The Yorktown's Faithful Protector The USS Hammann (DD412) was commissioned in August 1939, the fourth ship in the 1,500-ton Sims class of destroyers. Her hull had a raised sheer strake to protect from higher waves, while the use of a single funnel allowed a large area at the stern for her impressive ordnance. She was equipped with four 12.7cm guns, four single 12.7mm machine guns and eight torpedo tubes. After rescuing survivors of the stricken aircraft carrier USS Lexington in the Battle of the Coral Sea in May 1942, the Hammann screened another aircraft carrier, the USS Yorktown, in the Battle of Midway in June of that year. While attempting to salvage the Yorktown, which had been badly damaged by Japanese aircraft, she was torpedoed by the Japanese submarine I-168, and swiftly sank. She received two battle stars for her service in two major naval battles of WWII.