The Admiral’s Car That Sank with USS Yorktown
A 1940 Ford Woody belonging to Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher remains aboard USS Yorktown, lost beneath the Pacific after the Battle of Midway.
July 13, 2026
When USS Yorktown slipped beneath the Pacific on June 7, 1942, she did not go alone.
Among the thousands of artifacts, supplies, aircraft parts, and personal possessions carried aboard the legendary aircraft carrier was an unexpected piece of everyday life—a 1940 Ford Super Deluxe “Woody” station wagon belonging to Rear Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher, commander of the American carrier task force during the Battle of Midway.
The automobile was stored on Yorktown’s hangar deck during the battle, remaining aboard as the carrier fought for survival. After suffering devastating damage from Japanese aircraft, the ship endured bombs, torpedoes, flooding, and finally the fatal torpedo strikes from the Japanese submarine I-168. In the early morning darkness of June 7, the wounded carrier finally rolled beneath the waves.
The admiral’s car went with her.
More than eighty years later, USS Yorktown rests over three miles beneath the Pacific Ocean. Deep-sea expeditions have revealed portions of the wreck, exposing aircraft, equipment, and artifacts preserved in the darkness below. Among the remains of the hangar spaces is believed to be Fletcher’s automobile, an unusual and deeply personal artifact still resting where it sank in 1942.
The story of the Woody is a reminder that warships were more than steel, machinery, and weapons. They were floating cities that carried everything needed to operate, fight, and sustain the thousands of men who served aboard them. Aircraft, ammunition, spare parts, personal belongings, and even an admiral’s automobile all became part of the ship’s history.
Today, far beneath the surface near Midway Atoll, the wreck of USS Yorktown continues to tell the story of one of the most important naval battles in history. Among the aircraft, equipment, and personal effects preserved in the wreckage is the story of a car that left with its ship and never came home.
