Lessons From USS Yorktown's Damage Control

A city cannot survive without a determined force of first responders. These vigilant individuals are trained to meet emergent catastrophes. A U.S. Navy aircraft carrier must be similarly self-sustaining. It requires skilled teams of technicians and tradesmen to respond to damage incurred while at sea. These first responders—damage control (DC) repair parties—are crucial to the ship’s survival. They fight fires, react to power and propulsion damage, maintain watertight integrity, and patch the flight deck to keep aircraft flying. DC teams saved the USS Yorktown (CV-5) multiple times during and after the Battle of the Coral Sea and during the Battle of Midway, but details of their actions are rarely highlighted in battle accounts.