If you’re in the market for a classic 1940 or 1941 Ford Super Deluxe Woody Wagon, I think I have a great lead for you. There happens to be an unrestored one available, and it looks like it ran when parked. To check it out, you just need to get into your submersible or bathyscaphe and head over to about 1,000 miles northeast of Midway Island – look for signs for the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument – then descend down about three miles until you find the wreckage of the USS Yorktown. The car should be parked on the aft hangar deck.
Yes, that’s right, there’s a car parked on the wreckage of the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown (CV-5), which sank in June of 1942 after being torpedoed by a Japanese submarine during the Battle of Midway. The wreckage of the carrier was found in 1998, and just a few days ago the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) sent the ship Okeanos Explorer to explore the wreckage with a remote-operated vehicle (ROV).
While exploring, the team discovered what appears to be a Ford woody wagon on the aft hangar deck. You can see the moment the car was discovered here, about five hours into the expedition:
Holy crap, right? That’s pretty astounding. I especially like this exchange heard over the radio feed:
“Alright everyone, I stepped out for two minutes – is that a vehicle?”
“That is a vehicle.”
“I need to stop stepping away.”
Nobody seemed to expect to find a car with the wreck, for a number of reasons, including the fact that, generally, in WWII civilian-type automobiles were generally not taken to sea, likely because of the lack of good roads in the ocean, and the fact that hangar space was at a premium. Also, when the Yorktown was crippled before it eventually sank, a lot of heavy equipment was jettisoned overboard, like guns and other machinery, and it’s not clear why the car wasn’t tossed overboard then.
Someone must have really liked that car.
Here’s what the NOAA said about the discovery:
A Surprise Automobile
Exploration often provides some surprises. During the dive on April 19, we noticed a faint outline of an automobile while peering into the aft hangar deck from the port side of USS Yorktown. The team aboard Okeanos Explorer and contributors ashore analyzed diagnostic features of the vehicle observed during the follow-up April 20 dive and tentatively identified the car as a 1940-41 Ford Super Deluxe ‘Woody’ in black. With “SHIP SERVICE ___ NAVY” written on part of its front plate, this car is hypothesized to have been used for Rear Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher, Captain Elliott Buckmaster, or other ship crew while USS Yorktown was conducting business in foreign ports.
It’s also interesting that the car doesn’t seem to be the military version of the Ford Super Deluxe woody wagon, which was called the C11:
Note the simple bumpers used on the C11; the civilian version used more elaborate chrome bumpers:
If we look at the video from the RAV, we can just barely see a chrome overrider peeking out from the silt:
…which just makes this all the stranger! I guess if you’re a Rear Admiral you can demand such decadent luxuries as chrome bumpers. Another photo shows more civilian-spec chrome, as detailed in the caption of this NOAA photo:
The civilian spec and the fact that the car wasn’t jettisoned while the ship was foundering all suggest that this car very likely had some sort of special significance to someone important on the ship.
Much of the wood of the body has deteriorated, the roof has almost entirely rotted away, but I’m surprised just how much of the car remains intact after all these years at the bottom of the sea.
Interestingly, it seems like having civilian cars on aircraft carriers may not be entirely unheard of; look at this 1983 picture of crew members’ personal cars on the deck of the USS Kitty Hawk:
The caption to the photo reads:
“Crew members’ and their dependents’ cars are parked on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63) as it enters the harbor at San Diego. The ship is returning to San Diego after being overhauled at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington.”
I’m not sure of the context of when crew members can park their cars on the carrier deck, but perhaps there are times when the ship is transferring home ports they can move cars for crew? I don’t really know. What I do know is that there are some fantastic cars in this row:
Look at that! A Ford EXP, a Corvette, a Pinto, a Baja Bug, a Toyota Celica, and a Plymouth Horizon (or maybe a Dodge Omni)! And so many good colors!
But back to the Yorktown’s Ford: I suppose the car is property of the Navy, so I suppose if you want to make an offer on it, email the current acting Chief of Naval Operations, James W. Kilby. You may have better luck DMing the CNO on Insta? Just make sure you mention you’re interested in the car in your first message, because I imagine he’s a busy man.
“I’m not sure of the context of when crew members can park their cars on the carrier deck, but perhaps there are times when the ship is transferring home ports they can move cars for crew? I don’t really know.”
That’s exactly what happens – Rather than pay to have cars shipped across country with the household goods or have personnel/spouses drive them across country, the Navy has you drive your car aboard so you can bring it with you to the ship’s next home port.
In the case of the Woody – It clearly belonged to the Captain, so had it stowed aboard for his use when in port.
RHIP.
It’s a civilian car. Early C11s did have wooden panels, but also had axles and wheels from the 48-series heavy trucks. Later during 1943 (it’s debated when really) they switched to all steel doors. This does not have the taller ride height, thicker axles, thicker pressed steel six lug wheels, or off-road tires of the C11.
With the exception of the ‘vette, the cars in that Kitty Hawk deck photo looks like the same ones that could have been found in any HS parking lot of the same era. And that Vette? I can virtually guarantee that belonged to a Tomcat pilot. Also, props to the dudes who brought car covers.