Check out the Catapult tracks on the hangar deck! The go port and Starboard. I recall seeing a Hollywood depiction of a launch from the hangar deck in the film Wing and a Prayer. When the formerly medically grounded pilot Cookie Cunningham makes a suicide plunge into a torpedo to save Carrier X proving to all that his heroic downing of the Zero at Pearl Harbor was no accident. Right....
That surprised me as well. I was pretty sure that the Essex class had at least one (depicted in the film, since an Essex class was used to depict the pre-Midway USN CVs.) but didn't realize the Yortowns also had them (at least one according to Wikipedia) but Lucky's blue prints indicate two.
I worked my way through college drafting so seeing these old hand lettered drawings is a thrill. The captain and the admiral lived pretty good on these ships judging from their quarters. I also see why, when a ship is hit, the sea is covered with oil. Nice find.
if memory serves me right the catapults were for scout plane launches. i also believe they were removed late in the war or right after as they were seldom if ever used.