Norfolk Navy Yard fitted Victorious with heavier catapults and other equipment needed for American aircraft. A Panama Canal gate was damaged during the transit, but the captain signed the bill "Lend-Lease" and the urgently needed carrier continued west. Pearl Harbor then installed heavier arresting gear for the American air group. The differing yard experiences leave Pearl Harbor looking more efficient and more firmly on a war footing than Norfolk.
Notable Point · 4:11-5:41
American yards adapt Victorious for heavier aircraft
Norfolk and Pearl Harbor fit Victorious for heavier American aircraft, with Pearl Harbor appearing more firmly geared to wartime urgency.