USS Yorktown Sinking Trivia Quiz

Answer: Virginia

Yorktown was built at the Newport News Ship Building Firm located in Newport News, Virginia. The keel was laid on May 21, 1934 and the ship was launched nearly two years later.

Answer: aircraft carrier

Yorktown was an aircraft carrier which measured over 809 ft long and about 83 ft. wide. She weighed about 19,000 tons and carried a complement of 2219 crew and men onboard. She was also able to carry up to 90 airplanes. She could go at a speed of about 32 knots.

Answer: True

Yorktown had a sister ship by the name of Enterprise. They performed in a war game together (Fleet Problem XX) and it was witnessed by Franklin Delano Roosevelt. They found the "problem" and quickly passed the standards.

Answer: True

Some of the Japenese pilots, for some reason, thought the Yorktown was one of their own carriers. They were warded off by gun fire, crossed over the bow and took off out of range. When three more tried to land on Yorktown, her anti-aircraft guns downed one of them.

Answer: Battle of Midway

Yorktown was struck at the Battle of Midway. One Japanese warplane lost control after dropping his bomb and crashed into the side of the carrier. Then, another bomb went through the flight deck and exploded in the boiler room; disabling many of the boilers. With the boilers down, Yorktown was dead in the water.

Answer: June 7, 1942

The Yorktown sank on June 7, 1942. After being hit several times and attempts at salvaging had failed, the Yorktown finally capsized and went down, suffering only minor losses.

Answer: 6

At the beginning of the battle, 41 planes were sent from Enterprise, Yorktown, and a newer carrier called Hornet (CV-8). Only six made it back to Enterprise and Yorktown, None of Hornet's planes that were sent came back. This was a turning point because it caused the Japanaese planes to lower their altitude, thus effectively causing the doom of three of their carriers.

Answer: Hiryu

The Hiryu was the only Japanese carrier that escaped being targeted. She sent out her planes to locate the Yorktown and try and destroy her. One plane crashed into the side of the Yorktown while other dropped bombs that, at first, only crippled the ship. It also caused a small fire in the rag room which was near a gasoline storage area. However, the crew of the Yorktown had already had CO in that room which prevented the gas from exploding and causing a bigger mess.

Answer: Yes

After the first series of hits, the Yorktown was able to get back underway at nearly full speed. However, a Japanese U-boat sent four of her torpedoes (also called "fish") towards the Yorktown and her escort vessels that were trying to help. One ripped into the port side of the vessel and Yorktown lost power.

She also listed heavily to port and it looked as though capsizing was imminent. However, when the captain noticed that the Yorktown kept floating, he organized a salvage crew to try and make repairs and get the ship to port.

The crew did what they could, but it was to no avail. Yorktown finally gave up and turned over and sank on June 7, 1942.

Answer: 1998

The wreck of the Yorktown was found and filmed by Robert Ballard on May 19, 1998. Ballard is also known for his finding the RMS Titanic. The wreck was found about 3 miles below the surface.