Al and Bob had the dawn air patrol. At about 0700 hours, the fighters on patrol from Yorktown sighted a Japanese submarine. They machine-gunned it, and a destroyer depth-charged it. They thought they had sunk it. At 0800, we heard that two Japanese carriers and two battleships had been sighted 180 miles off Midway and about 240 miles from us. Midway had already been bombed at this time, apparently by aircraft from these carriers. Our Army Air Corps flying off Midway reported another force of Japanese cruisers, destroyers and ten transports to the south of Midway, evidently waiting until it had been bombed by the carriers before they attempted to land troops.

Task Force 16 headed straight for the enemy carriers and our task Force 17 attempted to get on the other side of them. The Enterprise and Hornet began launching their attack air groups at 0700 hours. The Yorktown began launching its attack air group of seventeen Dauntless SBD dive bombers, twelve Devastator TBD torpedo bombers, and six F4F Wildcat fighters at 0830.

Portland recovered its two seaplanes at 0930 hours. The remaining flights were called off. The SOCs were kept on board because air attacks were anticipated and the heavy cruisers were expected to protect the Yorktown by being close to her at all times. To retrieve an SOC, Portland would have had to leave the vicinity of the carrier that she was protecting and spend about thirty minutes recovering one of her seaplanes. We were on an alert all day, so had only sandwiches for lunch. When Portland was on alert status, my action station was usually in my aircraft, on the catapult, knowing the mission, and ready for launch if ordered. As it turned out, I didn't fly on this day.

About 1200 hours, the first SBDs and four Wildcat fighters from Yorktown's attack group returned to their carrier. Lieutenant Commander Thach, the leader of the fighter escort, reported that three Japanese carriers had been put out of action and that the battle now appeared to be going our way.

At 1203, as the rest of our SBDs were circling Yorktown in preparation for landing, it all started. Portland went to "general quarters". At this time, my action station was on the bridge. I had my flight gear, plotting board, etc., and was awaiting an order to be launched, and information as to the mission. Each seaplane on a catapult could be launched in the space of ten minutes. The necessary radioman and mechanics were standing by to go into action on a moments notice. Being on the bridge during what followed gave me a better view of the action than any other place on the ship!

Out on the beam of the formation, about five miles, I could see many dog fights going on between Yorktown's fighters and Japanese planes. It was the first strike group from the sole surviving Japanese carrier, and it comprised eighteen "Val" dive bombers and their six Zero escorts. I saw seven planes shot down in flames before our ships came under attack. Three pilots bailed out in their parachutes. Our gunners were manning their 5-inch, 1.1 quadruple mount, 20-mm Oerlikons, and .50 Brownings, but we had to delay our anti-aircraft fire while the enemy aircraft were being engaged by our fighters.

At 1209 hours all hell broke loose when the Japanese dive bombers made their attack on Yorktown. Only seven of the original eighteen got through after our fighters had finished with them, but that was going to be drastic for the Yorktown.

The first enemy dive bomber was ripped apart by very heavy anti-aircraft fire from Portland and the other ships of Task Force 17 but its bomb struck Yorktown's flight deck on the starboard side just behind the number 2 elevator. The explosion blew a large hole in the deck, and killed and wounded many members of the crew. Despite heavy losses, the wounded survivors at 1.1-inch gun mounts 3 and 4 stood to their guns and continued firing on the Japanese as more dive bombers came in.

A second bomber was also torn apart and its bomb exploded in the water close astern of Yorktown. Splinters from this bomb tore through the crews of .50 calibre machine guns and killed and wounded them.

Of the remaining five dive bombers, two scored direct hits on the Yorktown. One armor-piercing bomb penetrated the flight deck near the island, and the explosion disabled two boilers, ruptured the uptakes from three boilers, and extinguished the fires in five boilers. The Yorktown's speed dropped sharply and she was soon dead in the water. This second direct hit was the one that crippled Yorktown and left her vulnerable when the second Japanese strike group arrived.

The third bomb pierced number 1 elevator and exploded in a storage compartment.

This attack seemed to last about ten minutes and then there were hardly any planes in sight.

After this attack, the Yorktown began to smoke badly. She looked like the Lexington a month earlier at Coral Sea before she sank. Our Task Force 16 was over the horizon, about 25 miles away, when we were attacked. They sent over the cruisers Vincennes and Pensacola and two destroyers Benham and Balch to help us.

We continued to run circles around the Yorktown while her crew worked frantically to repair the flight deck, put out the fires, and get her boilers started. Yorktown was unable to recover her returning attack air group and combat air patrol fighters while she was stopped in the water, and the pilots were ordered to land on Enterprise or Hornet. Two of Yorktown's returning SBD dive bombers had to ditch in the sea when they ran out of gas, and the aircrews were picked up by our ships.

By 1300 hours, Yorktown's flight deck was operational again, all fires were under control, and the engine room reported that Yorktown was ready to get under way. When the carrier signalled "my speed five', a cheer went up from all of us in her screening ships. However, with only four boilers operational, she could only make 20 knots at best.

At 1355, Yorktown's radar detected an air formation approaching and it was assessed as being Japanese. The F4F Wildcat fighters of Yorktown's combat air patrol had been rearmed and refueled on Enterprise, and four of these Wildcats were vectored out to intercept the approaching enemy aircraft. At 1410, Portland received a signal from Rear Admiral Fletcher in Astoria to prepare to repel aircraft attack. Yorktown's screening ships moved in closer to the carrier, forming a tight protective circle.

By 1428 hours, Yorktown's engineers had been able to coax 18 knots from the ship's depleted boilers, and the carrier was able to launch eight of its F4F Wildcat fighters to engage the approaching enemy formation. These Wildcats were joined by two fighters of the combat air patrol that had remained behind to cover the launch.

The Yorktown fighters intercepted a formation of ten Japanese "Kate" torpedo planes with six Zero fighter escorts about ten miles from the carrier. The second Japanese strike group was led by Lieutenant Joichi Tomonaga who had earlier that day led the Japanese air strike against Midway. One Japanese bomber was shot down, but the rest slipped through while the Zeros engaged the American fighters.

Despite a tremendous barrage from the anti-aircraft guns of Portland and the other ships, several of the Japanese bombers got through and pressed on relentlessly towards the Yorktown. They were in a loose "V" formation, and weaved continually to avoid our anti-aircraft fire. I saw one "Kate" bomber explode and fall into the sea. The bombers flew at the Yorktown and dropped their deadly "fish". Lacking the speed that had enabled her to avoid the Japanese torpedoes at Coral Sea, Yorktown was hit by two torpedoes. As each torpedo struck the carrier, great columns of water erupted into the air.

USS Yorktown has just been hit by a Japanese air-launched torpedo, and a great column of water erupts above the carrier.
The intensity of the defensive anti-aircraft fire can be gauged from the number of bursts in the sky above the carrier.

The attack only lasted for a little over ten minutes, and then the sky was clear of Japanese planes. When the last gun on Portland ceased firing, the sudden silence was unnerving. The action had been so frantic while it lasted that our exhausted gunners were slumped over their guns. I looked across at the Yorktown and saw that she was dead in the water. The carrier soon began to list at an alarming angle. It looked as if Yorktown was going to roll over, and the order was given to abandon ship.

The Yorktown survivors were picked up by our destroyers. One of the destroyers was going to come alongside Portland and transfer survivors to us, but just as soon as one line was thrown over, they were told to cast it off. There had been a warning of another Japanese air strike approaching, but it turned out to be a false alarm. About 1700, when everyone had been taken off the Yorktown, we all turned east and left her sitting there alone looking as though she would roll over at any minute. No one wanted to leave the Yorktown, but she was a sitting target for Japanese submarines, and with nightfall approaching, the advantage would shift to the Japanese in a sea battle at night.

About an hour later, the Enterprise and her screening ships came into sight. She sent us a message that the Hornet was 30 miles east of her and that both of their air groups were out after the fourth enemy carrier. I learned afterwards that this carrier was the Hiryu. That news sounded good because we then knew that the Japanese were receiving more damage than they had given us. The two cruisers Vincennes and Pensacola went over to rejoin Task Force 16 and now Portland, together with the Astoria and six destroyers, steamed east. The destroyers transferred some of their injured to us after nightfall for medical treatment.

As we steamed eastward, I was thinking that this had been a big battle and that it was likely to go down in history. I also knew that it would live long in my mind. At the time, I was thinking that just as the last battle Portland had been in was being called the Battle of the Coral Sea, this one should have a name such as "The Battle of Midway".

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