Aircraft Carrier USS Yorktown at Battle of Coral Sea & Stalingrad 1942

Aircraft Carrier USS Yorktown at Battle of Coral Sea & Stalingrad 1942

This sound newsreel dates from 1942 and begins with the fighting on the Eastern Front as Russian forces defend Stalingrad. As shown in the film, they eventually force the German Sixth Army to surrender, a major turning point in the war. The second half of the film shows events in the Pacific, where a U.S. carrier task force led by “Carrier X” (actually the USS Yorktown with USS Lexington) battles Japanese planes in the Battle of the Coral Sea. (Apparently due to secrecy concerns the newsreel commentators were forbidden from actually naming the carrier shown in the film).