No, she isn’t Yorktown, but she is Yorktown class. The Academy Models 1/700 scale model of CV-6, was built as a test of the Academy kit to see if it or the Trumpeter version in the same scale would be a better subject for builds of Yorktown herself.
While the kit has a few issues, it’s a great project. Everything needed but paint and glue (and not much glue is needed) is in the box, and component fit is excellent. Read the full review and see finished photos HERE.
Added a review of the recent Tom’s Model Works kit of Yorktown in her 1940 fit. This is a re-working of an older cast resin kit, which utilizes the original, but updated, resin hull and other parts, with the addition of all new 3D resin prints and photoetched brass, along with custom decals for the colorful pre-war aircraft markings. See what’s up HERE.
An older article, but a good look at some of the logistics of getting Yorktown back into the fight for Midway, over at the Defense Media Network.
Click HERE for the article.
View of the mural, “A Chart of the Cruises of the USS Yorktown,” hand-painted inside the ship’s #2 elevator shaft, seen during the Papahānaumokuākea ROV and Mapping expedition dive on April 19, 2025.
Earlier this year, NOAA dove on Yorktown’s wreck once again, this time documenting many hours (the linked video is over 10 hours) worth of high-definition footage of the wreck. Included in the usual sights of chipping paint and gun barrels pointed skyward, they also went into the center elevator shaft and got great footage of the mural! Who knew that after a half-century of some of us looking for photos of the full mural, the ultimate way it’d be discovered was simply by going to see the actual mural it in person. Well, okay, it wasn’t that simple.
You can view the full video footage on YouTube HERE.
**NOTE** This video link is no longer valid. View our post HERE for an updated video link. NOAA has been diving on Yorktown for the past few days. Link to the YouTube feed below. The feed is “Live”, so if it doesn’t show anything at the moment, scroll back through the footage:
The National WWII Museum has posted a video of William “Bill” Roy and his recollections of his experiences onboard Yorktown during the Battle of Midway.
Over at Joy Neal Kidney’s website, the story of Yorktown crew member E 1/c Donald Wilson, and a copy of his naval citation and commendation medal for assisting with the attempted salvage of CV-5, has been posted. Definitely worth a read.
Direct link to article HERE.
The U.S. Naval Institute website posted “Flying into a Beehive: Fighting Three at Midway” back in 2007, but it’s still a relevant article about USS Yorktown‘s airgroup during the Battle of Midway.
Link added to the Internet Resources page. You can also get to the article directly by clicking HERE.
A review of the Japanese publication “Ships of the World” issue “World’s Vintage Warships Vol. 8: Yorktown Class” has been added to the website HERE.
On YouTube’s “Memoirs of WWII” channel, they’ve published a video of Yorktown crewman Roger Spooner’s account of abandoning the ship during the Battle of Midway. There are inconsistencies in his story against what is known to have happened during the battle (he mentions a Japanese plane crashing into the ship, but there’s no record of that); regardless, it’s worth a watch and very compelling.