. All of this hard work, plus the lessening of topside weight, had reduced Yorktown's list from 26 to 22 degrees.

Hammann sank in three minutes. LCDR Arnold E. True, Hammann's CO, broke a rib and lost his wind. Therefore it was her XO, LT Ralph W. Elden, that ordered all hands to abandon ship. Misery for her crew, and Yorktown, was added when her depth charges went off at three levels. The depth charges and torpedo killed nine officers and seventy-two crewmen, wounded several others and weakened Yorktown's hull further. Most of the work done by the salvage party over the last two days was undone in a few horrible seconds. Water began pouring into the ship through the new holes in the hull. The effect actually lessened the carriers list futher- to about 17 degrees. Fearing Yorktown might sink rapidly, Vireo order the tow line cut and doubled back to begin rescuing the survivors.

Depth charging began about 1335 by Gwin, Monaghan and Hughes, with I.168 heading straight for Yorktown. Balch and Benham commenced rescuing the crew of Hammann and the salvage party. For the first hour or so, the destroyers dashed around like angry bees, with their depth charges continuing to damage Yorktown's tender hull. It was not until about 1445 that they first stung, as two depth charges shook Tanabe and his crew. For the next two hours, I.168 battled American destroyers, decreasing oxygen, decreasing power, and chlorine gas. At 1640, when I.168 began to surface, Tanabe decided to let her. He ordered:"Prepare the guns and machine guns for firing. Surface quickly and open fire."

As his boat came to the surface, Tanabe quickly headed to the bridge, only to find three destroyers circling 10,000 meters away. American records show these ships as Benham, Monaghan and Hughes. Tanabe saw no other ships, and concluded he sank Yorktown. After a few minutes the destroyers spotted the sub and turned towards it. With the batteries exhausted, there was nothing to do but try to run as long as possible. He also wired the Rengo Kantai:"We sank Yorktown"

Tanabe and his crew, however, was in quite a dilemma. The electric motor could not be used and he didn't have enough oxygen to submerge, and lookouts kept reporting the destroyers were closing. Soon shells began to splash in the water around the sub. An inquiry by Tanabe into the amount of air in the tanks brought a response of "eighty kgs". He immediately submerged his boat. More good news soon followed from engineering:"The motor can be used" In addition, the depth charging became more and more distant. At 1850, Tanabe triumphantly surfaced his boat. His crew had not eaten or drank for thirteen hours, except for the traditional victory cup at the sound of the torpedo explosions. He and his crew could now celebrate the sinking of an aircraft carrier.

Contrary to Tanabe's initial report, Yorktown had not yet sunk. In fact, the two torpedoes corrected Yorktown's list from 26 to 17degrees. Buckmaster informed CinCPAC of the submarine attack and optimistically stated "with help we will bring her in..." In addition, he requested air cover. Although his salvage party was removed, Buckmaster hoped to start his work again on the morning of June 7. At 2000, Balch, Benham, Gwin and Vireo began circling Yorktown, to be joined by Monaghan and Hughes after midnight. Workers did not lose hope until nearly dawn, and Yorktown, according to CAPT Buckmaster's report to CinCPAC, "turned over... and sank in about 3000 fathoms of water..." at 0458 on June 7. With the end of Yorktown, her escorts set off for Pearl Harbor, and the most important battle to date had come to an end.

One final problem needed to be overcome before I.168 could get back to Japan. She didn't have enough fuel to get back! The Japanese were so confident of victory that Tanabe was told he could refuel at Midway after the battle. By using only two engines on the trip, I.168 made it back with 800 kgs. of fuel to spare.

I-68, a 1400-ton "6A Type" submarine, was built at Kure, Japan. Completed in June 1934, she was renamed I-168 in May 1942. On 6 June 1942, during the Battle of Midway, this submarine torpedoed the already crippled aircraft carrier USS Yorktown (CV-5) and the destroyer USS Hammann (DD-412), sinking the latter immediately and the carrier the following morning. I-168 was herself sunk in the South Pacific on or about 27 July 1943, perhaps by USS Scamp (SS-277).

Hammann DD-412

(DD-412; dp. 1120; 1. 348' 4"; b. 36'1"; dr. 11'5"; s. 35k.; cpl. 192; a. 4 5", 8 21" tt.; cl. Sims )

The first Hammann (DD-412) was launched by the Federal Shipbuilding & Drydock Co., Kearny, N.J., 4 February 1939; sponsored by Miss Lillian Hammann; and commissioned 11 August 1939, Comdr. A. E. True in command.

Hammann conducted shakedown off the East Coast and for the next 2 years participated in training and readiness operations off both coasts. At Iceland 7 December 1941 when war began, she quickly returned to Norfolk, Va., for fuel and supplies. and departed 6 January 1942 for the Pacific. She arrived San Francisco 22 January via the Panama Canal and sailed 25 February with Vice Admiral Fletcher's Task Force 17 for action in the South Pacific.

The destroyer took part in training maneuvers in the New Caledonia area during early March, and on the 27th the Task Force departed for the Coral Sea. Hammann acted as screening ship and plane guard for Lexington Returning to Tongatabu 20 April, the Task Force sortied again into the Coral Sea 27 April for a surprise air raid on Japanese invasion forces on Tulagi.

While screening the carriers during the air raids on 4 May, Hammann was directed to rescue two fighter pilots downed on Guadalcanal, some 40 miles to the north. Steaming at full speed, the destroyer arrived at dusk and sighted a marker on the beach, which proved to be a parachute. The motor whaleboat was put over the side but dangerous surf prevented it from landing. Consequently, the pilots were recovered with the use oil lines from the boat. This accomplished, an attempt was made to destroy the wreckage of the aircraft, but the rough water made this impossible; Hammann returned to Lexington screen from this successful operation that night.

Four days later, 8 May, came the main action of the Battle of the Coral Sea, the first naval engagement fought entirely on both sides between aircraft and ships. During the exchange of air attacks, Hammann screened the carriers, firing furiously at Japanese torpedo planes as they attacked. Just as the torpedo planes retired, dive bombers appeared, one exploding a bomb a scant 200 yards off Hammann's starboard bow. Lexington, which had taken two devastating torpedo hits to port, was first thought to be under control, but a large internal explosion shortly before 1300, followed later by others, sealed her fate. As the order was given to abandon ship, Hammann, Morris and Anderson stood by to receive survivors. The destroyer picked up nearly 500 men from the water before the gallant "Lady Lex" went down the night of 8 May, torpedoed by destroyer Phelps.

The Battle of the Coral Sea, that checked the Japanese advance to the southeast was over, but new demands called far to the north. Under urgent orders from Admiral Nimitz to meet a new threat, Hammann steamed with the Task Force at high speed to Pearl Harbor, arriving 27 May. Working feverishly to repair and replenish the force got underway 30 May to take part in one Or the decisive battles of history, Midway. Steaming to meet the overwhelming Japanese fleet, the carriers with their protecting destroyers and cruisers, sped to the northeast Just in time. No better example exists in the war of the flexibility and mobility of naval power and the great results that can follow.

During the great air battle of 4 June, Hammann screened Yorktown, helping to shoot down many of the attacking aircraft. But the carrier took two torpedo hits and, listing heavily, was abandoned that afternoon. Hammann again picked up survivors in the water, including Yorktowns skipper, Captain Buckmaster, and transferred them to the larger ships. Next morning, however, efforts were mounted to save the stricken carrier, a skeleton crew returned on board, and attempts were made to tow her to safety. Hammann came alongside 6 June to transfer a damage control party. The destroyer then lay alongside, providing hose and water for fire fighting, power, and other services while tied up next to Yorktown.

The salvage party was making excellent progress when the protective screen was penetrated by a Japanese submarine after noon on 6 June. Four torpedoes were loosed two missed, one passed under Hammann and hit Yorktown, and the fourth hit the destroyer amidships, breaking her back.

Sailors on Yorktown watch the USS Hammann break in two and sink into the ocean

with many crewmen trapped below.

Stern of USS HAMMANN DD sinking into the Pacific as USS YORKTOWN is rocked by  torpetoes fired by the Japanese submarine I-168

As the debris from the explosion rained down and the ships lurched apart, it was apparent that the valiant Hammann was doomed. As she settled with sickening quickness life rafts were lowered and rescue efforts began by ships in company. The ship sank in just 4 minutes and following the sinking a violent underwater explosion caused many deaths in the water, bringing the toll in dead to over 80. Survivors were taken on board Benham and Balch.

Hammann thus was lost after taking a distinguished part in two of the most important Pacific battles, turning points in the war and history. The action at Midway Was a victory of intelligence bravely applied by Admiral Nimitz and his Fleet, the first really smashing defeat inflicted on the Japanese.

Hammann received two battle stars for service in World War II.

One Tough Little Tug

Vireo (ATO-144)

A small, insectivorous, migratory bird common to the New World.

Vireo I

(Minesweeper No. 52: dp. 840; l. 187'10"; b. 35'5"; dr. 8'10"; cpl. 186; a. 2 3"; cl. Lapwing)

Vireo (Minesweeper No. 52) was laid down on 20 November 1918 by the Philadelphia Navy Yard; launched on 26 May 1919; sponsored by Mrs. E. S. Robert; and commissioned on 16 October 1919, Lt. Ernest R. Piercey in command Vireo was assigned to the Train, Atlantic Fleet, and operated along the east coast until she departed Norfolk on 8 January 1920 and headed for Cuban waters to join the Fleet for its annual winter maneuvers. Returning north three months later, she arrived back in Norfolk on 28 April. She was reclassified AM-52 on 17 July 1920.

In the following years, while some of her sisterships were decommissioned and laid up in reserve, Vireo continued in active service with the Fleet. From 1920 to 1932, she served off the east coast engaged in towing targets; transporting men, mail, and materiel; repairing buoys and beacons; and operating with the Atlantic and Scouting Fleets.

In July 1921, she towed several former German warships to sea off the Virginia capes, where they were sunk by aircraft in attempts to prove that capital ships were vulnerable to attack from the air. Between December 1930 and March 1931, Vireo served as plane guard for aircraft engaged in supporting the Nicaraguan-Puerto Rican aerial survey.

Late in 1931, Vireo received orders assigning her to the Pacific Fleet and duty with the Train, Base Force. Departing Norfolk on 2 January 1932, Vireo steamed-via Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. and the Panama Canal to the west coast, arriving at San Pedro, Calif., on 6 March. Attached to the Pacific Fleet's Train, the minesweeper continued her Fleet support duties and ranged the Pacific from the California coast to Panama and the Hawaiian Islands.

With the emergence of an intransigent Japan and a tense Far Eastern situation, the focus of American Fleet operations shifted westward to Hawaii; and Vireo departed San Francisco on 10 November 1940, bound for Pearl Harbor. Soon after reaching Hawaiian waters, she commenced operations out of Pearl Harbor, towing target rafts, conducting minesweeping exercises, and performing towing service to some of the outlying islands of the Hawaiian group, including Palmyra and Johnston.

From 5 September to 7 October 1941, Vireo underwent a navy yard overhaul at the Mare Island Navy Yard before heading westward once again. On 7 December 1941, Vireo lay in a nest of her sisterships at the coal docks at Pearl Harbor, which included Rail (AM-26), Bobolink (AM-20), and Turkey (AM-13). Shortly before 0800 that morning, Japanese aircraft roared overhead. The marauders swept over the Fleet's base and devastated not only Peal Harbor, but outlying Army and Navy installations all over the island of Oahu.

In upkeep status, with her engines dismantled, Vireo nevertheless speedily entered the fight. While her gunners topside fought their mounts cooly and efficiently, the "black gang" below decks assembled the ship's engines and fired up the boilers to get underway. Her 3-inch guns expended some 22 rounds, and the men at her number 2 mount rejoiced when one of their shells exploded directly in the path of a Japanese bomber, causing the Nipponese plane to crash in a ball of fire.

When the Japanese attackers departed, they left behind them a swath of death and destruction. Beneath the oily pall of smoke settled the once-proud battleships of the Pacific Fleet, now battered and burnt. Vireo and some of her sister sweepers at Pearl Harbor received orders to assist the stricken Califonia (BB-44), sinking into the oil-stained ooze at berth F-3, off Ford Island.

While engaged in salvage operations alongside California, through January 1942, Vireo also served briefiy as a tender to Enterprise (CV-6). The minesweeper carried ammunition to replenish "the Big E's" depleted stocks and prepare that ship for future forays against the Japanese empire.

After conducting minesweeping operations in the Pearl Harbor channel and other Hawaiian waters, Vireo underwent upkeep at Pearl Harbor between 10 and 13 February 1942. Following local operations near Honolulu and Pearl Harbor, she made brief runs to Johnston Island and the port of Hilo.

In April and May 1942, after another brief stretch around Pearl Harbor, Vireo conducted local patrols out of Hilo, sometimes in company with Crossbill (AMc-9) to conduct magnetic, acoustic, and mechanical minesweeping operations; and to patrol harbors with her echo-ranging and listening gear. From 23 to 24 April, Vireo , in company with Crossbill and Sacramento (PG-19), conducted a search for survivors of a downed Army plane off Pepeekeo Point, near Hilo, and found one body before she abandoned the task.

On 28 May 1942, under secret orders, Vireo and gasoline tanker Kaloli (AOG-13) departed Honolulu and headed for Midway Island. During the voyage, Vireo was reclassified as an ocean-going tug and redesignated AT-144 on 1 June 1942. While Vireo and, her charge crept toward Midway at nine knots, two battle fleets steamed toward each other on a collision course. The American and Japanese Navies were squaring off for the decisive Battle of Midway.

Vireo and Kaloli hove to in Midway harbor on 3 June, amidst preparations there for defense of the island. Soon after the two American ships arrived, they received orders to proceed to a point 30 miles off Pearl and Hermes Reef, where they were to await further orders. Underway by 1910, Vireo and the gasoline tanker soon arrived at their assigned stations and lay to.

Air action the following day, 4 June 1942, was hot and heavy. Japanese carriers Akagi, Kaga, Soryu , and Hiryu were all crippled and sunk by American planes. However, American carrier Yorktown (CV-5) became the unfortunate victim of Japanese dive and torpedo bombers which heavily damaged the carrier, stopping her dead in the water, and forcing a severe list.

Lest the ship capsize before the crew could be removed, Capt. Elliot Buckmaster ordered Yorktown abandoned. When Yorktown stopped settling, Buckmaster concluded that the ship could possibly be saved. Accordingly, Vireo received a summons to take Yorktown in tow. The tug arrived on the scene by 1135 on 5 June and closed and maneuvered to pass Yorktown a towline, accomplishing this by 1308. Vireo and her unwieldy charge then labored painfully ahead, at a speed of under 3 knots, with a protective brood of destroyers standing by.

Vireo , hampered by a small rudder and inadequate engines for such a large tow, found itself confronted with the Herculean task of keeping the big carrier pointed into the wind and on course. The next day, Hammann (DD-412) secured alongside Yorktown to assist the salvage parties on the larger ship working to correct her trim and to repair her battle damage.

Around 1400 on the afternoon of 6 June, Japanese submarine I-168 fired torpedoes at the nearly helpless targets. Hammann, mortally hit, broke in two and sank alongside the towering carrier, which also took two torpedoes. As the destroyer sank, her depth charges all went off at once, causing tremendous shock waves which convulsed swimmers in the water and violently wrenched the old tug. Vireo freed herself from the carrier by cutting the towing cable with an acetylene torch and then doubled back to commence rescue operations.

Up her sides clambered carriermen and destroyermen alike, while she maneuvered near the carrier's canting stern to take on board members of the salvage party who had chosen to abandon the carrier from there. She then proceeded to secure alongside the wounded flattop in the exact spot where Hammann had met her doom. Yorktown rolled heavily, her heavy steel hide pounding the lighter former minecraft's hull with a vengeance as the ships touched time and time again during the rescue operations. This mission completed, battered Vireo stood away from the sinking carrier, which sank shortly after dawn on the 7th.

Vireo 's troubles, however, had only begun. Underwater explosions from Hammann's depth charges had severely jostled the tug's rudder. As a result it jammed as Vireo was entering the shipping channel at Midway harbor on 8 June, and she ran aground on a coral head, carrying away her echo-ranging gear and flooding her sound room. Repeated attempts to free herself only resulted in another grounding, so Vireo lay-to and called for a tow.

After arriving at Midway at the end of a towline from YMT-12 , following another brush with a coral head which irreparably damaged the rudder, Vireo soon got underway for Pearl Harbor, this time behind Seminole (AT-65). Reaching Hawaiian waters on 17 June, she entered the navy yard at Pearl Harbor for emergency repairs which lasted from 18 to 30 June. Following this, she remained at the Pearl Harbor yard or a complete overhaul and drydocking.

Having concluded the refitting by 19 August, Vireo conducted post-repair trials before turning in all her mine gear on 25 August. Two days later, she got underway to escort SS Gulf Queen to the Fiji Islands, towing two barges. Upon her arrival at Suva on 11 September, the tug refueled, provisioned, and carried out minor repairs before heading for New Caledonia on 15 September. After arriving at Noumea five days later, on 20 September 1942, she commenced harbor operations under the control of Commander, Amphibious Forces, South Pacific (ComAmDhibForSoPac). In accordance with verbal orders from ComAmphibForSoPac, Vireo 's crew set about making camouflage nets and painting the ship green in preparation for her next assignment.

Arriving at Espiritu Santo on 8 October, she awaited further orders, spending four days at this port in the New Hebrides before setting out for the Guadalcanal area on 12 October, to take part in resupply operations for the marines at Henderson Field. Since the initial landings on Guadalcanal on 7 August 1942, the campaign had been fought tooth and nail. Fierce land and sea battles had characterized the fighting since the early going. By this juncture, American aviation operations on Henderson Field had been so endangered by shellings, bad weather, and inadequate supplies, that the American situation was extreme.

With American aircraft using up gasoline at an alarming rate, that commodity ranked high on the list of priority supplies. Accordingly, a barge-towing operation was mounted in mid-October to ease the critical fuel situation on Guadalcanal.

The force to carry out this operation comprised Alchiba (AK-23), Bellatrix (AK-20), Jamestown (PG-55), Meredith (DD-434), Nicholas (DD-449), and Vireo , each pulling a barge carrying barrels of gasoline and quarter-ton bombs. Setting out from Espiritu Santo, the highly volatile convoy was spotted by Japanese aircraft on 15 October. All but Vireo and Meredith beat a hasty retreat. Cautiously proceeding, the pair beat off a two-plane Japanese attack before they received word that Japanese surface ships were in the area. Only then did they reverse course. At noon, Meredith ordered old, slow, and vulnerable Vireo abandoned and took off her crew. Meredith then stood off to torpedo the tug at 1215 so that she would not fall into enemy hands intact. Suddenly, a whirlwind of destruction swept down from the sky and descended upon the destroyer. Like hawks, 27 planes from the Japanese carrier Zuikaku pounced on Meredith and deluged her with bombs, torpedoes, and bullets, sinking her in an instant.

Vireo and the two gasoline barges, however, drifted to leeward, untouched. One life raft, crammed with some of Meredith's survivors, succeeded in overhauling the derelict tug and the men gratefully scrambled aboard. The barges and the tug were later found, intact. When a salvage party boarded Vireo on 21 October, the ship was dead in the water with no lights, no steam, and no power. After abortive attempts to light fires under the boilers, using wood, the tug had to be taken under tow by Grayson (DD-435). In company with Grayson and Gwin (DD-433), Vireo arrived safely at Espiritu Santo on 23 October.

With a new crew, the majority of her old complement lost in the ordeal with Meredith -she continued to operate in the Guadalcanal area with Task Force 62. She conducted resupply operations to Guadalcanal, towing barges loaded with precious gasoline and bombs and carrying out local escort for other, larger ships, engaged in the same vital duties.

On 3 December, in company with Hilo (AGP-2) and towing PT-boats, she departed Noumea and proceeded to Australia. Arriving at Cairns on 9 December, she spent the remainder of the year there, enjoying Christmas and New Year's Day in Australian waters before heading back to the combat area, arriving at Espiritu Santo on 9 January.

Operating out of the New Hebrides in early January, she assisted cruisers Pensacola (CA-24) and Minneapolis (CA-36) as they underwent repairs following damage received at Tassafaronga. Towing barges and firing target bursts for destroyers during gunnery practice off Guadalcanal, the tug continued her operations as before, between that island and Espiritu Santo and Noumea. It was dull and monotonous duty but necessary and vital, nonetheless.

In April 1943, as American forces advanced on the "island-hopping," "leapfrogging" campaigns against the Japanese in the South Pacific, Japanese Admiral Yamamoto initiated operation "I." Yamamoto aimed this stroke at Papua, in the hope of compensating for the loss of Guadalcanal, by destroying the American advance base there and thus slowing or stopping the Allied advance. The new Japanese thrust began on 7 April when large formations of Japanese planes swept down from Rabaul to attack American shipping in Lunga Roads between Guadalcanal and Tulagi.

Among these ships, there lay Vireo , engaged in her usual harbor activities. Pathfinder was engaged in taking soundings; also near were Ortolan (ASR-5) and SC-52 1. Shortly before the attack came, Aaron Ward (DD-483) passed by, escorting LST-449 . Three Japanese dive bombers swooped down out of the sun and severely damaged the destroyer with their lethal loads. Ortolan and Vireo took the crippled Aaron Ward under tow, but the destroyer sank three miles short of Tulagi.

As the New Georgia campaign got underway and American forces advanced further up the chain of islands in the southwest Pacific, Vireo continued her operations out of Tulagi, Espiritu Santo, or Noumea. In the pre-dawn darkness of 13 July, the Battle of Kula Gulf was fought between Japanese and American surface forces, the latter augmented by New Zealand cruiser Leander. In the action which followed, Honolulu (CL-48), St. Louis (CL-49), and Leander were damaged. Later that day, Vireo , in company with Rail (AT-139) set out to assist in getting the cripples home and towed Honolulu to haven at government wharf, Tulagi, where temporary repairs to the cruiser's bow were made.

For the remainder of 1943 and on into 1944, Vireo followed the Fleet as it inched closer to Japan. In the rearward island areas, she continued her duties as a harbor tug and local escort vessel. On 15 May 1944. Vireo was reclassified as an ocean-going tug, old, and redesignated ATO-144.

In late July, American forces struck in northwestern New Guinea at Cape Sansapor. Vireo took part in these operations from 30 July to 2 August, engaged in the vital support activities necessary to support the successful landings.

After service in the South Pacific, the old tug moved northward with the invasion armada to liberate the Philippine Islands from the Japanese. On 18 October 1944, American troops stormed ashore on Leyte, keeping General MacArthur's promise to return to Philippine soil. Vireo operated in support of these landings into December. She departed Morotai on the 10th, bound for Biak. From there, she proceeded to Leyte, engaged in towing duties. Next-after touching at Hollandia, Manus, and Biak-she took part in the Okinawa operations in April and May 1945. Returning to Morotai, she engaged in towing operations again, this time to Tacloban on the island of Leyte, departing there on 25 May for Subic Bay. For the remainder of the war, she operated between the Philippine Islands and New Guinea, as American forces continued to sweep northward towards the Japanese home islands.

On 20 December 1945, after immediate postwar towing operations at Manila, Luzon, and Samar, she departed Philippine waters on 20 December 1945, in company with Rail (ATO-139) and Whippoorwill (ATO-169), and headed for the Marshalls. Following a brief stay at Eniwetok, Vireo got underway on 4 January 1946 and proceeded via Pearl Harbor to the west coast. She arrived at San Francisco, Calif., on 5 February and reported to the Commandant, 12th Naval District, for disposition.

As newer and more powerful fleet tugs supplanted the old converted mine sweepers, the need for the old vessels decreased. Thus, on 18 April 1946, Vireo was decommissioned, declared surplus to Navy needs, and made available for disposal. Struck from the Navy list on 8 May 1946, Vireo was transferred from the Maritime Commission for disposal on 4 February 1947; but no records of her subsequent fate have survived.

Vireo received seven battle stars for her World War II service.

Improved Kaidai Type 5, with new double-acting 2-stroke diesels, and a better pressure hull. Hull Nos. I.68 - I.73, survivors later renumbered I.168, I.169, I.171, I.172 on May 20, 1942

I.168 Specifications