 After three years out of commission from 1903 to 1906 , Yorktown hosted the Secretary of the Navy on board when he greeted the Great White Fleet on its arrival in San Francisco in May 1908 . Over the next five years , most of Yorktown 's time was spent in sealing patrols in Alaska and duty in Latin American ports . From July 1912 , Yorktown was out of commission for alterations , but resumed duties off the Mexican , Nicaraguan , and Honduran coasts beginning in April 1913 . Through World War I , Yorktown continued in the same role , until she departed for the East Coast of the United States in April 1918 . She served an escort for one convoy headed to Halifax in August , and remained in coastal escort duties in the east until January 1919 . After arrival at San Diego in February , she was decommissioned for the final time in June 1919 ; she was sold in 1921 to an Oakland , California , firm and broken up that same year . 
