How did USS Hornet CV-8 fit into US carrier procurement, and could more Yorktowns have been ready for 1942?
Short answerMore Yorktowns were possible, but Hornet was chiefly a rapid bridge between the unsatisfactory Wasp compromise and the next purpose-built carrier design.
NotesThe US Navy could have ordered more Yorktown-class carriers in time for the 1942 campaign, but it was already moving toward a successor design. After the compromises embodied in Wasp, Hornet was ordered as a familiar Yorktown-class stopgap that preserved capability while the Navy completed its next design step.