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Ever since I was a kid, I have been
fascinated by World War Two. Many a day was
spent in the Townley Branch of the Union Public library, sitting on the floor while reading a whole book, then check a stack out
to bring home.
My favorite subject became ships and naval battles, especially the US Navy and the war in the Pacific. Of all the famous ships that
fought there, none captured my imagination
more the CV-5, the original U.S.S. Yorktown.
One of the first books that made an indelible imprint in my mind was a book about the Battle of Midway. Before I read Walter
Lord’s Incredible Victory or Gordon Prange’s
Miracle at Midway (still my favorite account of this battle), I read
this book about Midway that for the life of me I can’t remember the name of! I do remember first page of every chapter had a
silhouette of either a Japanese or American
plane that participated in that engagement.
In many books, there is something that captures your imagination. In Tora, Tora, Tora, it was the passage describing Nevada’s run
for the sea. In this book on Midway, it was
the Chapter titled "The Dive Bombers Score." After reading this book, I was hooked on the Battle of Midway, and on
the gallant Yorktown herself.
I remember reading about the Yorktown’s sinking, and getting mad, for it seemed as though she was going to be saved. In
retrospect, had Captain Buckmaster NOT
abandoned ship and tried to salvage her that first night, perhaps she
would have survived…but perhaps not. 60 years later, it’s easy to second guess the commander on scene, who’s ship seemed
ready to capsize at any moment. So,
being a fan of the Yorktown (but not a big enough fan to sink $700 in the Blue Water Navy kit!), you can imagine my pleasure at
finding this book at Barnes and Noble a few
years back. I finally had a chance to pick it up and read it this year.
If you are a fan of this period of history and theater of operations, you’ll love this book.
The first chapter opens with the
dive-bombing attack that left the Yorktown dead in
the water, and the Japanese thinking they had sunk one U.S. carrier. The books
switches gears in Chapter two, becoming a chronological history of the carrier
and more importantly, the stories of the men who served on her.
We learn about sailors such as Pete Montavalo, John Underwood, James Liner and the famous Jimmy Thatch. Nesmith does a good job
of interweaving their stories with that of
the ship, from Pre-war days to Pearl Harbor and onto Midway.
December 7, 1941 found the Yorktown in Norfolk, ready to undergo a major refit.
That refit was hurriedly canceled, and the carrier and crew headed through
the Panama Canal to the Pacific.
After joining the Pacific fleet, Yorktown participate on raids on the Marshalls
and Gilberts. There an interesting side story
about a few pilots who landed their plans on
Guadalcanal long before that island became a household name, and were
able to get back to Australia on a sailboat lent to them from Plantation owners in the Solomon islands.
The spring of ’42 found Yorktown in the company of the Lady Lex in the Coral Sea, where they engaged in the first carrier vs.
carrier battle. The outcome was mixed…the
Japanese were thwarted from their invasion plans of Port Moresby and
lost a light carrier, but the Americans lost Lexington, and Yorktown was badly
damaged.
Needing three months in the yard, the Yorktown got about three days, and then was off to intercept the Japanese fleet off Midway,
tying back into the story began in Chapter
One.
It is during the Battle of Midway that Nesmith is at his best, putting us with
the characters we’ve become involved with
along the way, as they try fight their carrier through
the Japanese attacks on the Yorktown, which is now much more that just
a ship, but has become their home.
While the outcome of the battle never changes, and the Yorktown still slips beneath the waves, this book is a nice addition to
the volumes already written about the Battle
of Midway, U.S. carrier operations in the Pacific, and to the men who
served on the U.S.S. Yorktown - of whom Captain Elliot Buckmaster said after
the Battle of the Coral Sea, "I can have no higher honor than to have
commanded them in battle."
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