General Quarters, General Quarters

After a morning in which 3 US carriers centered around the USS Enterprise (CV-6), USS Hornet (CV-8), and the slightly battered USS Yorktown (CV-5) and their respective air wings had found three of the four Japanese carriers that were part of an invasion force. It was just minutes before noon on the 4th of June, 1942 when strike force from IJMS Hiryu's (the last of the four and one of the six that bombed Pearl Harbor) air wing found the Yorktown. In quick succession three bombs were landed on her and that is when the real fun begun. Sailors trying to fight off the enemy, repair the ship, and return her to the fight. This historical photo from the US National Archives shows the sailors on the flight deck trying their darnedest to repair the flight deck and get the ship ready for flight operations again. Because an aircraft carrier with out a flight deck and an air wing is just a target.