USS Yorktown (CV-5) Country: USA Type: Aircraft carrier Service: 1937 - 1942 Ordered: 3 August 1933 Laid down: 21 May 1934 Launched: 4 April 1936 Commissioned: 30 September 1937 Struck: 2 October 1942 Fate: Sunk 7 June 1942

The Yorktown class aircraft carriers consisted of three carriers built by the United States and completed shortly before its entry into World War II. These aircraft carriers proved to be crucial in the first months of the war in the Pacific. The sole survivor of the class, the USS Enterprise (CV-6) was to become the most decorated ship in the history of the US Navy; decommissioned postwar in 1947. Both Yorktown and Hornet were lost during the war.

The USS Yorktown (CV-5) was lead ship of her class of aircraft carriers. Yorktown was laid down on 21 May 1934 at Newport News, Virginia, by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Co.; launched on 4 April 1936 and commissioned at the Naval Operating Base, Norfolk, Virginia, on 30 September 1937. On active duty in the Atlantic prior to American entry into World War II, Yorktown was transferred to the Pacific after the attack on Pearl Harbor. USS Yorktown sunk on 7 June 1942, after sustaining damage during the Battle of Midway and afterward.