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1999 SESSION

996034260
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 849
Offered February 9, 1999
Honoring the Virginians who served on the USS Yorktown.
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Patrons-- Hall, Black, Bloxom, Cantor, Councill, Davies, Davis, Devolites, Drake, Hamilton, Harris, Landes, May, McEachin, Phillips, Robinson, Rollison and Spruill; Senators: Holland, Marsh, Marye, Maxwell, Miller, Y.B., Mims, Quayle, Reynolds and Ticer
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WHEREAS, the USS Yorktown, an aircraft carrier built in Newport News, played a crucial role in two of the most pivotal naval battles of World War II; and

WHEREAS, launched at Newport News in 1936 and commissioned in 1937, the USS Yorktown patrolled the Atlantic for much of 1941 as part of a task force assisting the British in their search for the German battleship Bismarck; and

WHEREAS, following the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the USS Yorktown joined the Pacific Fleet and saw almost immediate action in the Marshall and Gilbert Islands in early 1942; and

WHEREAS, in May of 1942, the USS Yorktown was part of the first aircraft carrier duel in history, the Battle of Coral Sea, in which U.S. forces succeeded in preventing the Japanese invasion of New Guinea; and

WHEREAS, badly damaged during Coral Sea action, the USS Yorktown returned to Pearl Harbor for repairs but was almost immediately ordered to return to action at what became one of the most important sea battles of all time—the Battle of Midway; and

WHEREAS, during that battle, which turned the tide of the war in the Pacific against the Japanese, the men of the still-damaged Yorktown performed valiantly, bearing the brunt of the Japanese attack and launching the planes that succeeded in destroying three Japanese carriers; and

WHEREAS, mortally wounded, the USS Yorktown, despite the heroic efforts of her crew, sank on June 7, 1942; and

WHEREAS, many brave Virginians served on the USS Yorktown, which was discovered 16,650 feet under the Pacific on May 19, 1998, by renowned undersea explorer Robert Ballard; and

WHEREAS, the survivors of the Yorktown, many of them Virginians, meet annually on June 7 to commemorate the final day of the great ship on which they served; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby honor the brave Virginians who served with such gallantry aboard the USS Yorktown; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the General Assembly honor the memory of those who died while serving on the USS Yorktown during her brief but heroic service in the U.S. Navy.