This amateur 16mm silent home movie shows some of the events the day the USS Yorktown was launched. It dates to 21 January, 1943. Unfortunately, this film is missing the “sliding down the ways” section — it was apparently removed at some point as there is a splice in the movie. However it is still quite an interesting bit of history, captured by a civilian who observed the event.
Work was begun on (what was then called) Bonhomme Richard when her keel was laid down on 1 December 1941 at Newport News, Virginia, by the Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Company, six days before the Attack on Pearl Harbor. She was renamed on 26 September 1942 as USS Yorktown, and launched on 21 January 1943, sponsored by Eleanor Roosevelt. Yorktown was commissioned on 15 April 1943, with Captain Joseph J. Clark in command.
USS Yorktown (CV/CVA/CVS-10) is one of 24 Essex-class aircraft carriers built during World War II for the United States Navy. She was named after the Battle of Yorktown of the American Revolutionary War, and is the fourth U.S. Navy ship to bear the name. Initially to have been named Bonhomme Richard, she was renamed Yorktown while still under construction to commemorate the loss of USS Yorktown (CV-5) during the Battle of Midway in June 1942. Yorktown was commissioned in April 1943, and participated in several campaigns in the Pacific Theater of Operations, earning 11 battle stars and the Presidential Unit Citation.
We encourage viewers to add comments and, especially, to provide additional information about our videos by adding a comment! See something interesting? Tell people what it is and what they can see by writing something for example: “01:00:12:00 — President Roosevelt is seen meeting with Winston Churchill at the Quebec Conference.”
This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
