USS Lexington (CV-2)

For other ships of the same name, see USS Lexington.

Aerial view of Lexington on 14 October 1941
Career (United States)
Name:	USS Lexington
Namesake:	Battle of Lexington
Ordered:	1916 (as battlecruiser) 1922 (as aircraft carrier)
Builder:	Fore River Ship and Engine Building Co., Quincy, Massachusetts
Laid down:	8 January 1921
Launched:	3 October 1925
Sponsored by:	Mrs. Theodore Douglas Robinson
Commissioned:	14 December 1927
Reclassified:	As aircraft carrier, 1 July 1922
Struck:	24 June 1942
Identification:	Hull number: CC-1, then CV-2
Nickname:	"Lady Lex"
Honors and awards:	American Defense Service Medal ("Fleet" clasp) / Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (2 stars) / World War II Victory Medal
Fate:	Sunk during the Battle of the Coral Sea, 8 May 1942
General characteristics (as built)
Class and type:	Lexington-class aircraft carrier
Displacement:	36,000 long tons (37,000 t) (standard) 47,700 long tons (48,500 t) (deep load)
Length:	888 ft (270.7 m)
Beam:	107 ft 6 in (32.8 m)
Draft:	32 ft 6 in (9.9 m) (deep load)
Installed power:	180,000 shp (130,000 kW)
Propulsion:	4 shafts, 4 sets turbo-electric drive 16 water-tube boilers
Speed:	33.25 knots (61.58 km/h; 38.26 mph)
Range:	12,000 nmi (22,000 km; 14,000 mi) at 14 kn (26 km/h; 16 mph)
Complement:	2,791 (including aviation personnel) in 1942
Armament:	4 × 2 - 8-inch (203 mm) guns 12 × 1 - 5-inch (127 mm) anti-aircraft guns
Armor:	Belt: 5–7 in (127–178 mm) Deck: .75–2 in (19–51 mm) Gun turrets: .75 in (19 mm) Bulkheads: 5–7 in (127–178 mm)
Aircraft carried:	78
Aviation facilities:	1 Aircraft catapult

USS Lexington (CV-2), nicknamed the "Gray Lady" or "Lady Lex," was an early aircraft carrier of the United States Navy. She was the lead ship of the Lexington class, though her sister ship Saratoga was commissioned a month earlier. She was the fourth US Navy ship to carry the name "Lexington." Originally designed as a battlecruiser, she was converted into one of the Navy's first aircraft carriers during construction, entered service in 1928, and was sunk in May 1942 during the Battle of the Coral Sea.

Design and construction

Lexington was named after the Battle of Lexington in 1775, the first battle of the Revolutionary War. She was originally authorized in 1916 as a Lexington-class battlecruiser, but construction was placed on hold so that higher-priority anti-submarine warfare vessels and merchant ships, needed to ensure the safe passage of men and materiel to Europe during Germany's U-boat campaign, could be built. After the war, and partially as a result of British experience, the ship was extensively redesigned. Given the hull number of CC-1, Lexington was laid down on 8 January 1921 by Fore River Shipbuilding Company of Quincy, Massachusetts.

Before the Washington Naval Conference concluded, the ship's construction was suspended in February 1922, when she was 24.2% complete. She was redesignated and re-authorized as an aircraft carrier on 1 July 1922. As such, displacement was reduced by a total of 4,000 long tons (4,100 t), achieved mainly by the elimination of the battlecruiser's main armament of eight 16-inch (406 mm) guns in four twin turrets (including their heavy turret mounts, their armor, and other equipment). The main armor belt was retained, although it was reduced in height to save weight. The general line of the hull remained unaltered, as did the torpedo protection system because they had already been built and it would have been too expensive to alter them.

Sponsored by Mrs. Theodore Douglas Robinson (the wife of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy), Lexington was launched on 3 October 1925. She was commissioned on 14 December 1927 with Captain Albert Marshall in command. The ship's crew consisted of 100 officers and 1,840 enlisted men in 1942. Her aviation group totaled 141 officers and 710 enlisted men during that same period.

Flight deck arrangements

The ship's flight deck was 866 feet 2 inches (264.01 m) long and had a maximum width of 105 feet 11 inches (32.28 m). When built, her hangar "was the largest single enclosed space afloat on any ship" and had an area of 33,528 square feet (3,114.9 m²). It was 424 feet (129.2 m) long and no less than 68 feet (20.7 m) wide. Its minimum height was 21 feet (6.4 m), and it was equipped with a single fire curtain to isolate any fires in the hangar. Aircraft repair shops, 108-foot (32.9 m) long, were aft of the hangar and below them was a storage space for disassembled aircraft, 128 feet (39.0 m) long. The hangar was divided by a single fire curtain just forward of the aft aircraft elevator. Lexington was fitted with two hydraulically powered elevators on her centerline. The forward elevator's dimensions were 30 by 60 feet (9.1 × 18.3 m) and it had a capacity of 16,000 pounds (7,300 kg). The aft elevator had a capacity of only 6,000 pounds (2,700 kg) and measured 30 by 36 feet (9.1 × 11.0 m). Aviation gasoline was stored in eight compartments of the torpedo protection system and their capacity has been quoted as either 132,264 US gallons (500,670 l; 110,133 imp gal) or 163,000 US gallons (620,000 l; 136,000 imp gal).

Lexington was initially fitted with electrically operated arresting gear designed by Carl Norden that used both fore-and-aft and transverse wires. The longitudinal wires were intended to prevent the aircraft from being blown over the side of the ship while the transverse wires slowed the aircraft to a stop. This system was authorized to be replaced by the hydraulically operated Mk 2 system, without longitudinal wires, on 11 August 1931. Four improved Mk 3 units were added in 1934, giving the ship a total of eight arresting wires and four barriers intended to prevent aircraft from crashing into parked aircraft on the ship's bow. After the forward flight deck was widened in 1936, an additional eight wires were added there to allow for aircraft to land over the bow if the landing area at the stern was damaged. The ship was built with a 155-foot (47.2 m), flywheel-powered, F Mk II aircraft catapult, also designed by Norden, on the starboard side of the bow. This catapult was strong enough to launch a 10,000-pound (4,500 kg) aircraft at a speed of 48 knots (89 km/h; 55 mph). It was intended to launch seaplanes and was rarely used; a 1931 report tallied only five launches of practice loads since the ship had commissioned. It was removed during the ship's 1936 refit.

Lexington was designed to carry 78 aircraft of various types, including 36 bombers, but this increased once the Navy adopted the practice of tricing spare aircraft in the unused spaces at the top of the hangar. In 1936, her air group consisted of 18 Grumman F2F-1 and 18 Boeing F4B-4 fighters, plus an additional 9 F2Fs in reserve. Offensive punch was provided by 20 Vought SBU Corsair dive bombers with another 10 spares and 18 Great Lakes BG torpedo bombers with 9 additional spare aircraft. Miscellaneous aircraft included two, plus one in reserve, Grumman JF Duck amphibians and three, plus one spare, Vought O2U Corsair observation aircraft. This amounted to 79 aircraft, plus 30 spares.

Propulsion

The Lexington-class carriers used turbo-electric propulsion because American companies struggled to produce the very large geared turbines necessary for such big ships when they were designed. Four General Electric turbo generators powered the two 22,500-shaft-horsepower (16,800 kW) electric motors that drove each of the four propeller shafts and each turbo generator was rated at 35,200 kilowatts (47,200 hp). Steam for the generators was provided by sixteen Yarrow water-tube boilers, each in their own individual compartment. Six 750-kilowatt (1,010 hp) electric generators were installed in the upper levels of the two main turbine compartments to provide power to meet the ship's hotel load requirements.

The ship was designed to reach 33.25 knots (61.58 km/h; 38.26 mph), but Lexington achieved 34.59 knots (64.06 km/h; 39.81 mph) from 202,973 shp (151,357 kW) during sea trials in 1928. She carried a maximum of 6,688 long tons (6,795 t) of fuel oil, but only 5,400 long tons (5,500 t) of that was usable as the rest had to be retained as ballast in the port fuel tanks to offset the weight of the island and main guns. The ship demonstrated a range of 9,910 nautical miles (18,350 km; 11,400 mi) at a speed of 10.7 knots (19.8 km/h; 12.3 mph) with 4,540 long tons (4,610 t) of oil.

Armament

Lexington firing her eight-inch guns, 1928

The Navy's Bureau of Construction and Repair was not then convinced that aircraft could be an effective and sufficient armament for a warship. Thus the design as carriers included a substantial gun battery of eight 55-caliber Mk 9 eight-inch guns in four twin gun turrets. These turrets were mounted above the flight deck on the starboard side, two before the superstructure, and two behind the funnel, numbered I to IV from bow to stern. The guns in theory could fire to both sides, but it is probable that if they were fired to port (across the deck) the blast would have damaged the flight deck. The guns could be depressed to –5° and elevated to +41°.

The ship's heavy anti-aircraft (AA) armament consisted of twelve 25-caliber Mk 10 five-inch guns which were mounted on single mounts, three each fitted on sponsons on each side of the bow and stern. No light AA guns were initially mounted on Lexington, but two sextuple .30-caliber (7.62 mm) machine gun mounts were installed in 1929. They were unsuccessful and were replaced by two .50-caliber (12.7 mm) machine guns by 1931, one each on the roof of the superfiring eight-inch turrets. During a refit in 1935, platforms mounting four .50-caliber machine guns were installed on each corner of the ship and an additional platform was installed that wrapped around the funnel. Six machine guns were mounted on each side of this last platform. In October 1940, four 50-caliber Mk 10 three-inch AA guns were installed in the corner platforms; they replaced two of the .50-caliber machine guns which were remounted on the tops of the eight-inch gun turrets. Another three-inch gun was added on the roof of the deckhouse between the funnel and the island. These guns were just interim weapons until the quadruple 1.1-inch gun mount could be fielded, which occurred in August 1941.

In March 1942, Lexington's eight-inch turrets were removed at Pearl Harbor and replaced by seven quadruple 1.1-inch gun mounts. In addition 22 Oerlikon 20 mm cannon were added, 6 in a new platform at the base of the funnel, 12 in the positions formerly occupied by the ship's boats in the sides of the hull, two at the stern and a pair on the aft control top. When the ship was sunk in May 1942, her armament consisted of 12 five-inch, 12 quadruple 1.1-inch, 22 Oerlikons and at least two dozen .50-caliber machine guns.

Fire control and electronics

Each eight-inch turret had a Mk 30 rangefinder at the rear of the turret for local control, but they were normally controlled by two Mk 18 fire-control director, one each on the fore and aft control tops. A 20-foot (6.1 m) rangefinder was fitted on top of the pilothouse to provide range information for the directors. Each group of three five-inch guns was controlled by a Mk 19 director, two of which were mounted on each side of the fore and aft control tops. Lexington received a RCA CXAM-1 radar in June 1941 during a brief refit in Pearl Harbor. The antenna was mounted on the forward lip of the funnel with its control room directly below the aerial, replacing the secondary Conning station formerly mounted there.

Armor

The waterline belt of the Lexington-class ships tapered 7–5 inches (178–127 mm) in thickness from top to bottom and angled 11° outwards at the top. It covered the middle 530 feet (161.5 m) of the ships. Forward, the belt ended in a bulkhead that also tapered from seven to five inches in thickness. Aft, it terminated at a seven-inch bulkhead. This belt had a height of 9 feet 4 inches (2.8 m). The third deck over the ships' machinery and magazine was armored with two layers of Special treatment steel (STS) totaling 2 inches (51 mm) in thickness. The steering gear, however, was protected by two layers of STS that totaled 3 inches (76 mm) on the flat and 4.5 inches (114 mm) on the slope.

The gun turrets were protected only against splinters with .75 inches (19 mm) of armor. The conning tower was 2–2.25 inches (51–57 mm) of STS, and it had a communications tube with two-inch sides ran from the conning tower down to the lower conning position on the third deck. The torpedo defense system of the Lexington-class ships consisted of three to six medium steel protective bulkheads that ranged from .375 to .75 inch (10 to 19 mm) in thickness. The spaces between them could be left empty or used as fuel tanks to absorb the detonation of a torpedo's warhead.

Service history

After fitting out and shakedown cruises, Lexington was transferred to the West Coast of the United States and arrived at San Pedro, California, part of Los Angeles, on 7 April 1928. She was based there until 1940 and mainly stayed on the West Coast, although she did participate in several Fleet Problems (training exercises) in the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. These exercises tested the Navy's evolving doctrine and tactics for the use of carriers. During Fleet Problem IX in January 1929, Lexington and the Scouting Force failed to defend the Panama Canal against an aerial attack launched by her sister ship USS Saratoga (CV-3). When the noted science fiction author Robert A. Heinlein reported aboard on 6 July as a newly-minted ensign, the ship's captain was Frank Berrien.

In 1929, western Washington state suffered a drought which resulted in low levels in Lake Cushmans that provided water for Cushman Dam No. 1. The hydro-electric power generated by this dam was the primary source for the city of Tacoma and the city requested help from the federal government once the water in the lake receded below the dam's intakes during December. The U.S. Navy sent Lexington, which had been at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, to Tacoma and heavy electric lines were rigged into the city's power system. The ship's generators provided a total of 4,520,960 kilowatts from 17 December to 16 January 1930 until melting snow and rain brought the reservoirs up to the level needed to generate sufficient power for the city.

Captain Ernest J. King, who later rose to serve as the Chief of Naval Operations during World War II, assumed command on 20 June 1930. On 31 March 1931, Lexington, which had been near Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba, was ordered to aid survivors of an earthquake that devastated Managua, Nicaragua. By the following day, the ship was close enough to launch aircraft carrying supplies and medical personnel to Managua. During Grand Joint Exercise No. 4, Lexington and Saratoga were able to launch a massive airstrike against Pearl Harbor on Sunday, 7 February 1932 without being detected. The two carries were separated for Fleet Problem XIII which followed shortly afterwards. Lexington was assigned to Black Fleet, defending Hawaii and the West Coast against Blue Fleet and Saratoga. On 15 March, Lexington caught Saratoga with all of her planes still on deck and was ruled to knocked out her flight deck and have badly damaged the carrier, which subsequently ruled sunk during a night attack by Black Fleet destroyers shortly afterward. Lexington's aircraft were judged to have badly damaged two of Blue Fleet's battleships.

During Fleet Problem XIV in February 1933, the ship attempted to attack San Francisco, but was surprised in heavy fog by several defending battleships at close range and sunk.

In July 1937, Lexington participated in the unsuccessful search for Amelia Earhart.

World War II

Admiral Husband Kimmel, Commander-in-chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet, ordered that Task Force 12, consisting of Lexington, three heavy cruisers and escorted by five destroyers, depart Pearl Harbor on 5 December 1941 to ferry 18 U.S. Marine Corps Vought SB2U Vindicator dive bombers of VMSB-231 to reinforce the base at Midway Island. At this time she embarked 65 of her own aircraft, including 17 Brewster F2A Buffalo fighters. On the morning of 7 December, the Task Force was about 500 miles (800 km) southeast of Midway when it received news of the Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor. Several hours later, Rear Admiral John H. Newton, commander of the Task Force, received orders that cancelled the ferry mission and ordered him to search for the Japanese ships while rendezvousing with Vice Admiral Wilson Brown's ships 100 miles (160 km) west of Niihau Island. With the Marine aircraft aboard, Lexington's flight deck was very congested and Captain Frederick Sherman decided to reverse the polarity of the ship's turbo-electric system and steam full speed astern in order to launch a new Combat Air Patrol (CAP) and then resuming forward motion to recover the fuel-starved fighters of his CAP. This unorthodox action allowed him to maintain a continuous CAP and recover his aircraft without the lengthy delay caused by moving the aircraft on the flight deck from the bow to the stern and back to make space available for launch and recovery operations. Lexington launched several scout planes to search for the Japanese that day and remained at sea between Johnson Island and Hawaii reacting to several false alerts until she returned to Pearl Harbor on 13 December.

Lexington, escorted by three heavy cruisers and nine destroyers, steamed from Pearl Harbor the next day to raid the Japanese base on Jaluit in the Marshall Islands to distract the Japanese from the Wake Island relief force. However, this air raid was canceled on 20 December. Next, the Lexington was ordered to cover a task force lead by the USS Saratoga that planned to reinforce the Marines on Wake Island. However, this action was also canceled by the American admiral in temporary command at Pearl Harbor. (Admiral Chester Nimitz did not take over until December 31st.)

Wake Island was allowed to be overrun by overwhelming Japanese naval and ground forces on 23 December, without any offer of help from the U.S. Pacific Fleet.

The Lexington, the Saratoga, and their accompanying warships arrived back at Pearl Harbor on 27 December 1941.

Lexington patrolled to block enemy raids in the Oahu–Johnston–Palmyra triangle until 11 January 1942, when she sailed from Pearl Harbor as flagship for Vice Admiral Wilson Brown commanding Task Force 11. On 16 February, the force headed for an attack on Rabaul, New Britain, scheduled for 21 February; while approaching the day previous, Lexington was attacked by two waves of enemy aircraft, nine planes to a wave. The carrier's own combat air patrol and antiaircraft fire shot down 17 of the 18 attackers. During a single sortie, Lieutenant Edward O'Hare earned the Medal of Honor by downing five planes.

Her offensive patrols in the Coral Sea continued, as part of the ANZAC Squadron, until 6 March, when she rendezvoused with Yorktown's Task Force 17 for a thoroughly successful surprise attack flown over the Owen Stanley Mountains of New Guinea to inflict heavy damage on shipping and installations at Salamaua and Lae on 10 March. She then returned to Pearl Harbor, arriving 26 March.

Lexington's task force sortied from Pearl Harbor on 15 April. She went through a short overhaul, during which her 8 inch turrets were removed and replaced by quadruple 1.1 inch (28 mm) anti-aircraft guns. She rejoined TF 17 on 1 May. As Japanese fleet concentrations threatening the Coral Sea were observed, Lexington and Yorktown moved into the sea to search for the enemy's force covering a projected troop movement; the Japanese had to be blocked in their southward expansion or sea communication with Australia and New Zealand would be cut, and the dominions threatened with invasion. The Battle of the Coral Sea was the result.

Battle of the Coral Sea

Main article: Battle of the Coral Sea

Lexington burning during the Battle of the Coral Sea

Confirmed direct hits sustained by Lexington during the battle

On 7 May, search planes reported contact with an enemy carrier task force. Lexington's air group sank Shōhō. Later that day, 12 bombers and 15 torpedo planes from Shōkaku and Zuikaku were intercepted by fighter groups from Lexington and Yorktown, which shot down nine enemy aircraft.

On the morning of the 8th, a Lexington plane located the Shōkaku group; a strike was immediately launched from the American carriers, and the Japanese carrier was heavily damaged. However, Japanese planes penetrated the American defenses at 1100, and 20 minutes later Lexington was struck by a torpedo to port. Seconds later, a second torpedo hit her portside directly abeam the bridge. At the same time, she took three bomb hits from enemy dive bombers, producing a 7 degree list to port and several raging fires. By 1300, skilled damage control had brought the fires under control and restored her to an even keel; making 25 kn (29 mph, 46 km/h), she was ready to recover her air group. Lexington was suddenly shaken by a tremendous explosion, caused by the ignition of gasoline vapors below, and again fire raged out of control.

At 1558, Captain Sherman, fearing for the safety of men working below, halted salvage operations, and ordered all hands to the flight deck. At 1701, he ordered "abandon ship" and the orderly disembarkation began. He contacted the Yorktown and told her the magazine had blown, salvage operations were secure and that all hands were on the flight deck, and that he gave the order to abandon ship. The Yorktown replied back, saying that they copied, and said All vessels away rescue parties. Many of her crew went over the side into the warm water and were almost immediately picked up by nearby cruisers and destroyers.

Admiral Aubrey Wray Fitch and his staff transferred to Minneapolis; Captain Sherman and his executive officer, Commander Morton T. Seligman, having done all they could to save as many as possible, then left the ship. Lexington blazed on, flames shooting hundreds of feet into the air. To prevent enemy capture, the destroyer Phelps closed to 1,500 yd (1.4 km) and fired two torpedoes into the Lexington's hull. With one last heavy explosion, Lexington sank on an even keel at 19:56, in 15°20′S 155°30′E.

Honors

Lexington received two battle stars for her World War II service.

In June 1942, five days after the Navy's public acknowledgment of the sinking, workers at the Quincy shipyard where the ship was built twenty-one years earlier cabled Navy Secretary Frank Knox and proposed a change in the name of a carrier currently under construction there to Lexington (from Cabot). Knox agreed to the proposal, and by 23 September 1942, the fifth Lexington was launched.

See also

• List of aircraft carriers
• List of World War II ships
• List of U.S. Navy losses in World War II

Sources

• Anderson, Richard M.; Baker, Arthur D. III (1977). "CV-2 Lex and CV-3 Sara". Warship International (Toledo, OH: International Naval Research Organization) XIV (4): 291–328. ISSN 0043-0374. 
• Brown, J. D. (2009). Carrier Operations in World War II. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-59114-108-2. 
• Friedman, Norman (1983). U.S. Aircraft Carriers: An Illustrated Design History. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-739-9.  (Google Books link)
• Friedman, Norman (1984). U.S. Cruisers: An Illustrated Design History. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-718-6. 
• Herts, Dylan. Fleet Problem XIII & Grand Joint Exercise No. 4: Reconsidering Aircraft Carrier Doctrine. http://www.scribd.com/full/43008877?access_key=key-1kucfy85u63qvxyzqipp. 
• Johnston, Stanley (1942). Queen of the Flat-Tops: The U.S.S. Lexington and the Coral Sea Battle. New York: E. P. Dutton. OCLC 560099. 
• "Lexington". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Naval History & Heritage Command (NH&HC). http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/l6/lexington-iv.htm. Retrieved 20 January 2012. 
• Lundstrom, John B. (2005). The First Team: Pacific Naval Air Combat from Pearl Harbor to Midway. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-59114-471-X. 
• Nofi, Albert A. (2010). To Train the Fleet for War: The U.S. Navy Fleet Problems. Naval War College Historical Monograph. 18. Newport, Rhode Island: Naval War College Press. ISBN 978-1-884733-69-7. 
• Patterson, William H. (2010). Robert A. Heinlein: In Dialogue with His Century. Volume 1, 1907-1948 Learning Curve. New York: Tom Doherty Associates Book. ISBN 978-0-7653-1960-9. 
• Prange, Gordon W.; in collaboration with Donald M. Goldstein and Katherine V. Dillon (1981). At Dawn We Slept: The Untold Story of Pearl Harbor. New York: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-07-050669-8. 
• Stern, Robert C. (1993). The Lexington Class Carriers. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-503-9. 
• Stille, Mark (2005). US Navy Aircraft Carriers 1922–1945: Prewar Classes. New Vanguard. 114. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-84176-890-1. 

External links

• Shall We Make Junk Or The World's Finest Plane Carriers Out of Our Battle Cruisers by G. Schornsteimer Popular Science December 1922

• Preliminary battle report
• WWII Archives U.S.S. Lexington (CV-2) original Ship Action Reports Scanned in from the National Archives
• WWII Archives U.S.S. Lexington (CV-2) original War Damage Report Scanned in from the National Archives
• General Plan for the U.S.S. Lexington (CV-2), hosted by the Historical Naval Ships Association (HNSA) Digital Collections
• Navy photographs of Lexington (CV-2)
• Coral Sea photographs
• Personal account of the sinking of Lexington (CV-2)
• Lexington (CV-2) report about powering City of Tacoma
• USS Lexington (CV-2) at Navsource
• Newsreel footage of Lexington sinking