Lexington (CV 16) - Naval Cruise Book

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and bombers and shot down six Zekes and one Betty on their way back to the ship. The 101411 score of our group for this one strike was twenty- seven enemy aircraft shot down in the air, three bombers destroyed on the ground, one large cargo ship sunk, one cruiser sunk and one cruiser proba- bly sunk. Meanwhile, at noon, the ship underwent a skilful, coordinated torpedo attack by enemy planes. Two torpedo planes were first sighted by lookouts com- ing in on the starboard side. The Lexington imme- diately opened fire, the first ship in the group to do so. lntense and accurate fire from Lexington guns brought both planes down in flames, the first 200 yarcif ahead and the second 500 yards astern of the ship. A third plane was immediately sighted which closed to 1800 yards and dropped its torpedo before being hit and crashing on the starboard beam. Within the space of a few minutes Lexington gunners had destroyed three enemy torpedo planes and had probably saved the ship--a feat they were to perform many times in the future. Many enemy planes, however, escaped our fighters and retiring to their bases made prepara- tions for a night torpedo attack. A full moon would be out to aid them and the evening promised to be lively, From 6:46 P, M. to 1:47 the next morning, the force was under skilful and prolonged attack, which culminated in a hit on the Lexington. The official Ships History tells the story: At 1925 bogies began closing and the other Task Group began firing. Both groups were maneuver- ...f . ' X - ' 5 1 A , , N.- , ,. .. .X Wg., I--, ,.,. I - . . if O ,B tRightB Take Off! The signal officer gives the g signal to the first fighter in cr strike. W k I h .1 An SBD taxis up the deck, its bomb racks empty. a e as we e 1.

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Gen. Marshall and Admiral King watch air operations during the Lexington's training period. for duty as part of the Pacific Fleet. At this stage in the war the Navy had not yet captured the forward anchorages-Eniwetok, Ma4 juro, Ulithi-A--which were all the port that fleet personnel were to see at a later stage, and task forces were in the pleasant habit of retiring to Pearl l-larbor between operations. The Lexingtons first mission was such an operation -- -a one-day raid on Tarawa late in September, followed two weeks later by a two-day attack on Wake lsland, the ship returning to Pearl after each mission. From November 19 to 24 she supported the hard- fought landings in the Gilbert Islands, flying searches and a series of destructive strikes on Mille. On the twenty-third her fighters and fighter direc- tors got their first chance to exercise their skills, with brilliant success, when twelve fighters ac- counted for seventeen out of a flight of twenty Fighter pilots wait in the ready room before the Tarawa raid: Autographing 1000 lb. bombs before the Lexington s hrs! blow in the war-the raid on Tarawa. planes. The next day another twelve got twglve. more, Ship and air group were now a smooth. functioning combat team. ln the action report covering this engagement Captain Know Rear Admirall Stump, said, This Commanding Officer would be interested to know if, in the brilliant records of other Fighting Aircraft Units in this war, such a record has been equalled lt is probable that the courageous and aggressive action on the part of Fighting Sixteen, in promptly intercepting and shooting down twenty-nine lapae nese planes, demoralized the lapanese Air Com- mand in the Marshalls to such an extent that they were temporarily unable to send any more planes toward the Gilberts while we remained on the inter- cept station, and by thus stopping air attacks from the Marshalls, Fighting Sixteen contributed an ap- preciable share to the successful conclusion of the conquest of the Gilbertsf' THE LEX GETS l-llT After refueling, the force proceeded on their next mission, a raid on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshalls. Tough opposition was encountered and the Lexing- ton rose to the occasion. Over the target, twelve Lexington l-lellcats ran into approximately thirty Zekes. When the shooting was over, nineteen enemy fighters and one Betty bomber had been destroyed in the air, and three Bettys on the around. Meanwhile the bombers and torpedo planes attacking the shipping had damaged two cruisers and blown up a cargo ship. While returning from this strike the SBD's encountered enemy fighters 'K K.. fi, I, fl ,fr .1 ll' ,., I' f ,ft ,ty I, f til i ,1.-3 ' fa--' ' '..f fr, ,. l ll V, i.. vi' if l tll i l i l l i ati 0 Qt 6 44-1

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., 'xyyf' ,' ing at high speeds on evasive courses, and firing by the screen was continuous. To those with top- side battle stations it seemed like a long-drawn-out, unreal dream, the ship silently steaming through the water, throwing out a brilliant phosphorescent wake, the moonlight reflected against the planes on the flight deck, and all the while the bright stream- ers of tracer bullets and the flash of five-inch bursts from the ships of the screen firing at unseen targets. At 2150 float lights were dropped in the water to guide the attackers into the target. At 2322 four parachute flares appeared on our port beam. They were beautifully placed to silhouette the ship, and it was obvious that we had been picked out as the target. At 2325 the ship opened fireg bogies were closing in fast on the starboard bow. A torpedo was seen to drop from a Betty on the starboard beam who immediately was heavily fired on but came in close and got away at high speed directly over the ship. At 2332 the torpedo hit. The ship immediately settled five feet to starboard and lost steering con- trol. She began to turn in a circle to port, stream- ing a dense cloud of smoke from ruptured FS gas tanks on the faritai1. Temporarily protected by this accidental smoke screen, the ship fought to regain steering control. Within twenty minutes after receiving the hit the rudder was brought amidships through the use of an emergency hand-operated hydraulic unit which had been designed by Lieutenant P. N. MacDonald, of the Lexington and installed by her own crew during the last availability. This device which was a Lexington invention and a Lexington installation was largely instrumental in saving the ship from .. ,. . . y. , ,. - -L-' bf . --7 1 - 1--1 -J.- - - 1 The day's tally for eight fighter pilots on Nov. 23, 1943. Left to right: Ens. Ruckiske, Lt. figl Fleming- U- Com- Buie, Lt. figl Frendling, Lt. figl Whiteway, Lt. figl Birkholm, Lt. figl Rogers, Lt. Kosciuski. further damage by permitting a rapid withdrC1WG1 from the area, and is now a standard installation in all carriers of this class. Steering only with the main engines, within half an hour after being hit the ship was proceeding eastward at twenty knots. The entire retirement to Pearl Harbor was made in this manner. Despite the damage caused to sick bay by the shock of the torpedo the Medical Department began receiving and administering to patients almost im- mediately. All hands in the Medical Department worked unceasingly until ten the next morning, at which time all patients had been properly treated. The flooded compartments were immediately sealed off and flooding to adjacent compartments was negligible. After temporary repairs at Pearl Harbor, the ship put her air group ,ashore and proceeded to Bremer- ton for permanent repairs, arriving on December 22. About this time Tokyo Rose reported the Lexington sunk. Her loyal fans on board the ship felt her story was slightly exaggerated. THE SECOND ROUND On February 12 the Ship's Navy Yard availability was completed. Picking. up Air Group 19, later to relieve Air Group 16, at Alameda, she transported them to Pearl Harbor, arriving there on February 28, where Air Group 16 came back aboard. Shortly after, Task Force 58, of which the Lexington was now a part, shifted its base of operations to Majuro in the Marshalls, and the fleet entered on the long- drawn atoll period of the war. At Majuro Admiral Mitscher shifted his flag aboard the Lexington, where he remained until October 31. The problems of a flagship were unique