LAUNCH CEREMONY FOR USS YORKTOWN CV-10 16mm HOME MOVIE (SILENT FILM) NEWPORT NEWS 1943 70184a

Want to support this channel and help us preserve old films? Visit Visit our website This amateur 16mm silent home movie shows some of the events the day the USS Yorktown was launched. It dates to 21 January, 1943. Unfortunately, this film is missing the “sliding down the ways“ section -- it was apparently removed at some point as there is a splice in the movie. However it is still quite an interesting bit of history, captured by a civilian who observed the event. Work was begun on (what was then called) Bonhomme Richard when her keel was laid down on 1 December 1941 at Newport News, Virginia, by the Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Company, six days before the Attack on Pearl Harbor. She was renamed on 26 September 1942 as USS Yorktown, and launched on 21 January 1943, sponsored by Eleanor Roosevelt. Yorktown was commissioned on 15 April 1943, with Captain Joseph J. Clark in command. USS Yorktown (CV/CVA/CVS-10) is one of 24 Essex-class aircr