Lexington (CV 16) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 44 text:

Rt. Captain Stump interviews P. I.. Sloas, S Zfc. one of the men hurt when the ship was torpedoed during the early morning of December 5. 1943. The wounded are transferred to a naval h 't attack' OSP1 al at Pearl Harbor. Nine men were killed and thirty-five wounded in this o l

Page 43 text:

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Page 45 text:

while the other, diverted by her fire, dropped Q bomb that iust missed her stern, and made his escape through the now wildly firing formation, The first sweep found many planes waiting for them over the target, taking full advantage of cleud cover. In the furious dog fight that followed, Lex- mgton planes shot down seventeen with a loss of four. Other air groups did equally well, and for the remainder of the two days in which the force worked over this unhappy outpost, enemy gif ye- sistance was negligible. Except for one more dive- bomber, who also, of course, iust missed the Lex- ington, no further attacks were made on the force. On the way back to lvfajuro the Lexington was sunk-by Tokyo Rose, for the second time. THE LEX AT Tl-IE MARIANAS After several more weeks at lvfajuro, the force moved out on lune 6 to support the occupation of the Marianas. A surprise fighter sweep on the after- noon of lune ll, suggested by Air Group l6, vir- tually eliminated air opposition over Saipan, and strikes battered the target for the next five days. Torpedo planes from Guam, however, continued to harass the force, and on Iune l5 staged the fiercest night attack ever experienced by the Lexington. At 7:07 PM our lookouts reported sighting ten twin-engine planes dead ahead and closing fast. When the Lexington opened fire with automatic batteries eight 'lErances were plainly visible on Vice-Admiral Mitscher and Capt. Litch salute the crew at a presentation of awards. May. 1944. Woleai burns after the Lexington's visit. The airstrips A Iapanese freighter caught off Palau. crippled and are pockmarked with hits. One last bomb explodes in burning. the foreground.