Wounded personnel were lowered to life rafts and to boats sent by accompanying destroyers and cruisers. In addition to the recommendations made in the report of damage (Enclosure C) it is recommended that: (2) More complete splinter protection be provided around exposed gunnery, fire control, and other vital control stations. The Combat Air Patrol shot down 8 VT and 2 VF and damaged 2 VT and 2 VF.
While those requiring immediate surgery were being transferred to the operating room, word was passed to standby for torpedo attack. The USS Yorktown (CV-5) was heavily damaged at the Battle of Coral Sea, but it pushed on to join other Navy forces at the Battle of Midway, where the valiant actions of the crew helped ensure a U.S. victory despite the loss of the ship. It is believed that the minimum fire power for a torpedo plane should be two 50 caliber fixed machine guns firing forward and two 50 caliber free machine guns mounted in a turret aft. As the attacking planes approached the ship they could be seen clearly through binoculars, and it appeared that the organized attack had been broken up. 1. The Commanding Officer then left the ship by means of a line over the stern and was eventually picked up by the Yorktown to attempt to save her and bring her into port.
This is the first time that we have had any Zero fighters make beam runs on our planes. Word was passed to prepare for another air attack. Of the entire group, seven got through the combat patrol and these made three hits on Yorktown,having released their bombs at about 500 feet.
It struck the flight deck about 15 feet inboard and about 20 feet aft of 1.1 mount number 4, killing 12 men in mount 4 and 5 men in mount 3 instantly and wounding 4 men on mount 4 and 14 on mount 3. The squadron maneuvered to avoid the fighters and decreased altitude to 150 feet to avoid attacks from below. He has appeared on The History Channel as a featured expert. At this point the ship had built up speed to 18 knots and was able to launch 8 more fighters before the attack developed. Radio Electrician V.M. A low flying bogey was picked up and part of the CAP had to be brought down to investigate. This report of action is compiled entirely from memory of officers in the ship and Air Group who had intimate knowledge of the various events as they took place. None of these planes on either side pressed home an attack nor was any seen to drop torpedoes. As result of the bombing attack many seriously wounded were treated at the dressing stations, the majority coming from the fantail and flight deck. It is estimated that the VT squadron was attacked by at least 8 Zero fighters and shot down at least one Zero fighter. Water jackets were punctured by splinters on two 1.1 mounts and 4-50 caliber machine guns. Only 5 VT dropped their torpedoes, as 7 were shot down during the approach and 3 more after the attack. The wakes of several torpedoes were seen; two passed just under the bow and appeared on the starboard side; two struck the ship about abreast the bridge on the port side. Delaney, USN, reported that all fires were out, all power was lost and it was impossible to correct the steadily increasing list. Other planes participating in the attack were either shot down or driven away by fighters or by AA fire from screening vessels. 1 boiler remained at their station and kept this boiler steaming with two burners. Among these there was but one case of serious burns, practically all of the others being shrapnel wounds. This fire was ineffective since the planes circled or approached their diving points by a curved path. 4 VF were immediately vectored out and a few minutes later the remaining two.
The new Yorktowntook part in the majority of the Allies' "island hopping"campaign across the Pacific.