20. Yorktown was found to be almost entirely intact, and in good condition
When the wreck of the World War II aircraft carrier USS Yorktown was discovered, it was found to be almost entirely clear of marine life and rust. The ship sits upright on the sea bottom, three miles beneath the surface. The entire flight deck was traversed, its surface unobscured. Stainless steel fittings and panels retained their shine as if waiting for inspection after 56 years. The US Navy ship supporting the operation, USNS Laney Chouest, was designed and fitted out for the support of US Navy deep submergence operations. Aboard was a veteran of the Battle of Midway, who had been one of the men who returned to the abandoned Yorktown in an attempt to save the ship in 1942.
He was able to positively identify the ship as the lost aircraft carrier, including identifying the catwalk from which he had abandoned the ship a second time after it was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine. The successful search for the lost Yorktown, like the other searches for lost ships that preceded it, made headlines. But it was a boon for the US Navy in other ways besides publicity. The Navy’s role in the search was known, but downplayed, as it was able to exercise its personnel and equipment in a situation near the technological limits due to the depth at which rests the sunken ship in the vast reaches of the Pacific.
