USS Lexington (CV-2)

History of the USS Lexington (CV-2)

USS Lexington (CV-2) and USS Saratoga (CV-3) served the U.S. Navy well during both world wars, providing invaluable experience to the nation that will Pay off in World War II. The USS Lexington is the lead ship of the Lexington class, and Saratoga is her sister. The USS Lexington got its name after the Battle of Lexington in 1775 as part of the American Revolutionary War, one of the earliest actions between rebel colonists and the British monarchy. CV-2 became the fourth U.S.

Navy ship to be named Lexington.

By 1916, World War I was in full swing in Europe. U.S. involvement in the conflict did not peak until 1918, but plans were developed to bring the military, especially the U.S. Navy, up to combat speed. This included designing a series of powerful battlecruisers, each weighing 35,300 tons, consisting of a boiler-powered class and six ships. The first two ships will be named USS Lexington (CC-1) and USS Saratoga (CC-3).

The war officially ended in November 1918, along with most of the military build-up of all the countries involved. Progress on the battlecruiser continued, albeit on a limited scale, and the CC-1 rolled off the assembly line on January 8, 1921. The ship was built by the Fall River Ship and Engine Manufacturing Company of Quincy, Massachusetts (New York Shipyard Cam. Deng, Done) Saratoga).

Also on the horizon are the planned production of the battlecruisers USS Constellation, USS Ranger, USS Constitution and USS America.

On May 8th, each carrier group only saw 200 miles apart, and all took turns spotting each other and firing their jets. Shokaku was hit twice by dive bombers from USS Yorktown, a bomb that disabled the launch deck and effectively took her out of the fight. The aircraft carrier Lexington was late, but a pilot managed to hit Shokaku to add to the damage.

While surviving the battle, she lost most of her air force in the Coral Sea.

On the battlefield, a group of 69 Japanese aircraft appeared and attacked Yorktown head-on, but the resulting damage was not overly critical to the operation. At the same time, Japanese planes attacked Lexington and hit her directly on the forward port bow with two torpedoes.

At the same time, Japanese dive bombers swooped in and dealt her two direct strikes from above - one on the funnel structure and one on the port forward flight deck. The attack left the Lexington's elevator in the raised position, but her flight deck was intact.

The direct detonation and near miss of Japanese bombs and torpedoes caused more internal damage than originally thought. The rippling effect of the explosion rattled the aviation fuel tanks below her flight deck, so the explosive gas still penetrated the confines of the ship, although the internal fire was extinguished by the crew. About an hour after the first explosion was felt, sparks appeared to have unexpectedly appeared somewhere on the ship, which in turn ignited powerful gas, causing a series of explosions to arc around the ship and start a fire.

The ship was banked to the left, billowing thick smoke.

Realizing that Lexington was likely a loss, the remaining planes were ordered to fly to their new home aboard the USS Yorktown. Lexington himself was then abandoned at 5:00 p.m. by the captain's order and was eventually shot down by two torpedoes from the destroyer USS Phelps to avoid capture by the enemy.

In truly honorable fashion, Captain Frederick Carl Sherman and his executive, Commander Morton T. Seligman, were the last to leave the ship. At 7:56 p.m., the USS Lexington officially went to sea, and her role in the war was over. She was removed from the U.S. Naval Register on June 24, 1942. During her World War II, the ship earned herself and her crew the U.S.

Defense Service Medal, the Asia Pacific Campaign Medal (2 stars), and the World War II Victory Medal. During the Battle of the Coral Sea, 216 of the 2,951 crew members aboard the Lexington were killed in combat.

While technically a victory for Japan, the Battle of the Coral Sea was their first major setback to conquer the Pacific and shattered any idea of ??an invasion of the Australian mainland. The Americans lost a large carrier in the process and learned hard lessons for future combat operations that would give the Allies an overall victory in the theater.

The USS Lexington finally proved itself to be a fighter, a boxer reluctant to accept defeat on the ropes. On that fateful day, the price of victory proved high.

During sea voyages, USS Lexington (CV-2) was affectionately known as "Mrs. Grey" and "Mrs. Lex". Incidentally, five days after the report of her sinking, workers at Fall River Shipbuilding in Quincy, Massachusetts petitioned U.S. Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox to rename the current aircraft carrier (USS Cabot) that was under construction at the shipyard at the time.

The petition was accepted, and Cabot has now become USS Lexington (CV-16) in honor of CV-2.

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