 Nyorai kupfuurira kweiyi ndima - Yorktown yakanga iri pachiteshi chengarava muNorfolk mukati mokurwiswa kwePearl Harbor, ichangopedza kuongorora kweAtlantic Ocean. Zvadaro akaenda kuSan Diego mukupera kwaDecember 1941 uye akabatanidzwa sechikepe chikuru cheTask Force 17. Pamwe chete nomutakuri, iye akabudirira kurwisa kutumirwa kweJapan kure nemhenderekedzo yegungwa yokumabvazuva kweNew Guinea mukuvamba kwaMarch 1942. Ndege yake yakanyudza kana kukuvadza ngarava dzehondo dzinoverengeka dzaitsigira kupinda kweTulagimukuvamba kwaMay. Yorktown yakaonana neLexington muGungwa reCoral ndokuedza kumisa kupinda kwePort Moresby, Papua New Guinea. Vakanyudza mutakuri wendege wakareruka musi wa 7 Chivabvu panguva yeHondo yeGungwa reCoral, asi havana kusangana nechisimba chikuru cheJapan chevatakuri uye kusvikira zuva rakatevera. Ndege dzakabva kuLexington neYorktown dzakakanganisa zvikuru Shōkaku, asi ndege dzeJapan dzakakanganisa zvikuru Lexington iyo yakazodzingwa, uye yakakuvadza Yorktown. 