Yorktown survives Midway but misses the Guadalcanal carrier battles

What if Japanese submarine I-168 failed to sink USS Yorktown after Midway?

Yorktown undergoes a long rebuild and probably returns in 1943, too late for the main Guadalcanal carrier battles but still valuable beside the new Essexes.

Yorktown's existing damage is the main constraint on an early return to action. An initial suggestion that she could join the Guadalcanal carrier battles is challenged because repairs would reach into machinery spaces and could leave her deeply dismantled. The eventual estimate is at least a year of rebuilding followed by working up, with Bougainville in November 1943 offered as a possible return point. That would leave the immediate carrier shortage unresolved and preserve the need for help from Victorious. Even while Yorktown remains under repair, the expectation that she will return alongside new Essex-class carriers could make American commanders more willing to accept operational risk.