Inside a Bomb Elevator on USS Yorktown

In this episode we're on board the carrier USS Yorktown checking out a feature that New Jersey never had: a bomb elevator.
To support Yorktown:
www.ussyorktow...
To support this channel and Battleship New Jersey:
www.battleship...

[@jamesvanderpoel2135]

Ryan wins Tie of the year award

[@MartinCHorowitz]

On later carriers, the external deck elevator was a big improvement in carrier design

[@SteamCrane]

There's quite a bit to criticize about the recent F35C crash on Vinson, but the fire crews were dousing the deck seconds after the aircraft slid by. Serious damage control training has always been a significant US advantage.

[@twofeets1581]

I visited Patriots Point on a misty Tuesday in August of 2020 and due to Covid I practically had the place to myself. It was a fantastic day of exploring and learning, and that visit really rekindled my interest in museum ships in general. In fact, it led me to this KZbin channel. Kudos to you, Ryan et. al., for using your online visibility to bring attention to other museum ship organizations. I’d love to see Patriots Point own KZbin channel become more active. They certainly have plenty of subject matter to draw on!

[@timengineman2nd714]

The Deck Edge Aircraft Elevator was a major improvement!!! (The (first) USS Wasp aircraft carrier had a "lift" that could barely hold a single airplane (If you look at a picture of her at her (large) forward port side hanger opening you can see the framework that would hold and support the plane's tailwheel)). Efficient Damage Control and Compartmentalization (learning from the loss of USS Lexington (CV-2) & USS Yorktown (CV-5) helped a lot!) were extremely important! (Look up how the IJN Taiho got itself sunk after a single torpedo hit! (Drachinfel has a good video about this...) And Finally, the Deck Park of aircraft as well as continuous development of newer and better aircraft and the training of their crew!!!

[@SkinnerBeeMan]

I was thinking about taiho as well. A very dumb way to loose good hardware

[@Dubanx]

Honestly, I always thought American Carrier's biggest strength in WWII is what you mentioned about survivability. Particularly their ability to put out fires and resume operations much faster than Japanese carriers. In the battle of the Coral Sea and Midways we saw ships like the Yorktown survive multiple bombings that would have destroyed or disabled a Japanese Carrier. The US carriers put the fires out and resumed launching strike groups extremely quickly after taking damage. Whereas the Japanese carriers took 1 or 2 hits and were done. I mean, look at Midway. The Yorktown took multiple hits and kept fighting while Japan lost 3 of their 4 carriers in a single raid. That single attack instantly ended the battle.

[@adamb8317]

This is a very good point. American carriers were mostly only superior in damage control and survivability. The design of the fire suppression systems obviously helped as multiple Japanese carriers had their system knocked out by less damaging attacks

[@davidtanner665]

The Japanese thought Yorktown couldn't be a at Midway after Coral Sea, and would only face Enterprise and Hornet. They're pilots also thought she was she was undamaged, when she was, and targeted her instead of concentration on the undamaged Hornet and Enterprise. They also though the sunk Enterprise multiple times.

[@travisgrinsell8277]

I agree, fire suppression was part if not the most contribution to our Aircraft carriers in ww2. Enterprise was called the gray ghost, but Credit goes to the crew of Yorktown to make it sail for midway and continue fighting

[@6806goats1]

What I’ve found recently is the huge amount of fuel vapors from AVGAS that came from oil that Japan wasn’t able to process properly due to limited supplies and limited methods. Guess they couldn’t remove the Naphtha portion that was extremely flammable. Not sure how they could even breathe with that much Vapor distributed throughout the ship. Crazy.

[@soundadvicesomewhere9027]

Interesting Subject - As Usual Ryan!! Great Engineering Marvels Yesterday & Still Today!! May We Continue As a Super Power!!

[@andrewdeboer7435]

On the Essex class, I believe the routing of the aviation fuel lines and the ability to drain those lines during action contributed greatly to their survivability. Oh, and air supremacy.

[@marcbhoy2811]

And fill those fuel lines with co2 when not in use

[@ionstorm66]

@@marcbhoy2811 They just use water. The fuel already its on top of water in the tanks, so they just back feet water in the lines.

[@YoloSwagNinja]

@@ionstorm66 It was CO2 in wartime.

[@victoriacyunczyk]

Yorktown was the ship that got me into naval history. My dad used to take me aboard all the time when I was little. Nice to see her covered on the channel.

[@andrewtaylor940]

Franklin’s damage and loss of life was staggering. I think it was the third largest single ship loss of life/casualties behind only the USS Arizona and the USS Indianapolis. And even with that the Franklin still steamed into port under her own wobbly power. When comparing US and Japanese naval losses in WW2, one of the things that jumps out so strikingly is the incredible disparity in the losses of life per ship sunk. Outside of Submarine’s where survival rates are largely comparable solely because survival was rare, But for surface ships it’s really mind blowing just how often the US managed to recover sizable portions of the ships crew, whereas how out of the ordinary it was for the IJN to do the same. How incredibly outside of norms it was for a Japanese ship to only lose half its crew.

[@KenrickDargoth]

USN Damage Control was very good. IJN? not so much.

[@yes_head]

It's great to have you exploring aircraft carriers now, Ryan. I would love to hear you weigh in on the whole armored versus non-armored flight deck argument (UK vs US). Thanks!

[@alexrebmann1253]

I read that wood deck was easier to repair when damaged.

[@pyroman6000]

He actually did that video! Went through both IJN RN and US carrier design, and explained a lot of different things. One thing that really stuck out for me was the purpose behind our hangar deck design. It was left with many large openings to the outside, and not buttoned up tight, like Japan's were, to allow an explosion therein to vent itself to the outside, thus doing far less damage. A bomb that hit a Japanese carrier, penetrated through to the hangar deck, and exploded, could- and did- do massive damage, because it was an enclosed, armored space. Like the difference between igniting a handful of black powder on the ground, and the same amount sealed up in a tight container. One gives you a POOF!, a flash and a lot of smoke. The other produces an explosion.

[@christiantroy3034]

As far as dominance goes aviation fuel, fuel management, and fuel vapor management. By the time the Essex’s were in the fight the designers had learned from their mistakes. This learning lead to a more robust and safe Aviation Fuel management system. Please do a series on fuels showing the fuels systems, fuel lab etx.

[@garrettschweitzer7138]

Ladies and gentleman, Ryan has officially reached peak fashion. Keep up the good work!

[@Mariner311]

Wasn't an AO (Aviation Ordnance-man), but as an Aircrewman (AW) - used to play a lot with our sonobouys, gun ammo, and an occasional Hellfire or Mk-46 Torpedo - helping the AOs loading up our helicopter... and watching other birds get loaded. LOVED going down to the magazines.

[@jarodcrazyindian]

I really appreciate you, Ryan.

[@Dog.soldier1950]

I agree a magnificent job along with all the behind the camera work is really top of the game-thank you

[@jarodcrazyindian]

@Dogsoldier 1950 I enjoy these videos while I work on my ship models.

[@Grayson950815]

Live a 2 minute walk from CV-10. Love Patriots Point such a nice place

[@joegilroy1280]

I remember going to Yorktown as a little kid and being on the flight deck and being amazed at the size of the ship. I need to take the 3 hour drive. Hopefully i won't slip on the flight deck again.

[@bdpopeye]

I served on USS Hancock (CVA 19) in '74 & '75. There was a bomb elevator that ran from the 5th deck Magazine to the flight deck. Pretty sure about that. I was an Aviation Ordananceman but I worked on the flight deck. Thanks for posting.

[@themadatheist1976]

Toured this ship during my scouting days in the early& mid 80s when I think we camped at or around the base. Slept inside a rec center that had a basketball court, fuse ball table in another room.

[@Masada1911]

Sounds like good memories

[@cleverusername9369]

When I was a scout in the mid-late 90's or so we actually got to stay aboard Yorktown for 2 nights in the crew accommodation quarters!

[@themadatheist1976]

@@cleverusername9369 I'm too damn old to remember where we slept, but pretty sure not on board her. Not sure if it was a weekend trip or a whole week since we were Tampa FL based. Did the McDill air shows a few years.

[@Mystic-Midnight]

I actually went to the USS Lexington 2016-2019 every year in High School with JROTC and they also had that sort of Rec Center but had like A VHS Player and TV, A Chess Board an Air Hockey Table and a Ping Pong Table and it was fun. Granted half the time me and my friends were out on Tour Routes looking for ghosts or sitting on the flight deck enjoying the sea air cause our school is Central Texas so it was a nice change of pace.

[@adamdubin1276]

Tall hangars, it allowed the USN to store spare aircraft and components in the rafters where they wouldn't take up additional deck space, it allowed the navy to quickly repair and replace damaged aircraft without having to return to a friendly port or wait for resupply.

[@johnslaughter5475]

I visited Hornet a few years ago. Having served aboard a super-carrier, I was struck by how low the hangar bay overhead was. Yes, they did hang aircraft up there. That may not have been as necessary later in the war as the jeep carriers became available. They provided the ready supply of replacement aircraft when planes were lost in combat and operational losses on the fleet carriers.

[@craigplatel813]

I believe they stopped storing aircraft overhead after the Guadalcanal campaign. They had a tendency to fall onto the hanger deck from the shock of bomb/torpedo hits.

[@stephenlebold9126]

You would never believe the size of the hanger deck until you have walked through it. And standing at the back rail and looking down at the destroyer puts the size of the Yorktown in perspective. HUGE !

[@juliusweil9464]

Worked at this museum back in the 90s. Know that exact room very well. If you go aboard the Yorktown, look over the doorways while down below, if you see numbers in red paint pen, that was ME! (Helping out in Public Safety)

[@johnslaughter5475]

Very good, as always, Ryan. I made 2 WestPac cruises to Vietnam on the Ranger. All super carriers have forward and aft mess decks for the crew. During my time, we didn't use the forward mess decks for eating. All of the tables were removed. Instead, they were used for bomb staging areas. They would be absolutely full of bomb carts. Mostly they had 2 500-pound bombs. Some had 1000-pound bombs. These were finned, and had the hangars on them. When it came time to load a strike, they'd all be taken to the flight deck, hung on the planes and had fuses installed. It was not unusual for guys to sit on the bombs while BSing. To my knowledge, we never had an armed aircraft in the hangar bays.

[@georgeburns7251]

I remember this. Made one 68 on Ranger and the next on Midway.

[@johnknapp952]

For the short time I was on the Kitty Hawk in '93 in the Gulf, that was the same routine. Stage ordinance in Fwd mess deck for buildup, then stage on flight deck ready for next mission. I think a lot of the stuff on the flight (usually behind the Island) was there just in case it was needed right away.

[@bdpopeye]

So true. But nowadays Bomb assembly is conducted in the former nuclear weapons magazines. Where as about 30+ years ago the nuclear mission was taken away from carriers.

[@mshendry]

Thanks for posting about the Yorktown! been reading up and watching a lot of vids on it since I got married on board last year.

[@stephendevight3551]

Cool to see the elevator shaft from a different perspective; I was on the USS Midway today looking down a similar shaft from the mess deck! Different class but still pretty similar. I appreciate hearing more about munitions handling!

[@Vinemaple]

Someone, I think Drachinifel, did a whole video on how the IJN didn't train their entire crews in damage repair, but the US Navy did. When you look at the fates of the carriers compared with the action they saw, it seems like a compelling argument. I got a kick out of that bomb elevator, because it's very similar in size, shape, and design to the cargo elevators on modern AKE-class support ships, and the older KILAUEA-class ammo ships. Those have long, straight shafts through the holds all the way up to the main deck or 01 level, and it looks like the YORKTOWN elevators were accessed along their narrow sides and --of course-- weren't designed to accommodate forklifts... but I would be truly astonished if they weren't the direct design ancestor of modern support ship elevators! That overhead gantry is truly impressive, and many times I longed for such a thing when doing break-bulk work... but it appears, from exterior details, at least, that the YAMATO-class had much larger overhead gantries to launch their *boats* from a protected boat deck and hangar below the main deck... I haven't been able to find any information about that, but to me it's always been one of the most fascinating things about that class.

[@cleverusername9369]

That tie is corny as hell and I love it

[@blackwater2192]

Thanks for coming out to visit Patriots Point. I would have enjoyed going on a tour and meeting yall. This is the second carrier name Yorktown. It was originally to be commissioned as the USS Bonhomme Richard.

[@BostonHarbor713]

Was Bonhomme Richard name ever used on a carrier, afterwards.? My father served on the Yorktown going out with her until 4 years duty was over. He visited his ship first year it was open, and lost his dog tags on the ship or on the dock.

[@leftyo9589]

@@BostonHarbor713 Bonhomme Richard was a wwII fleet carrier that served til 1969 if i remember correctly. the ship yard that cut her up in 1992 let us scrounge parts off her. i wandered all over her one day picking parts.

[@davelewandoski4292]

Another great video Ryan. Love seeing the Yorktown covered.

[@Adventuregirl96]

This reminds of the time I went camping on the Yorktown years ago when I was a Sea Scout. Then just a few years later my new friend Azalee and I got to talk about it since she is from Texas and went on the Lexington.

[@mikemorgan8895]

Those springs are called buffers. They’re not for stopping on a regular stop but are incase of over travel due to brake failure or some other mechanical failure. Forty two years elevator mechanic here.

[@Whatsinanameanyway13]

Love the tie Ryan. Great video, really interesting seeing the nuts and bolts of how these ships projected so much power better than their competition.

[@jakemillar649]

I think that the numbers of US carriers were what made them dominant, as well as how they trained their crews.

[@guyledouche633]

I just can’t thank you all enough for these wonderful videos you put out. Truly great information that covers such a wide and eclectic range of topics. I never knew how much I needed a video about a WWII carrier bomb elevator. Keep up the great work everyone at New Jersey

[@6806goats1]

Our availability of properly processed AVGAS was a huge thing as well. Japan and Germany both had issues with finding suitable quantities and quality of fuel. Pretty smart idea to knock out their supply.

[@imacmadman22]

The word you’re looking for is “compartmentalization.” American navy ships use compartmentalization to provide protection from attacks in various compartments throughout the ship. By designing the ship in this way, the internal spaces are better protected from damage.

[@Manatherindrell]

Liscome Bay had a magazine explosion, but she was an escort carrier instead of a fleet carrier and the explosion was caused by a torpedo strike.

[@13bigerdave]

I was on that ship after hurricane Hugo, we were rebuilding houses and I went on a tour was cool as there was no one on staff and I could wonder around at will got lost spent all day and didn't even begin to see everything would so like to go back

[@tommybrown4191]

I'm a native Charlestonian grew up with the Yorktown, been there many times.

[@danielcoburn8635]

As I understand from the USS Midway, the mess area is where the bomb assembly takes place before going up to be loaded, ie fins, wings, and fuses. Bombs require fuses to activate, and are never stored together or assembled for obvious safety reasons. Former Air Force weapons loader.

[@paulchicky5689]

I have visited Yorktown many times over the years and kayaked around here once (a very cool experience). I noticed during that kayaking trip that there were holes in here hull from corrosion (apparently). Since she's sitting on the bottom, there isn't a way to dry dock her. My question becomes, what do they do to keep the lower portion of the ship from just rotting away and the upper structure collapsing on it over time?

[@johns8364]

Battleship NJ has another video where they Ryan tells us that ships are designed to be in water, and removing that external pressure causes even bigger problems for long term preservation. I suppose Yorktown could have her external hull repaired by building cofferdams around the corroded sections, and repairing her one section at a time. Sounds expensive.

[@Unknown_Ooh]

@@johns8364 LOL no it doesn't. It's preferred to keep maritime vessels dry docked than sitting in the water. I don't know what video you are referring to but either you or him (or both of you) are wrong. I've lived on the water and near boats my entire life and attended a merchant marine academy for college just for a little reference.

[@michaelbridges1370]

I never made it to those. Section of the lower deck of. The. Lexington their at corpus Christi I just had time to see the. Hanger deck so everything you are showing on the. York town is great. Thanks

[@FuriousMess]

Really nice. American carriers were a composite making the whole

[@tokencivilian8507]

The 2 stage lift - also seen in the NJ, just in bringing up the powder and shell from the magazine to the gun house. Part of keeping them "flash tight". As for the design feature of the US Carriers that made them dominant? The crew. ;-)

[@nicholasgavallas858]

I understand that a big feature of our carriers in comparison to the Japanese carriers was that the flight deck was not armored but the hangar deck was our hwngarscwere also vented so any explosion there would ventniutbthe side of the ship not down and the flight deck being made of wood was relatively easy to repair and keep the ship fighting.

[@gunhog11]

Ryan, did you get a chance to tour the catacomb spaces of Yorktown? How’s her hull condition at and below the waterline? Isn’t she sitting wedged deep in the mud, since she hasn’t been moved since 1975? Same as how the Intrepid was wedged in the mud?

[@Dutch2236]

In 1958, was in airgroup (VS-32) on several cruises on CVS 40 Tarawa and CVS39 Lake Champlain. One day sitting in mess deck, the elevator opened and several Marines jumped out with their Winchester pump shotguns at "port arms." Then several AO,s pushed this massive torpedo/depth charge on a dolly, rolled it past our wide-eyed open mouths and eyes, into the other elevator. That door slammed shut and bomb?? redshirts and Marines disappeared. Later I was on the hangar deck and there they all were practicing loading it into the bomb bay of one of our S2F Trackers. (Grumman twin engine antisub a/c of the day).I guess the Marines were there to prevent any of us from stealing it even though we were somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic. This weapon had such a large diameter that the nose of the Stoof had to be jacked up, the weapon rolled under the fuselage and then the S2 was lowed over it. One more comment. Many of those 1950's S2,s, heavily modified, are still used in CA to drop water on forest fires.

[@dragontechgaming6677]

i remember this carrier well. wen i was in the boyscouts we got to spend the night in one of the berthing spaces. unforchantly we didn't get to see laffey as she was being drydocked at the time because she was spring a leak everywhere and needed alot of patching up. we also went to fort sumter witch was pretty cool aswell. unfortunately this was the only naval ship i ever been on as the USS clamagore was also not open do to some issues i don't remember what the problem was with it.

[@dennismason3740]

I have wisdoms taped all over my western wall - papered from ceiling to floor and one of the most conspicuous tidbits is, simply "Yorktown" only without the quotation marks. She just kept getting back up. Plus, you know F4Fs and the rest. Aaahhh, propellers. Ships also have propellers, so I hear.

[@richardr7389]

Essex carriers were so capable and their design made them able to be built in huge numbers quickly

[@Grafknar]

Welcome to Charleston, Ryan! Geetcha some grits!

[@corsair6]

Fire fighting system was a stand-out feature amongst US carriers, both for dealing with aircraft fires, and engineering fires. Would be fun to see the features of this vital system.

[@kendog52361]

I think it was a combination of the Weapons Elevator set up you mentioned, but also the ability to "assemble" ordnance on the hanger deck, maybe flight deck, and the mess deck. I think our WW2 Carriers allowed that, but I know, for sure, our more recent carriers included assembling the bombs on at least the hanger deck and mess hall area, for both double the large areas for bomb assembly, but also "weather control", since they could safely assemble the bombs "inside", before loading them onto the aircraft, whether on the hanger deck or flight deck.

[@31dknight]

Great video from the battleship.

[@haywoodyoudome]

"Great video from the battleship." You know that's an aircraft carrier and not a battleship, right? Did you eat crayons as a kid or something?

[@31dknight]

@@haywoodyoudome I ate crayons in the Marines... does that count

[@lucasgordon7232]

Was wondering when you would make your way down here ! I see the Yorktown every year it’s a beauty

[@uberduberdave]

My dad worked on a Navy plane called a North American AJ Savage. Early after WWII, the Navy wanted to get into the business of nuclear deterrent and up until the mid 1950s that meant they needed to have an airplane capable of lifting a 8 feet wide ten feet long, 10,000 pound modified "Fatman" atomic bomb off a carrier deck and continue to fly. That was what the AJ was designed to do. There's a special weapons lift forward of the island meant to lift the bomb into the bomb bay of the AJ that comes up just aft of the starboard catapult. The AJ had to be parked on painted spots and the lift raised bomb on a cradle that resembled an upside down table with bomb resting on its legs. My dad said they had to practice an alternate means of loading in case the lift failed where the AJ had to be parked where main gear wheels were on the very edge of the starboard side elevator which was used to lift the bomb into position. A tricky job with the ship rolling at sea. Carriers modified for special weapons, like Yorktown, were given a code number. If I remember correctly, it's 24-C.

[@keithmoore5306]

Ryan for a few spotter planes that carried a pair of 200 pounders (that's 200 of explosives and another 40 or so pounds of steel casing!!) they probably just got 4 guys and a pair of cross bars and schlepped them up to the planes! probably a 5 man crew per bomb 4 carrying the bomb and one carrying the tail fin assembly and fuse

[@Tuck-Shop]

The best part.of the American WW2 carriers were the damage control crews and the way the ship was designed for them. From labelled pipes to the layout of the ship itself. The details considered meant they didn't just survive crippling hits but could recover and keep going despite the damage.

[@josephstevens9888]

s a retired Air Force Munitions Specialist (Aviation Ordnance in Navy jargon), a dream assignment for me would to serve an exchange tour aboard a carrier. I think it would be interesting to see how Navy Ammo troops got the job done while at sea. .. ... perhaps Ryan will give us a tour of the magazine space while he is on the Yorktown!

[@Marine-df7jc]

You should show the escalator on the Yorktown it’s one of the coolest features

[@BattleshipNewJersey]

We did a video on the escalator! Should drop next week!

[@Marine-df7jc]

@@BattleshipNewJersey just watched it thank you !

[@pjg43]

Hi Ryan. The USS Princeton did in fact have a magazine explosion that resulted in the loss of the ship.

[@joefrawley5295]

I'd like to see how Essex class carriers protected its aviation fuel. How many carriers were lost from exploding aviation fuel? Awesome channel. This channel is my favorite one thanks Ryan!

[@bdpopeye]

No Essex class carrier were lost during WWII. As for escort carriers, now that is a different story.

[@SeanBZA]

Springs are not there for normal use, but for emergency, if the cables are snapped, they will cushion the car as it hits, and absorbs energy and stops it slower, so the car is not as damaged, and people inside are not as injured. Plus the car will not break the deck, but will instead collapse the springs, and there the steel tubes as well, absorbing a lot of the energy of the fall. In normal operation the lift car is stopped using switches on the wall, that turn off the motors and apply the brakes.

[@pvi212]

I was just there yesterday looking at Yorktown and the USS Laffy

[@henrycarlson7514]

Interesting , Thank You

[@ericmartin3521]

I think the later quality of aircraft and the overwhelming number of carriers made them an unbeatable force.

[@Eirik36]

I live in Charleston and visit the Yorktown and Laffey all the time!

[@ch3no2killz]

Just a tech point, if it goes through a bulkhead it's a door, through a deck it's a hatch and you can have hatches with a scuttle, small round man size opening that's ez to open and close when the large hatch it goes through is fully dogged, scuttle usually has a hand wheel to operate all dogs at once, very fast.

[@jimwjohnq.public]

And you also had the always enjoyable shin busters and knee knockers. Still have scar or two from them.

[@ch3no2killz]

@@jimwjohnq.public Didn't pay to be tall either, had one tall one caught a fire main valve stem in the forehead on the way to his GQ station!

[@phillipbouchard4197]

The only Aircraft Carrier I can recall that had a magazine explosion was U.S.S. Princeton , a light carrier of the Independence class that had her torpedo storage detonate due to progressive fires from a Kamikaze strike. The detonation was responsible for a great deal of damage to Light Cruiser Birmingham which was alongside fighting Princeton's fires and resulted in over 400 crew casualties to the exposed fire fighting teams and Anti Aircraft crews.

[@dcviper985]

Avgas inerting system. I'm not sure other Navys did that. I think they drained the avgas pipes and filled them with nitrogen

[@johngallus1735]

Love the tie Ryan

[@claymccauley]

Welcome back to Charleston! What was the last space you showed onboard Yorktown with the bomb gantry crane?

[@JohnTBlock]

What made our carrier force as effective as it was in the Pacific were several - first our damage control work was FAR better than any fleet in the world, at the time. 2nd, the big "Fleet" carriers were augmented by use of "Jeep" carriers, that besides operating as strike units themselves, ferried replacement planes and aircrews from the mainland and Hawaii out to the combat areas in the Western Pacific. These I think were the main. Factors that let our force beat the IJN.

[@chuckoffcampus9738]

If the Death Star had the same design improvements as the Essex class with discontinuous offset shafts, it would have never been blow up.

[@garywayne6083]

He mentioned that same thing in reference to the NJ's exhaust stack designs on one of his tours I took :)

[@darkstorminc]

I hated having to walk all those stairs to get to the pier so I could smoke. It was so cold when we went in February a many years ago.

[@carmatic]

if there will ever be a tour route inside Yorktown, I would love to see the various ordinance handling mechanisms reactivated, that is if they are allowed to it would make for an almost animatronic-like experience to follow the path of an air-dropped bomb from the storage to the hangar

[@craigg4925]

I think it was the men onboard that made the most difference, my grandfather was at 55 and the only thing he really talked about it was the men, who was not trained for the job stepped in and did the job. he was a cook by the way, and he always talked about the pot of beans that was burnt because the fire was left on. they thought the ship was on fire, and it was only that pot of beans, I'm guessing it was a running joke for a few months, his ship was inside others at the dock, so they didn't torpedo or bombs hits.

[@finscreenname]

Ryan, you should do a video on how they protected the guns and other stuff when underway. Did the 5's have plugs in the barrels to keep water out? You can't just leave a 50cal out on deck but if in a combat zone....do you?

[@cfdfirefighter]

Yes midway showed what happens to piece meal strike groups attacking a carrier fleet, but that was also a huge part of the reason we won that battle. They couldn’t get their aircraft launched because the US planes kept attacking every 10-15 minutes.

[@EnterpriseXI]

Really cool. Do you know if the bomb elevators on Yorktown are still functional or could be made functional?

[@93FORDMUSTANG]

Did you by chance check on the condition of the clamagore? Or ask any curators for their plans for her? My grandfather served on her so i try to keep up with the latest info

[@BattleshipNewJersey]

No news on Clamagore, unfortunately. They're still working out a plan for her. Stay tuned!

[@93FORDMUSTANG]

@@BattleshipNewJersey thanks for the reply! Hope to see a video of her on your channel one day. Every bit of publicity she gets may help save her from davey jones.

[@Sauerbrew777]

I spent the night aboard the USS Yorktown with my Scout troop back in the late 80s. There were 12 of us standing in a group on the Hanger Deck talking about what area we wanted to visit next. The conversation abruptly stopped when we all saw a Sailor in an all blue uniform walk out of a doorway. The Sailor walked about 20ft and turned to go through another doorway, but vanished into thin air. We were all shocked, because the only other people on the ship were our two Scout leaders and the security guard standing behind us. We told the security guard what we saw and he smiled and said not to worry it was just one of the resident ghosts. Most thought it was some kind of prank, but couldn't explain how the Sailor just vanished in a well lit area.

[@Mystic-Midnight]

I had something like that happen on USS Lexington lmao. We were staying over with High School JROTC sometime between 2016 and 2019 and at Ghost Stories we heard about a Chief that had been struck by a propeller during some urgent takeoff and they had to unceremonially hose him off the flight deck. Sometime either later that night or the next day me and some friends were sitting on the Fantail just talking about the trip and then the guy beside me and I both see what looks like a white body fall off the flightdeck into the water below us and we both heard a splash but the other three with us didn't see or hear anything

[@12askeland231]

I never saw a ghost working on the Yorktown but the strangest thing for me was when myself and a few other maintenance employees were walking through a crew berthing well off the tour route and where nobody else had been for a long time had a padlock unnaturally swinging back and forth like a metronome. That ship definitely has some weird things about it and the state of decay it is in off the tour route definitely adds to the creepy ness.

[@cameronmccreary4758]

From what I understand was the ability for the aircraft carriers to fight off the kamikaze attacks.

[@leongerek9714]

Numbers, we had 100+ carriers of different types. With a homeland almost untouched by attack. We were able to produce ships and train pilots, without disruption of enemy attack.

[@clydecessna737]

Ease of manufacture and their size and sheer numbers. They overwhelmed the Japanese fleet. The high educational level of Americans made this whole process easier. Flexibility. After the loss of the Lexington the USN asked the New York Fire Department for recommendations. Probably the most important adopted was "inserting" the fuel pipes after use with ships exhaust to reduce combustible gasses. Also fire curtains.

[@mykofreder1682]

The greatest design feature was the cap and scouts which allowed the ships to be lightly armored, torpedoes followed by dive bombers were the greatest threat. I wonder what type of pickets carrier task forces deployed at night when WW2 aircraft were grounded, I suspect night movement was important, because ships on guard duty like the Savo Island group guarding the landings were pretty east to sneak up to at night if they sat in one place. Arizona's magazine was breached by a lucky hit from altitude bombing, the shell from altitude bombing hits at terminal velocity, a lot higher than the diver bomber 400 or 500 mph max speed, probably closer to the falling velocity of a battleship long range shot. US sent B17 out to hit ships with level bombing early and had almost 0 luck hitting ships, almost all hit were made by dive bomber with that bomber speed limit on the shell velocity, such a slow-moving shell isn't going to make it through more than a couple of decks so the magazines were rather secure. A torpedo gets you below the water line where the magazines reside but I suspect torpedo defense of the magazine was built into the ship, I don't think a carriers magazines would have fared well in a shooting battle with an Iowa.

[@jasoncarswell7458]

Magazine protection is all well and good, but far and away the biggest danger on a WW2 aircraft carrier turned out to be aviation gasoline. Multiple Japanese carriers, in particular, blew up or burnt to the waterline with fully intact hulls. US carriers did better because they had the capability to purge the fuel lines with inert gas before an expected attack. It didn't stop them from burning, but it stopped them from burning out of control in multiple different places like the Japanese carriers.

[@UltraMagaFan]

Is there any way you can get access to places like this that aren’t on the tour route? Is there any behind the scenes tours or anything? If there is please let me know. We visit this ship every summer and I’d love to do it. I’ve been 8 times and have basically seen everything there is to see.

[@cmcb7230]

Yeah agreed I’d love to see the magazines on the Yorktown.

[@claymccauley]

They used to do ghost tours that visited some areas that are off the normal tour route.

[@ricksadler797]

Cool video thank you 😊

[@leftyo9589]

not a fleet carrier, but an escort, the liscome bay was torpedoed in or near a bomb magazine, and suffered a massive detonation.

[@frankhiatt5295]

United States Navy's training and spirit. That is what makes a great Navy.

[@lonnywilcox445]

What made American carriers dominant is the nearly complete lack of them being effectively engaged by the submarines of the Imperial Japanese Navy. In the entirety of WW2 on 2 American carriers were sunk by Japanese submarines compared to 9 Japanese carriers being sunk by US submarines. It is debatable whether this came about as a result of doctrine of the IJN which used subs primarily for scouting purposes for the surface fleets or is a result of submarine defense capability of the USN but is likely a combination of both to one degree or another. What is undeniably true is that American subs sunk far more Japanese military vessels and commercial vessels than the Japanese subs were able to sink by a margin of around 8-1.

[@NotTheCIA1961]

I'd argue against your survivability point. I'd have to give that to the British carriers. They didn't quite have the carrying capacity of the American carriers but their armored deck was extremely helpful. To your question at the end though... I'd say it was the amount of aircraft they were able to carry, or the outstanding skill of their crews' damage control. The Japanese carriers I'd probably put about on par with the US carriers, but when it comes down to damage control, US blows them out of the water. Several IJN carriers were sunk with relatively minor damage simply because damage control was so horrendous, and meanwhile US carriers were getting blown to bits and still getting back to port. One that comes to mind I can't recall the name of it, but I recall that it was critically damaged and at port for repairs. It was slated to be a several month repair job, and then when they realised they were needed for combat they finished up the repairs within a few days and then continued working on it whilst underway.

[@graceneilitz7661]

You are thinking of USS Yorktown CV-5, the lead ship of the Yorktown class aircraft carriers. She was heavily damaged at Coral Sea, but was hastily repaired at Pearl in 72 hours so she could be at the battle of Midway. Yorktown sank after Midway, and an Essex carrier was named after her. USS Yorktown CV-10, the carrier featured in this video.

[@asn413]

it may be cliche, but while technology is incredible, it's the crew and training that makes it all work imho

[@NomadShadow1]

Keep the explodey bits outside the ship from getting to the explodey bits inside the ship, good idea 🤔

[@FFGOMER17]

The major design feature(s) that made American carriers dominant in the Pacific, and in conflicts since then, was that they were made in America, fighting for America, and crewed by Free Americans!

[@adamb8317]

The first Yorktown was a testament to the damage control superiority of American carriers to Japanese. She survived two very effective bombing attacks and put out the fires, and would have survived Midway had an enemy submarine not put torpedoes into her. The same severity of bombing attacks are what sunk the four Japanese carriers.

[@davidb.fishburn9338]

I think that what helped the US aircraft carriers become dominant was/is the damage control. Ryan, you mentioned being on the USS Yorktown (CV-10), there's another USS Yorktown (CV-5) that proved that damage control is a crucial feature to the ship's survival. She was badly damaged in the Battle of Coral Sea, limped into Pearl Harbor, and got repaired enough in 72 hours to get back into the fight during the Battle of Midway. Due to the success of damage control during WW2, the US Navy still practices damage control to this day. Another feature is the compartmentalization of the ships. It is a feature that makes the carriers so tough to sink, and able to take battle damage that would sink any other ship.

[@Dubanx]

Yeah, this has always been my opinion as well. Time and time again we saw US carriers take multiple hits and not only survive, but resume operations shortly thereafter. Meanwhile Japanese carriers would take one or two hits and burn down.

[@johnshepherd8687]

The airwing. The size of the airwing provided enough fighter cover to degrade Japanese strike packages and make the ship based AAA more effective. A lot is made of the survivability of British carriers but when the Gernans made a special effort to sink HMS Illustrious they almost succeeded because of the lack of fighter aircraft. The USS Oriskany was that last Essex carrier in frontline service and she still deployed 60 strike and fighter aircraft along with supporting air assets in the mid 1970s.

[@bushyfromoz8834]

But they didn't succeed. The Brits accepted that they would be operating close to land based aircraft and accepted the fact they would be outnumbered and hit by larger bombs and designed their CV"s accordingly, so Illustrious didnt survive in spite of its design, it survived because of its design. Having said that, the Fulmer was a piece of junk, and carrierborne fighter control was in its infancy - a bad combination. Its a shame the RAF really gimped the FAA in the interwar years, they really were denied a first class interceptor by interservice rivalry.

[@johnshepherd8687]

@@bushyfromoz8834 People forget that US cartiers operated against land based aircraft throughout the war with great success. The illustrious was attacked with armor piercing bombs which penetrated the flight deck causing greater internal damage than either Franklin or Bunker Hill. What saved the Illustrious was not her design but the lack of fueled and armed aircraft on the hanger deck. Fighters are a form of protection. If the strike don't arrive then they can't drop the ordinance on the carrier. See Butch O'Hare.

[@marcusmcbean164]

I wonder how many weapon carts there were on each Essex carrier?