Comments by "Patrick Donnolley" (@ph89787) on "The Wrecks of Midway - Diving on IJN Kaga and USS Yorktown (Sept 2023)" video.

  1. Sponsored by USS Enterprise.
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  2.  @1dcbly  Adding onto that. I bought this topic up in one of the Patreon Drydocks earlier this year. That compared to say, HMS Warspite. Enterprise was in better material condition. Her War Diary mentions that there were a few structural defects that couldn't be entirely fixed but they were treated as advisories rather than an area of concern. Also, had the War not ended when it did. She was supposed to participate in Operation Downfall.
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  3.  @jamesbuckner4791  no they weren’t. They were purpose built carriers.
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  4. Given how intact Yorktown and Hornet’s wrecks are. They are similar to Enterprise in that they won’t die.
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  5.  @michaelpiatkowskijr1045  Starting from your second argument. Wasp may still be bought in from the Atlantic. Because Lexington was still lost and even with Yorktown on the West Coast. King was not going to wait for her to be repaired to start Operation Watchtower. Plus with Hornet's group taking the worst casualties, the starting lineup would be Saratoga, Enterprise and Wasp. With Hornet on standby. But had Yorktown been dragged back to Pearl Harbor (assume for the sake of argument that I-168 either could not find her or was detected by the destroyers and driven off). Then she would need a month or 2 in Pearl Harbor to drain her under water damage, patch the holes and rebuild her boilers and generator room. Then going across to Puget Sound or Mare Island she would need 3 more months of further repairs. Plus a similar refit to what Enterprise received in 1943. So a wider flight deck, heavier AAA battery, torpedo blisters, newer radar and fire control. So that's an additional 3-4 months in dry dock plus work up. Which means that by the time she arrives in either Noumea or Espiritu Santo. It would either be December 1942 or January 1943. Which might get Halsey to relieve Enterprise early and have her go through her own repairs and refit. But that's another what if entirely.
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  6. Dusty Kleiss was that pilot.
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