The film was directed by Edward Steichen with William Wyler as an uncredited co-director. The battle footage is absolutely first-rate, much of it captured by automated cameras directly mounted on the aircraft guns.
The carrier is never named in the film because of wartime restrictions, but was later identified as the Yorktown, whose Captain, (subsequently Admiral) Joseph “Jocko” Clark is seen in the picture.
Mostly shot on the Yorktown (CV-10), a few scenes were made on the Ticonderoga (CV-14) and the Bunker Hill (CV-17), all Essex-class carriers.
The Yorktown was commissioned in April 1943, and was heavily engaged throughout the war in the Pacific. She also operated in the Korea and Vietnam Wars, and was used to recover the Apollo 8 space capsule in December 1968. Decommissioned in 1970 it is now a museum ship at Patriots Point, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina.