Editing Battle of Midway (section)

===American reinforcements===
[[File:G13065 USS Yorktown Pearl Harbor May 1942.jpg|thumb|{{USS|Yorktown|CV-5|6}} at [[Pearl Harbor]] days before the battle.]]

To do battle with the IJN, expected to muster four or five carriers, Admiral [[Chester W. Nimitz]], Commander in Chief, [[Pacific Ocean Areas]], needed every available flight deck. He already had Vice Admiral [[William Halsey]]'s two-carrier (''Enterprise'' and ''Hornet'') [[task force]] at hand, though Halsey was stricken with [[shingles]] and had to be replaced by Rear Admiral [[Raymond A. Spruance]], Halsey's escort commander.<ref>{{Harvnb|Prange|Goldstein|Dillon|1982|pp=80–81}}; {{Harvnb|Cressman|1990|p=37}}</ref> Nimitz also hurriedly recalled Rear Admiral [[Frank Jack Fletcher]]'s task force, including the carrier ''Yorktown'', from the [[South West Pacific Area]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Lord|1967|pp=23–26}}</ref>

Despite estimates that ''Yorktown'', damaged in the Battle of the Coral Sea, would require several months of repairs at [[Puget Sound Naval Shipyard]], her elevators were intact and her flight deck largely so.<ref>{{Harvnb|Willmott|1983|p=337}}</ref> The [[Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard]] worked around the clock, and in 72 hours she was restored to a battle-ready state,<ref>{{Harvnb|Cressman|1990|pp=37–45}}; {{Harvnb|Lord|1967|pp=37–39}}</ref> judged good enough for two or three weeks of operations, as Nimitz required.<ref>{{Harvnb|Willmott|1983|p=338}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.defensemedianetwork.com/stories/youve-got-three-days-repairing-the-yorktown-after-coral-sea/ |title=Battle of Midway: Repairing the Yorktown After the Battle of the Coral Sea |last=Zimmerman |first=Dwight |date=26 May 2012 |website=Defense Media Network |publisher=Faircount Media Group |access-date=21 January 2015 |archive-date=29 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160129123445/http://www.defensemedianetwork.com/stories/youve-got-three-days-repairing-the-yorktown-after-coral-sea/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Her flight deck was patched, and whole sections of internal frames were cut out and replaced. Repairs continued even as she sortied, with work crews from the repair ship {{USS|Vestal|AR-4|6}}, herself damaged in the attack on Pearl Harbor six months earlier, still aboard.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lord|1967|p=39}}; {{Harvnb|Willmott|1983|p=340}}</ref>

''Yorktown''{{'}}s partially depleted air group was rebuilt using whatever planes and pilots could be found. Scouting Five (VS-5) was replaced with Bombing Three (VB-3) from {{USS|Saratoga|CV-3|6}}. Torpedo Five (VT-5) was replaced by [[VA-35 (U.S. Navy)|Torpedo Three (VT-3)]]. Fighting Three (VF-3) was reconstituted to replace VF-42 with sixteen pilots from VF-42 and eleven pilots from VF-3, with [[Lieutenant commander (United States)|Lieutenant Commander]] [[John Thach]] in command. Some of the aircrew were inexperienced, which may have contributed to an accident in which Thach's executive officer Lieutenant Commander Donald Lovelace was killed.<ref>{{Harvnb|Willmott|1983|pp=340–341}}</ref> Despite efforts to get ''Saratoga'' (which had been undergoing repairs on the American West Coast) ready, the need to resupply and assemble sufficient escorts meant she was unable to reach Midway until after the battle.<ref>{{Harvnb|Parshall|Tully|2005|pp=93–94}}</ref>

On Midway, the U.S. Navy had by 4 June stationed four squadrons of [[Consolidated PBY Catalina|PBYs]]—31 aircraft in total—for long-range reconnaissance duties, and six brand-new [[Grumman TBF Avenger]]s from ''Hornet''{{'}}s [[VT-8]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Scrivner|1987|p=8}}</ref> The Marine Corps stationed 19 [[Douglas SBD Dauntless]], seven [[Grumman F4F Wildcat|F4F-3 Wildcats]], 17 [[Vought SB2U Vindicator]]s, and 21 [[Brewster F2A Buffalo]]s. The USAAF contributed a squadron of 17 [[Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress|B-17 Flying Fortresses]] and four [[Martin B-26 Marauder]]s equipped with torpedoes: in total 122 aircraft. Although the F2As and SB2Us were already obsolete, they were the only aircraft available to the Marine Corps at the time.<ref>{{Harvnb|Parshall|Tully|2005|p=96}}</ref>