YORKTOWN roamed the Pacific at will, launching her aircraft against enemy shipping, aircraft and shore installations.  When the smoke cleared and the final tally was made, YORKTOWN's team had accounted for; 

By now the crew of the Fighting Lady must have felt invincible.  They had participated in numerous actions and had repelled repeated air and sub attacks by luck, maneuvering, and a constant flow of hot lead from their guns.  18 March 1945, the spell was broken.  The Yorktown ship gunners protected her from many close in air attacks, some apparent suicide missions by the Japanese pilots.

Ironically, a minor skirmish dealt Yorktown's sole injury of the war.  

Her log reports for March 18, 1945:  1500 Third "Judy" came out of the clouds dead ahead and dropped a bomb that landed on the starboard signal bridge, passed through that deck and down through 20 MM Battery number seven, exploding alongside near the second deck.  Three men were killed and 18 wounded...

...two holes, 12 and 19 square foot were torn in the side of the ship.  The Judy began disintegrating on pull out and the Japs parachuted."

 {Fighting Ships Dictionary states 5 dead on the Yorktown, 26 wounded}

The Yorktown was finally hit, through not seriously, as she remained completely operational throughout.  One Yorktown sailor said she listed so severely for a time that there was only two feet of water between the deck and the sea.

In mid afternoon, Marine Lieutenant Barney Favaro was with his Marine anti aircraft gunners on the starboard side when "I heard the 40 mms open fire from the island (Yorktown's superstructure) batteries. I looked up and saw this big black bomb hurling out of the overcast."

The bomb struck the side of the signal bridge, but did not detonate-yet.  It passed through the deck there, ricocheted off the incinerator smoke stack, punched through a 20mm gun's splinter shield, deeply cut the torsos of the two gunners, nearly in half, then exploded about 15 feet above the water line and 30 feet from the ship.

  The blast tore a hole in the side of the Yorktown, started fires, and killed and wounded Yorktown sailors.  Heroic damage control and emergency first aid kept the ship in action and minimized casualties at five dead and 18 wounded.  LCDR George Earnshaw's gunners (Asst. Gun Boss) even brought down the attacker, through the pilot parachuted, was picked up and was transferred to the Yorktown's brig.

   Stanchion damaged on USS Yorktown by Japanese suicide pilot.

This was the closest the zootsuiters ever got to fulfilling the promise of Tokyo Rose.  But the men of the Yorktown could not relax, particularly after witnessing the USS Franklin getting clobbered the very next day.

click onto radio to hear Tokyo Rose, August 14, 1944

A gun goes off on the flight deck and a death is caused.  A deadly accident on the flight deck of the Yorktown killed an officer and wounded several other Yorktown crewmen.  WWII Diary excerpt belonging to a seaman by the name of "Glavic" who served on the Yorktown; "May 9, 1945 Weather is better today and we sent air strikes to the beach. One of our planes piloted by Camcin (TBM), folded his wings and at the same time fired his (50 calibre) weapons killing 1 man and injuring 19 others which 3 of these are pretty bad. One man who died was a Ensign (John T. Battaile), one Chief lost his left arm and the rest I do not know about. Besides all that has happened, it is quiet today."

The ensign was buried at sea the next day.

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