USS Lexington (CV-16)

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

USS Lexington in the Bay at Corpus Christi, Texas as a floating museum.
History
United States
Builder	Fore River Shipyard
Laid down	15 July 1941
Launched	23 September 1942
Commissioned	17 February 1943
Decommissioned	8 November 1991
Reclassified	CV to CVA 1 October 1952 CVA to CVS 1 October 1962 CVS to CVT 1 January 1969
Nickname(s)	The Blue Ghost, Lady Lex
Honours and awards	Presidential Unit Citation (PUC)
Fate	Museum ship
General characteristics
Class and type	Essex-class aircraft carrier
Displacement	Template:Essex class aircraft carrier displacement, 1991:18,275 tons full load
Length	Template:Essex class aircraft carrier length(910 ft)
Beam	Template:Essex class aircraft carrier beam
Draft	Template:Essex class aircraft carrier draught
Propulsion	Template:Essex class aircraft carrier propulsion
Speed	Template:Essex class aircraft carrier speed 34.65 knots (40 mph; 64 km/h) during trials
Range	Template:Essex class aircraft carrier range
Complement	Template:Essex class aircraft carrier complement
Armament	Template:Essex class aircraft carrier armament; All guns removed by 1967
Armor	Template:Essex class aircraft carrier armour
Aircraft carried	110

Chart room on board USS Lexington as the ship maneuvers into enemy waters during a strike on the Gilbert and Marshall Islands. December 1943.

The bridge

Combat Information Center

Island view

3"/50 Caliber Anti-Aircraft Gun

USS Lexington (CV/CVA/CVS/CVT/AVT-16), known as "The Blue Ghost", is one of 24 Essex-class aircraft carriers built during World War II for the United States Navy. The ship, the fifth US Navy ship to bear the name, is named in honor of the Revolutionary War Battle of Lexington. She was originally to have been named Cabot, but she was renamed while under construction to commemorate USS Lexington (CV-2), lost in the Battle of the Coral Sea in May 1942.

Lexington was commissioned in February 1943, and served in several campaigns in the Pacific Theater of Operations, receiving the Presidential Unit Citation and 11 battle stars for World War II service. Like many of her sister ships, Lexington was decommissioned shortly after the end of the war, but was modernized and reactivated in the early 1950s, being reclassified as an attack carrier (CVA), and then an antisubmarine carrier (CVS). In her second career, she operated both in the Atlantic/Mediterranean and the Pacific, but spent most of her time, nearly 30 years, on the east coast as a training carrier (CVT).

She was decommissioned in 1991, remaining active longer than any other Essex-class ship, and was donated for use as a museum ship in Corpus Christi, Texas. Lexington was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2003. Though her surviving sisterships Yorktown, Intrepid, and Hornet carry lower hull numbers, Lexington was laid down and commissioned earlier, making Lexington the oldest remaining aircraft carrier in the world.

Construction and commissioning

The ship was laid down as Cabot on 15 July 1941 by Bethlehem Steel Co., Quincy, Mass., and renamed Lexington 16 June 1942, and launched on 23 September 1942, sponsored by Mrs. Theodore Douglas Robinson. Lexington was commissioned on 17 February 1943, with Captain Felix Stump USN in command.

"The Blue Ghost"

The Lexington was given the nickname "The Blue Ghost" by the Japanese. Part of the reason for the nickname the "Blue Ghost" was the fact that Lexington was painted dark blue, and was the only carrier not to wear camouflage. This aspect was used to demoralize the Japanese, as they could not sink Lexington since she was so heavily defended. The "ghost" portion of the nickname comes from the fact that the Japanese believed that they had sunk the Lexington no less than four times during the course of the war, leading Tokyo Rose to give the ship its nickname.

She sinks beneath the deep blue seas each evening, all hands aboard, only to re-appear each morning on the horizon.

Service history

World War II

After Caribbean shakedown and yard work at Boston, Lexington sailed for Pacific action via the Panama Canal, arriving at Pearl Harbor on 9 August 1943. She raided Tarawa in late September and Wake Island in October, then returned to Pearl Harbor to prepare for the Gilbert Islands operation. From 19 November to 24 November she made searches and flew sorties in the Marshalls, covering the landings in the Gilberts. Her aviators downed 29 enemy aircraft on 23 November and 24 November.

Kwajalein raid

Lexington sailed to raid Kwajalein on 4 December. Her morning strike destroyed the SS Kembu Maru, damaged two cruisers, and accounted for 30 enemy aircraft. Her gunners splashed two of the enemy torpedo planes that attacked at midday, but were ordered not to open fire at night as the Admiral then in command believed it would give their position away (He was later replaced). At 1920 that night, a major air attack began while the task force was under way off Kwajalein. At 2322, parachute flares from Japanese planes silhouetted the carrier, and 10 minutes later she was hit by a torpedo on the starboard side, knocking out her steering gear. Nine people were killed, two on the fantail and seven in the Chief Petty Officers mess room, which was a repair party station during general quarters. Four members of the affected repair party survived because they were sitting on a couch that apparently absorbed the shock of the explosion. Settling 5 feet (2 m) by the stern, the carrier began circling to port amidst dense clouds of smoke pouring from ruptured tanks aft. To maintain water tight integrity, damage control crews were ordered to seal the damaged compartments and welded them shut applying heavy steel plates where needed. An emergency hand-operated steering unit was quickly devised, and Lexington made Pearl Harbor for emergency repairs, arriving on 9 December. She reached Bremerton, Washington on 22 December for full repairs, completed on 20 February 1944. The error in judgment concerning opening fire at night was never repeated again, as gun crews were then ordered to open fire anytime the ship came under attack. The 40 mm "Quads" were most effective from then on. The "Blue Ghost" was reported sunk by Japan's Tokyo Rose – as she would come to say again and again, the ship sank beneath the deep blue seas.

Marianas Turkey Shoot

Main article: Marianas Turkey Shoot

Lexington sailed via Alameda, California, and Pearl Harbor for Majuro, where Rear Admiral Marc Mitscher commanding Task Force 58 (TF 58) broke his flag in her (took command) on 8 March. After a warm-up strike against Mille, TF 58 operated against the major centers of resistance in Japan's outer empire, supporting the Army landing at Hollandia (currently known as Jayapura) on 13 April, and hitting supposedly invulnerable Truk on 28 April. Heavy counterattack left Lexington untouched, her planes splashing 17 enemy fighters; but, for the second time, Japanese propaganda announced her sunk.

A surprise fighter strike on Saipan on 11 June virtually eliminated all air opposition over the island, then battered from the air for the next 5 days. On 16 June, Lexington fought off a fierce attack by Japanese torpedo planes based on Guam, once again to emerge unhurt, but sunk a third time by propaganda pronouncements. As Japanese opposition to the Marianas operation provoked the Battle of the Philippine Sea on 19 June and 20 June, Lexington played a major role in TF 58's great victory the Marianas Turkey Shoot. With over 300 enemy aircraft destroyed the first day, and a carrier, a tanker, and a destroyer sunk the second day, American aviators virtually knocked Japanese naval aviation out of the war; for with the planes went the trained and experienced pilots without whom Japan could not continue air warfare at sea.

Using Eniwetok as her base, Lexington flew sorties over Guam and against the Palaus and Bonins into August. She arrived in the Carolinas on 7 September for three days of strikes against Yap and Ulithi, then began attacks on Mindanao, the Visayas, the Manila area, and shipping along the west coast of Luzon, preparing for the coming assault on Leyte. Her task force then blasted Okinawa on 10 October and Formosa two days later to destroy bases from which opposition to the Philippines campaign might be launched . She was again unscathed through the air battle fought after the Formosa assault.

Battle of Leyte Gulf

Main article: Battle of Leyte Gulf

Now covering the Leyte landings, Lexington's planes scored importantly in the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the climactic American naval victory over Japan. While the carrier came under constant enemy attack in the engagement in which Princeton was sunk, her planes joined in sinking Musashi and scored hits on three cruisers on 24 October. Next day, with Essex aircraft, they sank Chitose, and alone sank Zuikaku. Later in the day, they aided in sinking Zuihō. As the retiring Japanese were pursued, her planes sank Nachi with four torpedo hits on 5 November off Luzon.

Later that day, Lexington was introduced to the kamikaze as a flaming Japanese plane crashed near her island, destroying most of the island structure and spraying fire in all directions. Within 20 minutes, major blazes were under control, and she was able to continue normal flight actions, her guns knocking down a would-be kamikaze heading for Ticonderoga as well. On 9 November, Lexington arrived in Ulithi to repair battle damage while hearing again that Tokyo once again claimed her destroyed beneath the deep blue seas. Casualties were considered light despite the island structures destruction.

Chosen as the flagship for Task Group 58.2 (TG 58.2) on 11 December, she struck at the airfields of Luzon and Formosa during the first 9 days of January 1945, encountering little enemy opposition. The task force then entered the China Sea to strike enemy shipping and air installations. Strikes were flown against Saipan, Camranh Bay in then Indochina, Hong Kong, the Pescadores, and Formosa. Task force planes sank four merchant ships and four escorts in one convoy and destroyed at least 12 in another, at Camranh Bay on 12 January. Leaving the China Sea on 20 January, Lexington sailed north to strike Formosa again on 21 January and Okinawa again on 22 January.

After replenishing at Ulithi, TG 58.2 sailed on 10 February to hit airfields near Tokyo on 16 February 1945, and on 17 February to minimize opposition to the Iwo Jima landings on 19 February. Lexington flew close support for the assaulting troops from 19–22 February, then sailed for further strikes against the Japanese home islands and the Nansei Shoto before heading for overhaul at Puget Sound.

Rear Admiral Sprague's Task Force

Lexington was combat bound again on 22 May, sailing via Alameda and Pearl Harbor for San Pedro Bay, Leyte where she joined Rear Admiral Thomas L. Sprague's task force for the final round of air strikes which battered the Japanese home islands from July-15 August, when the last strike was ordered to jettison its bombs and return to Lexington on receiving word of Japanese surrender. During this period she had launched attacks on Honshū and Hokkaidō airfields, and Yokosuka and Kure naval bases to destroy the remnants of the Japanese fleet. She had also flown bombing attacks on industrial targets in the Tokyo area.

After hostilities ended, she continued to fly precautionary patrols over Japan, and dropped supplies to prisoner of war camps on Honshū. She supported the occupation of Japan until leaving Tokyo Bay on 3 December with homeward bound veterans for transportation to San Francisco, where she arrived on 16 December.

One of the carrier's first casualties was 1939 Heisman Trophy winner Nile Kinnick. During the ship's initial voyage (to the Caribbean), Kinnick and other naval fliers were conducting training flights off her deck. The F4F Wildcat flown by Kinnick developed a serious oil leak while airborne. The mechanical problem was so severe that Kinnick was unable to make it back to the Lexington and crashed into the sea four miles from the ship. Kinnick and his plane were never recovered.

Post-War

After west coast operations, Lexington decommissioned at Bremerton, Washington on 23 April 1947 and entered the Reserve Fleet there. Designated attack carrier CVA-16 on 1 October 1952, she began conversion and modernization in Puget Sound Naval Shipyard on 1 September 1953, receiving the new angled flight deck.

Lexington recommissioned on 15 August 1955, Captain A. S. Heyward, Jr., in command. Assigned San Diego as her home port, she operated off California until May 1956, sailing then for a six-month deployment with the 7th Fleet. She based on Yokosuka for exercises, maneuvers, and search and rescue missions off the coast of China, and called at major Far Eastern ports until returning San Diego on 20 December. She next trained Air Group 12, which deployed with her on the next 7th Fleet deployment. Arriving Yokosuka on 1 June 1957, Lexington embarked Rear Admiral H. D. Riley, Commander Carrier Division 1, and sailed as his flagship until returning San Diego on 17 October.

1958 Lebanon crisis

Main article: 1958 Lebanon crisis

Following overhaul at Bremerton, her refresher training was interrupted by the 1958 Lebanon crisis; on 14 July 1958, she was ordered to embark Air Group 21 at San Francisco and sail to reinforce the 7th Fleet off Taiwan, arriving on station on 7 August and returning San Diego on 19 December. Now the first carrier whose planes were armed with AGM-12 Bullpup guided missile, Lexington left San Francisco on 26 April 1959 for another tour of duty with the 7th Fleet. She was on standby alert during the Laotian crisis of late August and September, then exercised with British forces before sailing from Yokosuka on 16 November for San Diego, arriving on 2 December. Through early 1960 she overhauled at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard.

Far East

Lexington's next Far Eastern tour began late in 1960, and was extended well into 1961 by renewed tension in Laos. Returning to west coast operations, she was ordered in January 1962 to prepare to relieve Antietam as aviation training carrier in the Gulf of Mexico, and she was redesignated CVS-16 on 1 October 1962. However, during the Cuban missile crisis, she resumed duty as an attack carrier, and it was not until 29 December 1962 that she relieved Antietam at Pensacola, Florida.

Training carrier

Lexington putting out to sea from Pensacola on a training cruise in 1987

Into 1969, Lexington operated out of her home port, Pensacola, as well as Corpus Christi and New Orleans, qualifying student aviators and maintaining the high state of training of both active duty and reserve naval aviators. Her work became of increasing significance as she prepared the men vital to the Navy and Marine Corps operations over Vietnam, where naval aviation played a major role. Lexington marked her 200,000th arrested landing on 17 October 1967, and was redesignated CVT-16 on 1 January 1969. She continued as a training carrier for the next 22 years until decommissioned on 8 November 1991.

On 29 October 1989, a student Naval Aviator lost control of his a T-2 training aircraft after an aborted attempt to land on Lexington's flight deck. The aircraft impacted the island with its right wing, killing 5 crew members (including the pilot of the plane), and another 15 were injured. The island suffered no major damage, and fires from the burning fuel were extinguished within 15 minutes.

Lexington was the final Essex-class carrier in commission and the last wooden-decked aircraft carrier to serve with the U.S. Navy.

Popular culture

In 1975 and 1987, Lexington, with the blessing and cooperation of the Navy, served as a filming location at sea. The films were the feature movie Midway and the TV miniseries War and Remembrance. In both cases the ship was altered to the extent possible to resemble other vessels, the USS Enterprise (CV-6) (for War and Remembrance) and USS Yorktown (CV-5) (for Midway) by adding anti-aircraft cannons and operating World War II vintage Navy aircraft. Lexington was also used (though tied up to her pier) for filming of the 2001 film Pearl Harbor, where she was altered to resemble a Japanese carrier.

In December 2009, the USS Lexington was the subject of an episode of Ghost Lab, on the Discovery Channel.

USS Lexington Museum

Lexington as a museum ship, Corpus Christi, Texas, July 2008

On 15 June 1992, the ship was donated as a museum and now operates as the USS Lexington Museum on the Bay at 27°48'53 N, 97°23'19, 2914 North Shoreline Blvd, Corpus Christi, Texas. A MEGAtheater (similar to IMAX) was added in the forward aircraft elevator space. Lexington was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2003. The ship is carefully maintained, and areas of the ship previously off-limits are becoming open to the public every few years. One of the most recent examples is the catapult room.

The ship's World War II-era gun battery is also being partially restored using guns salvaged from scrapped ships. Most notable among these 5"/38 DP gun turrets saved from the scrapping of the heavy cruiser Des Moines. They have been mounted in the approximate locations where similar mounts once existed as part of the ship's original World War II-era fit.

On February 5, 2010, the USS Lexington hosted their 17th annual "Stagedoor Canteen. "

Awards

The crew of Lexington received the Presidential Unit Citation for heroism in action against enemy Japanese forces, 11 battle stars for major engagements during World War II service, and the other awards.

See also

• U.S. Navy museums (and other aircraft-carrier museums)
• List of aircraft carriers
• List of World War II ships

References

 This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

External links

• USS Lexington Museum On the Bay official website
• WWII Archives U.S.S. Lexington (CV-16) original Ship Action Reports Scanned in from the National Archives
• National Historic Landmark Program: Lexington, USS (Aircraft Carrier)
• Aviation: From Sand Dunes to Sonic Booms, a National Park Service Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary
• HNSA Web Page: USS Lexington
• USS Lexington Photo Index