The Siege of Yorktown or Battle of Yorktown (September 28–October 19, 1781) was a decisive victory by a combined assault of French forces led by General Comte de Rochambeau and American forces led by General George Washington, over a British Army commanded by General Lord Cornwallis. It proved to be the last major battle of the American Revolutionary War, as the surrender of Cornwallis’s army prompted the British government to eventually negotiate an end to the conflict.

"Surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown," by John Trumbull (oil on canvas, 1820).

Note: CV-10 was named in tribute to the previous USS Yorktown (CV-5), lost at the Battle of Midway.

"New Yorktown Launched — The new Aircraft Carrier Yorktown, already equipped with many of the mechanisms usually added later at a fitting basin, was in such a hurry to get down the ways and into action that she jumped the gun at her recent launching."

"However, the occasion went through without a mishap — due, in part, to Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt's swiftly stepping up and smacking the bow with the wine bottle. She had christened the first Yorktown seven years ago."

From Our Navy magazine, 1 March 1943 issue.

Aircraft of Air Group Five embarked in USS Yorktown (CV-10) for her spring shakedown cruise off Trinidad, BWI. Operating as a catchall group, CVG-5 consisted of VF-1 (F6F-3 Hellcat), VB-4 and VB-6 (SB2C-1 Helldiver), and VT-5 (TBF-1 Avenger). Shown here are Grumman F6F-3 Hellcats being loaded aboard Yorktown at Norfolk Naval Base, circa May 1943. USN, courtesy Russ Egnor.

Photo and text from "Carrier Air War in Original WWII Color," by Robert Lawson and Barrett Tillman.

Undated, small image. Not much detail.

USS Yorktown (CV-10) operating at sea, circa mid-1943, with a TBF Avenger flying over her bow. This photo may have been taken during carrier trials for the SB2C Helldiver. Most of the planes on her flight deck are of that type. Photographed by Lieutenant Commander Charles Kerlee, USNR.

USS Yorktown (CV-10) underway circa mid-1943, possibly during her shakedown cruise in the late spring. Planes on deck include F6F Hellcat fighters and SB2C Helldiver scout-bombers. Note this carrier's unique longitudinal black flight deck stripe.

An undated picture of an SB2C-1 Helldiver after its tailwheel collapsed on landing aboard USS Yorktown (CV-10), location unknown. USN/LT Charles Kerlee, courtesy Russ Egnor.

Photo and text from "Carrier Air War in Original WWII Color," by Robert Lawson and Barrett Tillman.

USS Yorktown (CV-10) as outfitted 22 August 1943.

Overhead plan and starboard profile meticulously drawn by John Robert Barrett. Available from Navy Yard Associates (if you decide to purchase artwork from them please indicate that you heard about their work from NavSource).

View of a worn three-tone scheme F6F-3 Hellcat taken aboard USS Yorktown (CV-10) in late 1943. The small "00" under the horizontal tail indicates a CAG's aircraft.

Ordnancemen working on bombs amid F6F-3 Hellcat fighters parked on the carrier's hangar deck, circa October-December 1943. Other crewmen are watching a movie in the background. Bombs appear to include two 1000-pounders and one 500-pounder. Photographed by Lieutenant Charles Kerlee, USNR.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives (# 80-G-419959).

Gilberts Operation, November 1943 — A Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat fighter makes condensation rings as it awaits the take-off flag aboard USS Yorktown (CV-10), 20 November 1943. The plane is from Fighting Squadron Five (VF-5). Yorktown was then hitting targets in the Marshall Islands to cover the landings in the Gilberts.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives (# 80-G-204747-A).

"Flaming Kate" is a famous WW II photo taken from aft end of USS Yorktown (CV-10). Life magazine featured this picture in full page color. "Jap torpedo bomber [Nakajima B5N Kate] explodes in air after direct hit by 5 inch shell from U.S. aircraft carrier as it attempted an unsuccessful attack on carrier, off Kwajalein." Photographer's Mate Chief Petty Officer Alfred N. Cooperman, 4 December 1943. U.S. National Archives photo # 80-G-415001.

Underway during the Marianas operation, June 1944. The ship is painted in camouflage Measure 33, Design 10a. Photograph was received by the Naval Photographic Science Labratory on 17 July 1944.

SB2C-1 Helldiver bombers return to the carrier after a raid in early July 1944. Photographed by Photographer's Mate First Class O.L. Smith, USNR.

Note: The original caption for this photograph, released by Commander in Chief, Pacific, gives the date as 6 July 1944 and identifies the target as Chichi Jima, Bonin Islands, which was actually attacked on 4 June. Edward Steichen's "U.S. Navy War Photographs" identifies the target as Guam.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives (photo # 80-G-241043).

USS Yorktown underway in September 1944, location unknown, camouflaged in Measure 33/10A and showing details of the flight deck and the numerous gun mounts along its edge. Note that the two aft radio masts have been replaced by whip aerials (USN photo).

In May 1945, while at Ulithi, USS Yorktown (CV-10) was fitted with a fighter control SM radar on the foremast. The "bedspring" antenna of the air search SK radar was then moved to the port side of the stack. This photo shows how the rig looked in late 1944.

USS Yorktown (CV-10) underway, date and location unknown.

USS Sicily (CVE-118) photographed at the Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan, circa February 1954, with USS Yorktown (CVA-10) at right and eleven LCM landing craft in the foreground. Grumman AF Guardian anti-submarine aircraft are parked on Sicily's flight deck. Douglas AD Skyraider attack planes are parked aft on Yorktown's flight deck.

The original caption, released by Commander Naval Forces Far East on 18 February 1954, reads: "Twins, Almost — The Essex-class carrier USS Yorktown (CVA-10) and her smaller counterpart, the escort carrier USS Sicily (CVE-118), rest side by side during a recent in-port maintenance period at the Yokosuka, Japan, Naval Base".

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center (# NH 97318).

USS Yorktown (CVA-10) off Point Loma, California, sometime in 1955–1957. Official US Navy photo.

Two views of USS Yorktown (CVA-10) most likely taken in 1956. That year, "The Fighting Lady" deployed to WestPac, March 19–September 13, with ATG-4 aboard.

Aerial 3/4 port bow view of the attack aircraft carrier USS Yorktown (CVA-10) underway, dated 6 May 1956. Yorktown deployed to WestPac with Air Task Group 4 (ATG-4) on 19 March. Planes in this photo show a mix of "aTg" and "M" (Carrier Air Group 2, CVG-2) tail codes — ATG-4 was assigned tail code letter "Z" on 24 July 1956. Official US Navy photo (# USN-1033-L).

Starboard 3/4 bow view of USS Yorktown (CVA-10) with USS Hopewell (DD-681) of DESDIV 152 coming alongside for refueling operations during 1957 Far East Cruise.

Official U.S. Navy photo from the estate of W.P. Tyler, CO of USS Hopewell at the time.

Starboard quarter view of USS Hopewell (DD-681), DESDIV 152, alongside USS Yorktown (CVA-10) during refueling ops, 1957 Far East Cruise.

Official U.S. Navy photo from the estate of W.P. Tyler, CO of USS Hopewell at the time.

Stern aerial view of USS Yorktown (CVA-10), taken during her 4th Westpac Deployment (March 9 – August 25, 1957). The embarked Air Group was CVG-19, tailcode "B".

Underway as a CVS, circa 1958-1959.

USS Yorktown (CVS-10) at sea off Hawaii, circa the early 1960s. Note HSS-1 helicopters on her flight deck, with noses painted red.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center (photo # NH 97458-KN).

USS Yorktown (CVS-10) underway in June 1962, location unknown. She has S2F Tracker and AD-5W Skyraider fixed-wing aircraft and HSS-1 Seabat helicopters on deck.

USS Mars (AFS-1) during an underway replenishment with USS Yorktown (CVS-10), mid-1960s. US Navy photo from All Hands magazine, August 1967.

Task Force 77 operating in the South China Sea, March 1965. It had recently launched strikes against North Vietnam. Carriers present are (clockwise from bottom): Ranger (CVA-61), Yorktown (CVS-10), Coral Sea (CVA-43) and Hancock (CVA-19). The guided missile cruiser Canberra (CAG-2) is in the center of the formation. The destroyer screen includes: England (DLG-22), Gurke (DD-783), Rogers (DD-876), Walker (DD-517), O'Bannon (DD-450), Somers (DD-947), Jenkins (DD-447), John A. Bole (DD-755), Higbee (DD-806), Buck (DD-761), Joseph Strauss (DDG-16) and Ernest G. Small (DD-838). This photograph was specially posed, and does not represent a normal operating formation.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph (# USN 1109915).

James Shriver, PHCM, USN (Ret), notes: "The photo [...] was taken in an exercise we called 'Operation Candid Camera.' On day one it was tried by a Vigilante photo plane. They missed. So the next day it was tried again and the photos were taken with a hand held camera from a HS-8 helicopter. The photographer was PH1 Elvin C. Conarty (now deceased). I was there... I processed the film and printed the photos."

USS Yorktown (CVS-10) in posed formation with her escorts and some of her aircraft during Exercise Sea Imp, a major Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) exercise conducted in the western Pacific during the first part of 1966. The two leading escorts are USS Goldsborough (DDG-20) at left and USS Bronstein (DE-1037) at right. Other escorts include two destroyers and two escort ships. Planes overhead include S-2, E-1 and SH-3 types.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph (photo # USN 1120536).

USS Yorktown (CVS-10) with escorts, possibly during South East Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) Exercise Sea Imp, 1966. (See NS021018.)

USS Yorktown (CVS-10) as an anti-submarine (ASW) carrier in 1968, with S-2 Trackers ASW, E-1 Tracer early-warning planes, and an SH-3 Sea King ASW helicopter on her flight deck.

(USN photo # 1129551).

Mid- to late-1960s.

Far East Cruise, January–July 1960.

Made at the height of World War II, released to the public in January 1945, and considered one of the best documentaries of that time, "The Fighting Lady" records the life of the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown from her launching in 1943 through her victorious sweep across the Pacific. "The Fighting Lady" received the Academy Award for Best Documentary as well as a Special Documentary Award from the New York Film Critics. Noted photographer CDR Edward J. Steichen, USNR, supervised the making of the film and famous actor LT Robert Taylor, USNR, was the narrator. (Although most footage was shot aboard Yorktown, several scenes were filmed aboard other Essex-class carriers, most notably USS Hornet, USS Ticonderoga and USS Bunker Hill).

Simultaneously with the filming of "The Fighting Lady" some background shots were taken for "Wing and a Prayer" (1944, directed by Henry Hathaway; starring Don Ameche and Dana Andrews).

Yorktown was also featured in a short (19') documentary, "Jet Carrier," produced in 1954 by Otto Lang.

"Temporarily out of CONTROL," an episode of the "Get Smart" show (season 4, episode 12) was filmed aboard USS Yorktown (CVS-10). The episode was written by Arne Sultan, Leonard Stern, Alan Burns and Chris Hayward; directed by James Komack; and aired on 14 December 1968. Don Adams, Barbara Feldon and Edward Platt were the featured stars.

(Thanks to Dan Turygan for pointing it out.)

In December 1968 USS Yorktown played the role of the Imperial Japanese Navy's aircraft carrier Akagi in the film "Tora! Tora! Tora!" (released in 1970, directed by Richard Fleischer, Kinji Fukasaku and Toshio Masuda; starring Martin Balsam, Sô Yamamura, Joseph Cotten and Tatsuya Mihashi).

While it does contain some factual errors, in general terms "Tora! Tora! Tora!" can be considered a fairly accurate account of the events leading up to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941, and of the attack itself.

Yorktown's "make up" included sandbags around the bridge, and flight deck markings repainted to make her look like a straight deck carrier. Flight deck crewmen were disguised to resemble WW2 Japanese sailors. Curiously, Akagi (Vice Admiral Nagumo's flagship for the Pearl Harbor attack) was one of two carriers in the Japanese strike force to have a port side island — Yorktown, like all US carriers, had hers on the starboard side.

USS Yorktown (CV-10) painted in Measure 33 Design 10A camouflage, 1944–1945.