Rendezvous at Midway: U.S.S. Yorktown and the Japanese Carrier Fleet

by Pat Frank, Joseph Daniel Harrington (coauthor)

A carefully researched account of the Yorktown, her crew and her pilots. Rendezvous at Midway reads like a movie script as it builds to the climax in June, 1942, when U. S. navel forces crippled a superior Japanese fleet and ended the very real threat of an invasion of the United States from the Pacific.

Genres: History, World War II, Military History, Nonfiction

189 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1968

About the author

"Pat Frank" was the lifelong nickname adopted by the American writer, newspaperman, and government consultant, who was born Harry Hart Frank and who is remembered today almost exclusively for his post-apocalyptic novel Alas, Babylon. Before the publication of his first novel Mr. Adam launched his second career as novelist and independent writer, Frank spent many years as a journalist and information handler for several newspapers, agencies, and government bureaus. His fiction and nonfiction books, stories, and articles made good use of his years of experience observing government and military bureaucracy and its malfunctions, and the threat of nuclear proliferation and annihilation. After the success of Alas, Babylon, Frank concentrated on writing for magazines and journals, putting his beliefs and concerns to political use, and advising various government bodies. In 1960 he served as a member of the Democratic National Committee. In 1961, the year in which he received an American Heritage Foundation Award, he was consultant to the National Aeronautics and Space Council. From 1963 through 1964 the Department of Defense made use of Frank's expertise and advice, and this consultancy turned out to be his last response to his country's call. His other books include Mr. Adam and Forbidden Area.

Biography courtesy of HarperCollins.com

Reviews

[Nestor Rychtyckyj · Rating 4 out of 5]

The existence of this book was a complete surprise to me; I stumbled across this while browsing at my local library. I have read a lot about Midway and definitely was intrigued by the cover (a painting of the battle) as well as by the fact that Pat Frank (writer of a great Cold War book called Forbidden Area) was one of the authors.

It was definitely worth the trip. Published in 1967 this book covers the short 182-day career of the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown which was sunk during the American victory at Midway in June of 1942. This book is not written as a typical serious military study of the Pacific war in 1942 – instead it puts you on the USS Yorktown as it is full of personal experiences of those brave men who served on this ship. Overall military strategy is discussed to set the context and then the Yorktown sets out on their mission. From the start, the Yorktown is not a lucky ship. It is damaged during the Battle of the Coral Sea and then famously “repaired” in three days so it can help win the Battle of Midway as its airmen sink one and assist in the sinking of a second Japanese carrier. After surviving two separate attacks by the Japanese air fleet, the Yorktown is sunk by a Japanese submarine.

This book was written 25 years after the battle, so many of the combatants were able to tell their story (including the captain of the Japanese submarine who sank the Yorktown. The book flows quickly and it’s a treat to learn how ordinary sailors lived aboard a WWII carrier; the anecdotes in here are priceless. However, in several cases, the authors really go out of their way to try to shift credit away from the airmen of the Enterprise to the Yorktown. It detracts some from the book for me, but this is still a worthwhile read for anybody interested in WWII naval history.

[Ron · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this to honor the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Midway in June 1942.

The Yorktown was numbered CV-5; she was the 5th aircraft carrier built for the United States Navy. In truth really the 4th because the first, the USS Langley had been a conversion from a coal carrier in 1920. Yorktown was 5 years old when the Japanese struck Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and docked in Norfolk Virginia where she was due for a refit of her boilers and some other upgrades. Pearl Harbor caused her to be immediately sent to the Pacific. This is the story of the men, ship and planes. Many former crew members were interviewed as well as some Japanese. And war records that were available in the mid 60's when the book was put together. The book tells the story very well, with all sorts of small details and on to the battles of the Coral Sea and the miraculous performance at Midway where she went down. Yorktown stopped the Japanese in the pacific and dealt a crippling blow to the Imperial Japanese Navy. The Coral Sea engagement was the first naval battle since Jutland in 1916 and the first carrier vs carrier battle with two large carriers on each side and an additional small carrier on the Japanese side. The Americans had a huge handicap at the start of the Pacific war with airplane problems, extremely defective torpedoes and bad ammo.

An interesting forward to this story is written by the Japanese Commander whose submarine sank the Yorktown.

I think I'll read another book on Midway soon.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great story that is true from the perspectives it's told. Let me say why that is so important. First of all, I am really a fan of this battle since I volunteer aboard the carrier USS Midway. Most of the official war history records of Yorktown CV-5 are unlike this book, because the ship went down and took many records with it. Later, the surviving sailors were scattered with other assignments until the end of the war, and until the book was released, never really brought that story back into the public eye. You hear the first-hand stories captured from the survivors from those who were there by the author(s). Secondly, other than a few minor typos, the book coherently tells the story the way others saw it happen. There have been recent "translations" from others Japanese survivors or some professional historians who may have used official navy sources that didn't get the story right the first time and haven't seemed interested in setting the record straight. Maybe you read this book for that reason.

[Chuck · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another well researched history book. This one concerns World War II in the Pacific from the bombing of Pearl Harbor through the two most important navel battles of the war......Coral Sea and Midway. This book has its biases, but the story centers around the bravery and determination of the crew of the aircraft carrier Yorktown. It is explicit in detail of the battles and well researched from both the American and Japanese sides of the war. It is story told by a different generation that has nearly disappeared from American culture. Half will applaud and half will regret, but only half will be right. It was more meaningful to me because I remember my uncle talking about Pearl Harbor because he was stationed there at the time of the attack and also because I had a friend that had to abandon the Lexington when it was sunk in the Coral Sea. I remember many occasions when as a young man, that they would talk of their experiences there. In any case, if you happen to be in the group that feel Hitler, Mussolini and Hirohito were criminals, you might enjoy this piece of history.

[Dick · Rating 3 out of 5]

My brother Dan gave me this book to read. I had not known of the book before this.

It was most informative. I am not an expert on WWII, so most of this was new to me. Great on details - and points out how fortunate we were to have not exposed this carrier in the early part of the war, as well as having all carriers out of Pearl Harbor. Those facts alone became the cornerstone of our recovery and ultimate victory in the PTO.


I had read about the Battle of the Coral Sea, which came before Midway. I remember watching - week after week - the T.V.series "Victory at Sea" with my parents in the early 50's. This book brought back a lot of memories - all good.


I will be mailing this book to Bob Moore to read. He was in the U.S. Navy and I think will enjoy the book.

[Xdw · Rating 2 out of 5]

quite good

[Anthony Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great, short, slice of world war II life, focused on the USS Yorktown and her crew. Very quick read and will interest those who want a "you are there" take on military history.