The Wrecks of Midway - Diving on IJN Kaga and USS Yorktown (Sept 2023) 

Yorktown: Pristine for a sunken wreck Akagi: A little beat up but still in good shape and recognizable Kaga: Burned back into a Battleship

I just applaud you guys for holding your breathe so long so deep under. That’s impressive. Bravo. And you’re talking so clearly. It doesn’t even sound like your under water.

I'm sure I'm not the only one, but I shed a lot of tears for the fate of the Enterprise. If any WWII US ship deserved to be a museum ship, it was her.

When you mentioned Yorktown was the most intact of her class I almost started crying.

Crying shame what happened to Prince of Wales. That is not just a wreck. Men sacrificed their lives there. They deserve the honor of having that place a sacred resting place.

The giant foghorn in yorktown kind of makes me smile because theres the 5 year old in me that goes “I WANNA HEAR THE MASSIVE HORN!”

35:00 There was a small ROV that explored internal sections of Titanic, much tighter quarters than Yorktowns hanger deck. So it could be done.

I want to thank both Jon and Drach for showing us this footage. It's very fascinating, and yet sobering.

When it comes to Kaga's wreck, I can't help but remember the heated argument I got into on the old world of warships forum when they first found her and we got those first few pictures of the wreck. One person there was absolutely convinced that Kaga was almost completely intact, while I, being quite good at analyzing 3D objects and recognizing shapes, took a screenshot of the in-game model of the ship and drew a red line along her hull in paint and tried my best to explain how everything above that line was very clearly gone. Somehow the message still didn't get through, but then again, he also thought that one of the few remaining gun sponson supports was the bow of the ship sitting well above the mud, and I knew there was no way that was the case, let alone the shape being completely wrong. Just from the written descriptions of the last hours of the ship, it was blatantly obvious to me that almost everything that was the aircraft carrier Kaga was already gone and the old battleship Kaga was all that remained.

Yorktown forever keeping watch on the Kido Butai.

*THANK YOU* from a guy who bought Gordon Prange's 'Miracle at Midway' in 1982 and is the son of a destroyer man graduate of USNA, 1943. This video tour is close to completing the circle for me. I am just beginning 'Shattered Sword' which was my wife's gift for my 73rd birthday. Gentlemen, please keep doing your great work.

Hey guys, thanks for doing this, a pleasure to hear a couple guys who know what they're talking about go over this footage. The livestream excepts we saw from Nautilus ground my gears because they had people on who didn't know what they were talking about, e.g. the conflation of Yorktown's attack damage with that of Hornet's (at one point someone the fire damage to the stack was because the island got hit by a suicide attack, which we know didn't happen to Yorktown). I got a kick out of Drach's comment that Yorktown's paint is in better shape than a modern ship's after six months' deployment - we laugh because it's funny and laugh because it's true. And as for the AA mounts, Yorktown's gunnery officer was a guy named Ernie Davis who was a big believer in dakka. When they upgraded mounts (at either Norfolk or Pearl) he was supposed to give back a bunch of supplanted 50-cals, and he didn't. They instead got stuck in a bunch of places along the sides of the flight deck using improvised mounts involving the rail supports and broomsticks.

Grampa was a naval aviator flying Dauntless off of Yorktown until the Midway action, when his squadron was shifted to big E. cool stuff!

It's just horrific to see just how little of Kaga is left. She really suffered a lot before she went down. It's amazing that her original Battleship hull helped her stay afloat for as long at it did after all these massive secondary explosions.

it is so cool to see these ships being found and explored

The rolled open deck is actually pretty good guess. You can see the internal supports just sitting on that flattened piece of metal right next to what used to be the turret.

It amazes me that y'all can place where any pieces of that mangled wreck belong

Holy I did not know the damage to kaga was that bad

09:11, perhaps when the casemate fell off as the ship rolled, the upper (purple section) was still attached to the casemate, so as it fell off it straightened out the other panels, then broke away and left the once 3D panels co-planar as we see them now?

I may be completely wrong, but I believe the sponge-like growths on the gun mounts are a reaction between aluminum or some other light metal and salt water. Some of the WWII wrecks I've seen, like the Indy, shows a ton of it coming out of their gun directors and turrets because most of the metal up there was different from the metal that made up the hull and superstructure. Perhaps a metallurgist can help me out.

One of these days I have to finish the model of _Kaga_ to go alongside _Yorktown_ and _Akagi_

Kaga; reverse origami brought to you by high explosives...

What a joy to watch this, thank you Drach and Jon! Hard to believe we're looking back over 80 years ago, especially with that fresh looking blue gray paint on Yorktown. Her paint looks just as good (or unfortunately in some cases better) than on US Navy ships still presently commissioned.

My guess is that the mystery tanks on Yorktown are CO2 canisters that fed the fire suppression system. Also amazing that in the footage of Kaga's stern you can see where hull plating has completely ripped away but the glass in the half attached porthole beside it is still intact.

It is always awesome to see these legendary WW2 ships.

"Don't bust my chops" !! ...I've not heard that phrase since the Ramones did a song by the same title.... in 1989!!

In the 1970's-80's I worked with an ex-sailor who was on the Yorktown when it went down . After they pulled him out of the ocean he was assigned to the Aleutian Islands area .What he remembered most about the Aleutians was the frozen bodies thawing .It was eerie listening to so many bodies farting as the sun came up .

Of all the history channels that I like to watch yours is by far the best and informative

RE: Getting ahold of paint developers from the 40's In the US at least, the EPA is the reason that paints don't have anywhere near the durability. Many of the hardeners for oil based paints are now banned, and synthetics are used for stabilizing the newer formulas. Latex will not adhere as well, and it'll still stay soft and flexible, but as far as just exposure to the elements it'll likely outlast oil based products.

32:15 "My friend Seth", is that Seth Paradin of the Mississippi Armed Forces Museum and Unauthorized History of the Pacific War podcast? Those 20 mm mounts with poor sky arcs, if they are on the bow (because of the port list/cant to right on the screen) might have been placed there specifocally for torpedo bomber attacks. Sky arcs don't matter much with torpedo bombers down at just a few hundred feet, and the standard torpedo bomber tactoc was to have a group on each side of the bow. That way, turning into one group exposes the side of the ship to the other group.

it deeply saddens me the after all these years yorktown is still mostly intact down there, but enterprise is no more

New to this channel, but I have to say, and I’ve never seen the like anywhere else, the brilliant way you show the wrecks in comparison to what the ship would’ve looked afloat, the exact part outlined? I wish more channels would do this? Fantastic!!🙏🏻

Thank you for making my afternoon that much better Drach! Always excited when I see new uploads :)

As a kid, reading all I could find on the battle of Midway, it was the 70s. Now just a wee bit older, even more interested. The book and other contributions of your guest (and you) have kept my interest burning brighter than ever.

Incredibly interesting series of video's, really looking forward to the live and future discoveries of those wrecks yet to be found. BZ Drach.

About the 'yellow sea sponge' stuff.... yes. The grease is a carbon source. So bacteria probably set up shop munching on that. Biofilms create microenvironemnts and certainly other life can then settle down mutualisitcally or predatory. I do know specifics but there would be several PhDs in there to figure it all out.

I know that those circles cut from the metal did save weight, but isn't there also a aspect of strengthening the section of metal? What I think I recall is that such annual voids, circular to keep from allowing high stress sections of corner, are stronger and less prone to bending than a similarly thick piece of metal that's intact - even though the intact piece is heavier.

Thank you John and Drach for the wonderful breakdown of the wrecks. It is so valuable to have a guided tour with extra photos and diagrams to explain details I would have missed outright. It is also humbling to in effect do the same job my grandfather in ww2 did, which was to photograph and review footage for the military (abet his was in Europe as part of Overlord). I remember as a child getting the Titanic, and Bismark books that were put out with giant full color photos of the wreck and rendering etc. and reading in wonder as I began the journey into loving learning about historical events. This again feels just like that time, but I can show my sons the same type of experience. Thank you both for reviving a chunk of my past, and Drach, thank you for again, using your knowledge and connections to bring me (a half a world away) into your proverbial room to once again understand and relive important historical events I could only dream of as a child. every week is another hour ish I can set aside at least 2 days a week to enjoy expanding my knowledge base.

Two professionals and a ton of quality information! Thank you to both of you.

I imagine the sea sponges Drach asks about during the Yorktown segment having an affinity for gun mounts is because the guns have a lot of irregular shaped bits that are easier for the sponges to latch onto relative to the smooth hull and decking.

5:30 Thank you so much for showing the position on the ship diagram of what we're viewing. Not knowing exactly what I'm looking can be very frustrating for a non-expert (such as myself).

Thank you for this second video. Just as stirring as Akagi.

After I built the IJN Kaga in 1/700 scale, then seeing this video image of IJN Kaga Burnt to its casemates....Really brought up the notion, how many IJN sailors died = >800 IJN sailors......... From a USN Veteran of 20+ years........ " I " Salute your Honor and Ultimate Sacrifice, because it could have been my one of my Uncles, a YORKTOWN Veteran and survivor, a GM3 at the time of Battle, made it to GM2 onboard YORKTOWN CV-10 and was there for the Iwo Jima Ops as well as Okinawa Operations.....saying he shot down a plane then and there, so He says..... Thanks, Uncle Mario, for YOUR (short) Service of four (4) years.

As I sit and watch this, I find myself filling in the wreckage from the many other video's about Mid Way. This one really brings it all home...

Enterprise what did you do?

Kaga was shown blowing up real bad in the 2019 movie Midway, maybe that's how that stray chunk was separated so far away from the wreck

God the Yorktown is in such good condition it makes me wish we had the technology to raise her!

John and Alex, just great detail and commentary. Thanks!

Two of my favorite historians in a video, what a great day

ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC VIDEO!!!!! Definitely interested in more like this.

Great pair of videos. Kaga is about what I always suspected just from the witness testimony I've read. Akagi was always a bit of a question mark, but I was fearful more of her would have been torn off on the way down since the hangers and flight deck weren't part of the main hull. I was a bit shocked, but pleasantly surprised that part of the bridge was still there.

I use to ponder often the carrier wrecks at midway and if they will be found. Glad to get to see most of them

Thank you for another one of these. Great video. Love Jon as a guest

I'd love for more documentation of these wrecks on your channel.

Nice job, both of you!

Thank you. That was an excellent follow-up to the first video

Absolutely fascinating. Loved watching this.

Tremendous content, wonderfully done.

Enjoyed it bunches, thanks to you both.

Was listening to Vinyl Cafe and got notification for new YT video. So happy to see it is you and Jon again

Another great video - thanks to both Drach & Mr. Parshall for making this video. I can only hope that at one point a more comprehensive "view" of the Japanese wrecks can be delivered by video or artist rendering in order to get a better "big" picture of what they look like.

I’m kinda sad you guys also didn’t get to see the aircraft wing against the hanger wall at 39:41. You can only see the outline here, but in some clearer footage from different angles you can clearly see the roundel on it. Common consensus seems to think it’s a TBD wing

I almost forgot: thank you Drach and Professor Parshall for this incredibly interesting and fascinating video!🙏

Awesome! Thank y'all

Around 8:55 through 9:03. The flattening of the sides of the once vertical structures is something we've seen before on other wrecks. Off the cuff example being the sides of the forward well deck on Titanic's bow section and parts of the wing bridge. It's also quite possible that the impact force with the bottom caused the badly weakened by the fires and descent through the water caused the bulkheads to just splay out.

Thanks Drach and Jon.

That boat looked like Godzilla took a bite out of it.

Drach, you and John complement each other well.

relly enjoyed this, love to see more like this

Be kind of awesome, if they make the footage available to everyone. Can't see how the wreck footage itself could give away a location. Maybe an online Midway museum?

Very interesting to see the difference between a ship sunk by fire and explosions being completely destroyed vs. a ship sunk by underwater damage, looking like it doesn't belong on the ocean floor

It was probably a lead based paint which is why the guns and hull (and anything else they painted ) has stayed so pristine. I agree that it was a crime to turn the last remaining Yorktown class carrier into razor blades. It's nice that USS Yorktown is now a war grave and is pretty preserved for some time. Speaking of crimes, Paul Allen's death pretty much killed a lot of underwater WW II archeology for some time. That was a shame. It's good that NOAA is still looking. Too bad the Navy doesn't have a budget for discovering USN wrecks.

At about 39:32 , you can see a wing, with the US wing-emblem (circle, star, dot in the middle) in the far side of the hangar, standing up (leaning?) against the wall. ( It can be better seen in the original video - on the EVNautilus channel)

38:40 If I were to guess, those are hydraulic accumulators. They function like springs, but in a hydraulic system. For instance, the ends of arrestor cables could be anchored to hydraulic pistons. Drawing out the cables compresses the pistons, which forces hydraulic fluid into the accumulator, where it compresses a gas (usually nitrogen or carbon dioxide), absorbing kinetic energy. When the load is removed from the piston, the compressed gas pushes it back to its fully-extended position. Accumulators are also connected to pistons used as counter-balances or shock-absorbers, and are used to reduce the effect of water-hammer when a hydraulic valve is quickly closed.

Been eagerly awaiting this.

Inre the gun platforms on Yorktown's bow. From 2009-2012, I conducted a series of interviews with one of the ship's gunnery officers, Harvey Lasell, who was aboard 1939 to Midway and thus helped oversee the vessel's transition from prewar to wartime armament. He stated that while 20mm guns were the original plan for the bow positions in question, they instead opted for watercooled .50 cal. The reasons for this decision were based on the large amount of modifications that would be required to "afford suitable space for adequate gun direction", and "access to ammunition resupply". Therefore, the.50 cals became, as he described them, "a better than nothing" option. Mr. Lasell bolstered his primary source evidence by pointing to photos of sister ship Enterprise: although she had guns galore installed around her bow during the war, they never installed 20mm guns in the positions in question. Mr. Lasell was in charge of the aft gun director during Coral Sea and Midway. He passed on in 2017, age 101.

Thing I noticed with the footage of the 8" turret ring: on the "vertical" plate, right where it would've hinged, there are 90° angle pieces, like small reinforcements where a deck and wall (bulkhead? hull?) meet. So I think Dr. Parshall is correct, but it's scary, either how much fire had weakened the metal or how hard Kaga hit bottom.

The art work for the cover oh my

Thank you

I belive those cylinders on the sides of the hanger deck are the bottles for the hanger fire suppression system

Looking at the curve of that mount on the corner of Yorktown's flight deck it looks like a water cooled .50 cal to me.

Many thanks to Jon and Drach for doing these. Ever since I was a small boy reading about Midway, I've longed for the day when I could gaze upon the wrecks of these ships. One question that sprang to my mind during the Yorktown footage; is it just me, or, when viewing the bow, does the flight deck appear canted over to starboard relative to the foc'sle?

When I was in the Navy one never referred to stairs on a ship, they were ALWAYS called ladders.

Very interesting footage.

Great grandfather served on Enterprise as an AA gunner and I remember him telling me how sad and angry he was that they scrapped her. Although the other ship he was on is still around as a Museum ship aka Midway. I miss him very much and I barely remember some of his stories due to me being very young at that time before he passed away.

Possibly the tubs on the port and stbd edges of the flight deck at the bow held the navigation lights rather than guns. Can't tell if the angles would be exactly correct, but they would be close.

This is simply awesome! As a young sailor my ship sailed near this area and I wondered if any of the ships were still recognizable. Are there any Japanese survivors who could see this? On another matter, Drach, you should visit Muskegon, MI and take the SS Badger, a steam powered railroad carferry. It will take you to Manitowoc WI where there is a splendid Great Lakes ship museum.

Thank You Gentlemen! Seeing what's left of Akaki and Kaga hurts a lot, I love those ships and their one off looks since I first found pictures of them ( after refit ) in a book. I was eight or maybe ten years old back then. I know some called them floating ugly skyscrapers (some people are just not a friend materiel) and yes there where better carries, better warships etc. In my case You can call Hood a boomer and say Bismarck was as fat as someone mama, I don't care, hell call Yamato useless I will give the high five. Just don't say Akaki is ugly OK? Beauty is in the eye of observer. :)

Like ships. Love diving. So excited for this. Truk 2025! K. I see now. But I’m going down, not that deep.

It is called Lead Paint. You can even see it in some really old Mansions that were left to rot and it wasn't the paint going bad but the placard behind it that rotted away causing it to peel but on steel radiators they would be pristine.

Ive seen some footage of what i think was yorktown, in the video you can just barely see what i think is the wing or fuselage of a devastator

What a fascinating analysis of these historic wrecks you both have provided. I think it shows the difference of the early Japanese designs weaknesses in design and operations as described so well in "Shattered Sword." One can clearly see that design and better damage control, as well as different flight deck operations made the Yorktown somewhat superior as she was purposely an Aircraft Carrier design. The Kaga and the Akagi were battleship hulls but the Armored Flight decks and the way that the aircraft were refueled and rearmed in the enclosed hangars was a detriment. The haphazard storage of the torpedoes not withstanding.

I thought Ballard got some interior shots of Yorktown back in '98 (of the ship's theater, if I recall).

They touch on an interesting question: Current government regs notwithstanding, I think an effort should be made to recover the TBDs (and possibly the F4F with the "kill" flags) from the debris field of the Lexington. These would be Exhibit "A" for making an exception to the rules in certain cases.

Great job 👏

Interesting note: I've heard on a couple of occasions that the Battle of Midway goes so well in part because of superb damage control work on the part of the Americans and substandard damage control on the part of the Japanese. While the fact that Yorktown manages to recover from hits that the Japanese report as being fatal does testify to the former, the damage to Kaga shown here testifies somewhat against the latter. If Japan had done to Yorktown what the US did to Kaga in that first supposed kill shot, it would have been a kill shot...there is a point at which "damage control" is more about keeping trained sailors and pilots alive than it is about keeping a pile of steel wreckage on the surface, and Kaga looks like it crossed that line.

those are water cooled 50cals look at the shape of the corrosion covered mounts vs the 20mm plus water lines still draped over it plus it to light weight for the 20mm mount

Diving on the wrecks of Midway must be the ultimate diving experience. I hope to get the chance some day. [Edit] OK, then it's one of the other great naval battles instead which I must have confused with Midway. Really, it's 19 years ago since I took those divers' licences but never got the chance to use them since I was never issued my papers. The documents from my examinations were at the post office at the beach when some stupid tsunami hit and ruined my diving prospects.

The round containers outside of the hangar deck on Yorktown might be firefighting foam tanks.

with how far up the mudline is, I think part of that is because the old battlewagon hull of Kaga is actually of very little freeboard. As far as I can tell, the mudline isn't actually that far above the old waterline.