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Diorama of the USS Yorktown losing speed and listing by Bel Geddes
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I Sank the Yorktown at Midway

By Yahachi Tanabe, formerly Lieutenant Commander, Imperial Japanese Navy, With Joseph D. Harrington
May 1963
Proceedings
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The tension in I-168's conning tower had been steadily building up for six and a half hours. In the cramped command post, I stood, palms out, waiting to grip the rising periscope's handles. We were all perspiring heavily. My torpedo petty officer was scanning his switch panel, and a nervous helmsman wiped clammy hands frequently on his pants. Lieutenant (jg) Nakagawa, pencil in hand, mopped his damp brow between looks at the compass and speed indicator. But my gunnery officer, Ensign Watanabe, seemed almost unconcerned. Of the five, his job was by far the simplest. Our submarine was creeping straight toward the crippled American aircraft carrier Yorktown. There were no ballistics problems for Watanabe to work out-the range was point-blank, and target speed was nearly zero.

The whine of the periscope's lift motor died away as I sighted through the eyepiece. I had been allowing myself a maximum of five seconds on each sight check and I didn't intend to change the tactic. One quick glance would give me the range, and I could give the order to fire torpedoes.

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* The Yorktown had been abandoned for about 24 hours on 4 June. The "destroyer" that Lieutenant Commander Tanabe thought he saw towing her was the minesweeper Vireo (AM-52), which had begun a slow tow on the afternoon of the 5th. The other destroyers were real. They were Benham (DD-363), Hughes (DD-410), Gwin (DD-433), and Monaghan (DD-354); Hammann (DD-412) was alongside to provide power and a salvage crew.

Yahachi Tanabe, formerly Lieutenant Commander, Imperial Japanese Navy

Mr. Tanabe was graduated from the Japanese Naval Academy at Etajima in 1928, and entered the submarine service six years later. At the end of World War II, he acted as Imperial Naval Representative at Atsugi and made preparations for the arrival of General Douglas MacArthur.

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Joseph D. Harrington

Chief Journalist Harrington served in USS Card (CVE-11) during World War II, and in USS Prairie (AD-15) and USS Helena (CA-75) during the Korean Conflict. He has written many articles for national magazines and is a frequent contributor to Proceedings. Chief Harrington is currently assigned to the Public Information Office of the Chief of Naval Air Technical Training, NAS, Memphis, Tennessee.

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Digital Proceedings content made possible by a gift from CAPT Roger Ekman, USN (Ret.)

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