| The Yorktown went under with a slight list to the port and bow angle. The open hanger deck was being flooded to a point where it would have neutral buoyancy. This is keeping the carrier level by equal pressure on the hanger deck. The flight deck is taken over by the sea, creating equal pressure on the top side of the flight deck as well as the underside of the flight deck. This now acts as a horizontal stabilizer. As the carrier keeps sinking in a glide fashion the island starts disappearing. This now acts as a vertical rudder, if you will, in steerage and helps keep the carrier in an upright position, plus the carriers's deep draft. Put all of this together it allows for a nice glide path to the ocean floor, keeping the Yorktown upright during her descent to the ocean floor. If the carrier had rolled over, the pressure of the water against the guns would have either ripped the guns off or at least changed their positions. |
| REFLECTIONS |
| It has been said the Yorktown rolled over, I have said not so. My memory cannot recall the carrier rolling over. |
| Of all the evidence pointing toward the fact that the Yorktown sank upright, the underwater photographs taken by Robert Ballard during his 1998 expedition to the wreck site are perhaps the most convincing. Several of the photographs that appear in his book "Return to Midway" show a great deal of loose debris covering the decks of the sunken aircraft carrier. Assuming the US Navy's current theory is correct, and the Yorktown did indeed roll over before sinking, no such debris could have accumulated upon the ship. |
| At first glance, it appears that the debris could have easily landed on the ship even if she rolled over. Logic says that the debris would have sunk in the same spot as the rest of the ship and could have easily landed on it. However , if the Yorktown rolled over, any loose objects would likely have fallen off the ship and headed for the bottom. Assuming the debris fell at the same rate of speed as the ship, it would have reached the bottom ahead of the ship and therefore would not have settled on top of it. |
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| Copyright 2003 - Peter E. Karetka |
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| TABLE OF CONTENTS |
| GUESTBOOK |
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| Credits: Thank You |
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