USS YORKTOWN (CV-10)

National Register Listing

Street Address:

W of Mt. Pleasant on E side of Charleston Harbor (Charleston County)

---

NRHP Nomination

Record Number:

S10817710133

Description and Narrative:

The U.S.S. Yorktown (CV-10), the second of the Essex-class aircraft carriers to be built by the United States Navy, was constructed between 1941 and 1943 to Bureau of Ships specifications by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, Newport News, Virginia. The Yorktown was decommissioned in 1970, and in 1975 was moored in the Charleston Harbor, where it is part of the Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum. The ship served with distinction in the Second World War as a primary element in the United States’ military campaign against Japan in the Pacific Theater of Operations. The Yorktown is important, not only as a surviving World War II aircraft carrier, but as one of the most important of these ships. The ship was named for an earlier aircraft carrier Yorktown (CV-5), which was sunk at the Battle of Midway in 1942. The new Yorktown initiated many technical improvements for the other two dozen Essex carriers, becoming a model for new carrier design. The Yorktown underwent numerous modifications and alterations during its years of military service in World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War, but it is still expressive of the technology, design, and distinguishing characteristics of the World War II-era aircraft carrier. Listed in the National Register November 10, 1982; Designated a National Historic Landmark January 14, 1986.

Period of Significance:

1941;1941 – 1943;20th century

Level of Significance:

National

Area of Significance:

Military

National Register Determination:

National Historic Landmark

Date of Certification:

November 10 1982

Date of Certification as a National Historic Landmark:

January 14 1986

---