Finding aircraft actively involved in the pivotal battle of World War II in the Pacific was the most important discovery in the most recent exploration of the wreckage of carrier Yorktown (CV-5), the lead scientist ashore told USNI News.
“One of the areas that we wanted to focus on [was] individual aircraft, particularly aircraft that have been shot down or that crashed into the ocean,” James Delgado said. “They may not necessarily be there in one piece.”
The discovery of wreckage from aircraft that actually fought in the battle was a first. About 150 planes were lost.
But on this National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration exploration of Yorktown, which rests more than three miles below the ocean’s surface, a small ROV sent back images of “identifiable parts of a [F4F] Wildcat, of an SP-3 Dauntless, and potentially what appears to be the wing of a [TBD] Devastator.”
Two years earlier, a crack in the smaller of two ROVs that were going to explore the carrier, commissioned in 1937, prevented an evaluation of what remained on the wreck’s hangar deck. Delgado, who worked out of NOAA’s exploration command center in Silver Spring, Md., during this project, added that although the carrier is upright, it’s “canted over sharply on the starboard side. We didn’t want to risk the gear without the ability to approach from a distance or basically angling over the edge of the deck.”
During the 2023 exploration, the ROVS launched from exploration vessel Nautilus and provided images for the first time of IJN Akagi and the first detailed views of Yorktown. The three wrecks – the third carrier was IJN Kaga – were explored within the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument (PMNM), the largest protected area in the United States and one of the largest in the world.
Two other Japanese carriers were sunk in the June 1942 Battle of Midway, about 1,000 miles northwest of Hawaii.
A Navy-National Geographic joint expedition, led by Robert Ballard, discovered Yorktown’s wreckage in 1998.
This time, however, “we agreed: let’s drop down into that hangar, down that elevator shaft” with the now working smaller ROV, Delgado said. “And then moving forward, being able to see not just one aircraft, but potentially at least two, possibly in pieces as many as three, maybe even four.”
The “Lucky Lady,” which had lost power having been severely damaged by Japanese bombers in the battle, was getting towed by USS Hammann (DD-412) to Hawaii for repairs when “the Japanese submarine I-168 managed to move into firing range undetected and fired torpedoes scoring two hits on Yorktown. On 7 June at 0701, the valiant flattop turned over on her port side and sank in 3,000 fathoms of water,” according to Naval History and Heritage Command.
One of the four torpedoes struck Hammann, sinking the ship in a matter of minutes. More than 80 sailors aboard the Sims-class destroyer died in the attack.
“[A]lthough Yorktown was dead in the water, her aircraft were still fighting in the air, joining those from Enterprise in striking the Japanese carrier Hiryu late that afternoon,” the Naval History and Heritage Command’ ship’s history noted. “After taking four direct hits, the Japanese flattop was soon helpless. She was abandoned by her crew and left to drift.”
Delgado said, “Yorktown sank by the stern,” causing the wreckage on the hangar deck to stack up. Not all that wreckage was Yorktown’s aircraft, he noted. At least two came from Enterprise “because it was the closest place to land” as the battle continued and they were likely low on fuel.
Also on the hangar deck was a spectacular hand-painted mural that Ballard’s team had spotted 27 years earlier. The question in 2025, Delgado said, was “if that mural was still there, if it had survived.” The answers to both were yes.
He added: “When you look at that mural, that’s the ship’s log in drawing” since its 1937 commissioning as the first ship in its class. The ROV was sending back images of the 12-foot high, 42-foot long hand painted mural, although the ship’s routes are no longer clearly visible. The identities of the first designer/artist and the sailors who added the deployments over time to “A Chart of the Cruises of the USS Yorktown” are no longer known.
“The ROV was hovering where that camera had stood” taking pictures of the hangar deck the day after the carrier was hit by two Japanese bombs, he told USNI News.
“We were in the hangar and looking with silt billowing … silt hanging in the air as if [it] was practically smoke,” Delgado said. One picture shows the after-effects of the area having been sprayed with shrapnel. “You’ve got corpsmen working over fallen guys, some who are already dead. You’ve got others rushing through the scene and the smoke is wafting over.”
The ROV also sent back images of where others had been mortally wounded or killed immediately where the second bomb exploded aboard the 825-foot long carrier.
Delgado said no human remains were found in the exploration. One-hundred forty-one officers and sailors are believed to have died in the battle. About 2,200 officers and sailors were aboard the ship.
An “abandon ship” order had been given before the towing operation began.
“Yorktown’s changed a bit in the eight decades. But in many ways, it still very much looks like Yorktown. There’s no guessing. Given the historic photographs and the plans, we knew exactly where we were at all times,” he said.
“The ship is still painted. You know exactly where you are. You can see, you know, hatch is dogged and you’re in condition X-ray. You can see the engravings that indicate which compartment you’re looking at.”
Delgado said the discovery of a 1940 or 1941 Ford Woody was extremely surprising. Why was it still there? To correct the carrier’s listing, guns and aircraft had already been shoved overboard.
“The first sighting of it was at the very end of the dive [on Day One]. I said, no, don’t go back. Stay. Stay. We got a glimpse of it, but we had to go back to get it,” he said. The first stop on Day Two was back with the Woody and the ROV transmitted video of the vehicle’s condition and license plate.
The two-day dive, led by experts from NOAA, the Navy and other government and non-profit agencies, took place in April.
“What we really weren’t counting on was the fact that we would see the ship battle damage. It still looks pretty fresh: where the torpedo hits, the two aerial torpedo hits are, you can see, the after-action report surmised that it had popped the seams, and that’s exactly what it did. You can actually see the clean edge of the plate with the holes for the rivets, and that’s clean and clear.”
A big open slit “explains the flooding.” Yet, “they probably could have gotten it back to Pearl, had it not been for 168,” the Japanese submarine that sent two torpedoes into the towed carrier.
Since retiring from public service in 2017, Delgado has served as the senior vice president and exploration sector leader for SEARCH, the largest cultural resources company in the United States.
“I grew up in the 60s. I watched [Star Trek] to boldly go where no one’s gone before. Seek out new life civilizations,” he said. “And that’s where we’re at. I mean, as these dives happen, we are seeking out and discovering new life. We are seeing things that are important and vital to our national interests. And we’re also seeing our own past reflected, particularly moments like this, when those carriers and those aircraft and those guys stood the line and turned the war.”
The battles of Midway and Coral Sea, where Yorktown also suffered battle damage a month earlier, have long been priorities of NOAA’s maritime heritage program and Delgado’s, even after his retirement.
The two naval battles were fought within six months of the attack on Pearl Harbor.
What will come out of this particular exploration? Monographs? Books? Video beyond what’s already been shown?
“We were already working on a series of monographs because what makes exploration true exploration, what makes you an explorer, is not just going to do it. It’s coming back to tell the story [to the general public and scientists and researchers in numerous fields]. I mean Marco Polo would have been no one if he hadn’t written this book, “The Travels of Marco Polo,” said Delgado.
Reflecting on the cultural value of these explorations, he said: “When those robotic vehicles are down there in that eternal darkness, what lights up a brief inspection are scenes now, they’re not part of memory anymore. They’re history, written down.”
