YORKTOWN LAUNCHES ITS STRIKE AT THE JAPANESE INVASION FORCE
Just before dawn on June 4, 1942, the commander of the American carrier forces at Midway, Rear Admiral Frank J. Fletcher, was informed that Japanese forces, including two carriers, had been sighted north-west of the Midway islands. As a precaution against surprise attack, Admiral Fletcher launched ten Dauntless SBD dive bombers from USS Yorktown (CV-5) to search the northern semi-circle over a distance of 100 miles for any Japanese carriers that might have escaped detection by PBY Catalina search planes from Midway.
The sun came up on June 4, 1942 over a dark blue Pacific Ocean, with a beautiful blue sky and a few scattered white clouds. Yorktown's search planes failed to locate any Japanese carriers, and when they returned to Yorktown at about 8.30 am (6.30 am Midway Time), a defense inner combat air patrol of six Wildcat fighters was established and Yorktown's attack air group was prepared for take-off. Yorktown's flight deck was alive with the roar and smoke of aircraft engines and careful, busy sailors working on the flight deck to launch aircraft.
USS Yorktown's SBD-3 dive-bombers are being prepared to strike at the powerful Japanese carrier force attacking America's Midway Islands.
I took station on the open signal bridge for better visibility to make 35mm motion pictures and still photos.
The Yorktown attack group was launched about an hour and fifteen minutes after Enterprise and Hornet launched their attack groups. The attack groups from the three American carriers had been ordered to find and attack the Japanese carriers approaching Midway.
A 1942 photograph of Bill Roy with aerial camera aboard USS Yorktown
At about 1.15 pm, our planes began to return. They had been out a long time and were low on gas. Some were badly shot up. Dive bombers made crash landings. Fighters then started coming aboard. Many were shot up. We landed about five fighters, and then one fighter came in too fast and high. It floated over the barrier and dived for the deck, flipped over, skidding on the canopy. The pilot, Tom Cheek, crawled out from under the wreckage unhurt.