Lexington (CV 16) - Naval Cruise Book

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Though the exact position of the target was I'1Ol known, heavy strikes were launched at dawn, to-- gether with more Search planes. After considerable suspense, the enemy force was once more dis- covered, and the attacks quickly closed for the kill. The enemy was caught with the bulk of his planes, according to lapanese practice, on shore at Luzon, the twenty-odd defenders they managed to put up were quickly smothered by our Hellcats. For the rest of the day the groups planes had the unprecedented opportunity of working over an im- portant eenniy force at their leisure. Altogether, they sank three carriers and severely damaged the fourth, sank one cruiser and damaged a cruiser and a battleship. The Lexington's Air Group Com- mander, acting as target coordinator in the after- noon, became the first aviator in any war actually to see three carriers sink at one time. At sunset the groups cruisers were detached to finish off the dam- aged carrier, while the rest turned south, After two more days off the Visayans, the group finally re- turned to Ulithi. THE LEX EORGETS TO DUCK Cn November 5 the ship was hit. Qnce more oft Luzon, she had sent successful strikes over Clark Eield in the morning, and definitely sank a heavy cruiser in Manila Bay. Early in the afternoon, how- ever, a few enemy planes slipped by our fighterg and closed for the attack. At 1:37 PM two Zekes dove out of a heavy cloud cover at the Lexington, One was shot down by her guns, but the other, though on fire, kept on coming, and struck the ship, The whole attack was typical of a new style sui- cide raid. Largely gone were the days when twelve friendly fighters could gloriously wipe out an attack- ing force of twice that number, and so, too, were the long and nerve-wracking night attacks, such as that in which the Lexington had been hit before, Now the attacking planes refused to shoot it out with our defenders. With great skill they made all possible use of available cloud cover, which was heavy at the time- good Kamikaze weather, as the fleet had learned to knowe-in order to evade ou.r fighters. On sighting American planes, they l -gifs: f lf' X Not all war is shooting. The Lexing- ton crosses the line in September and in April. Left: The Royal Barber at work. Right: Running the gqunf- let. Below, left: The Royal Pgny approaches fhprill. Below, right: The Royal Court fSeptemberl. fr 5, ' .. 3 ff-- A

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however, of remaining at General Ouarters all night and again all the next night, was severe. In spite of enemy planes in the area, all launches the next day went off without interference. The japanese, however, brought in reinforcements dur ing the day and that night attacked again. A uhh in another task group was hit, and the force stood by all night to assist her, sending off a further diversionary fighter and bomber sweep before dawn the next day. On the return of this flight retirement began, held back by headwinds and heavy seas. All day enemy scouts kept the force in sight, Early in the afternoon, a single plane made of run on the Lexington and dropped a torpedo in her wake, without success. A short while later, evening chow was dis rupted by the general alarm and the firing of the starboard batteries, The Lexington had once again been the first to spot an incoming attack group, ten or more fills ttorpedo planesi, and she had promptly opened fire at 16,000 yards. Her intense and accurate fire destroyed three of the attacking Iills and assisted in shooting down two others. The attack did only minor damage to another unit in the group. Shortly after, the group's defensive fighters intercepted and wiped out a further flight of eighteen enemy planes. This broke the back of the attack, and the force made good its retirement. TI-IE SECOND BATTLE OF TI-IE PHILIPPINE SEA The force lingered in the north for several days to protect the retirement of her damaged ships, and also in the hope of encountering Iapanese fleet units, reported on the move, Then proceeding south, the Lexington's task group launched a series of strikes on October 21 on Southern Luzon and the Visayans. On the 24th she returned to Luzon. The 24th of October, the first day of the Second Battle of the Philippine Sea, is a day that will per- haps linger longest in the memory of the crew ot the Lexington. Dawn found the task group alone to the east of Luzon, north of the rest of the force. Sub- marines had sighted enemy surface forces to the west of the Philippines on the previous day, and the Lexington now launched five search teams of eight planes each to locate them, while the rest of the group sent strikes over Luzon. At 8:00 AM the radars detected many, many bogeys closing, and all available fighters were launched. From this time on, the group was under constant dive-bombing attack throughout the day from shore-based and carrier-based planes. Most skilful use by Admiral Sherman of the protection of a large rain sguall in the vicinity, together with splendid work by the defending fighters, kept the bulk of the attackers at bay. Isolated planes, how- ever, occasionally broke through, it was in this action that the bomb was dropped on the Princeton which eventually caused her loss through the ex plosion of her own torpedoes ln the midst of this action, a large enemy force was reported in the Sibuyan Sea, and all available planes were immediately dispatched to the attack Though armed only with General Purpose bombs instead of torpedoes, they did considerable damage, the Lexingtons air group hitting a battleship and three cruisers. ln the afternoon the Lexington was ordered to send searches to the northeast of the group, where a second enemy force was suspected. The suspicion was shortly confirmed, when many, many bogeysf were again spotted closing, this time from the north east. Again sterling work by the defending team of fighters and fighter directors on the radar inter cepted and broke up the attack. Although one bomb dropped just off the ships starboard quarter, by 4:00 PM the attacks were concluded without damage. Altogether, the task group's fighters shot Palau burns. Iuly 27. 1944. Lexington planes pay a return visit cmd leave cz calling card. down l50 planes in the Course of the day, Air Group I9 accounting for 63. Even the brilliant action oi the following day came as an anti-climax to the Lexington While all this was going on, one of the search planes sighted the second force to the northeast, reporting it to contain four carriers and a converted battleship, with over a dozen support ships. Con- tact was immediately lost again when enemy planes drove him off. During the night, a night search plane again made contact, only to lose it once more because of operational difficulties.

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1117 scattered and attempted to sift through our de- fenses, bent on just one endha crash dive 0 American carrier. Although five divisions of Ameri- can fighters, or a total of twenty planes, at various times attempted to intercept the raid, estimated to total seven planes, only one attacker was shot down before coming within range of the ship's guns. The final dive was as determined as the approach had been elusive. The first plane was deflected only because the tail was completely shot off by a five- inch shell. The second plane, though seen to shud- der numerous times from the impact of the explosive shells poured into it, and though on the point of disintegration when it struck, held on its course, dropped its bomb, and crashed into the starboard side of the island structure aft. The havoc that followed, though localized and soon brought under control, will never be forgotten by any man aboard. Much of the island was wrecked and numerous guns put out of commission. All of the radars went out temporarily, as well as much other similar equipment, the largest radar antenna was reduced to scrap metal. The list of several communication leads and other electrical connections takes up six single-spaced typewritten pages in the reports. The gasoline explosion from the plane and the bomb blast together started many heavy fires, though prompt work by fire-fighting parties had the blaze under control within twenty minutes. I'1C1l'1 The human damage was more tragic and less reparable. All told, forty-seven officers and men lost their lives as a result of this blow, and 127 more were injured, many seriously. Flash and fire, as - always in these cases, was the chief cause of suffering, while a few lost limbs or suffered frac- tures, and many were struck by fragments, and still others stunned, all were burned. lt was found difficult to care for the wounded in the cramped spaces in which they were caught, and even more so to evacuate them, under combat conditions, to more proper quarters. All hands turned to help, both medical department and others, tending their shipmates and carrying on with their regular duties at the sarne time. Too much cannot be said in praise of the splendid performance of the corpsmen and of all others involved in this arduous task. After the first six hours only two of the patients who were wounded had died, one from intra-cranial injury, the other from third-degree burns involving 90 per cent of the body surface. l-lighest praise was given to the Medical Department of this ship and the personnel who cared for the wounded by the Senior Medical Officer of the hospital' ship, U.S.S. Solace, for the excellent treatment which the in- jured received. The laundry and galley crew worked around the clock to keep sick bay supplied with fresh linens and special foods. ' Incredibly, through all the shock and confusion, the ship continued normal operations. All planes in 1 r' Bogeys on the screen. The intercept officer studies the track of an incoming raid on the plotting table before giving instructions to.the defending fighters. Left to right, seated: Lt. Com. Winston Csince killed on the Franklinj. Whithcrm, Rdm. lfc, Lt. Deaver. Lt. Reed, Lt. flgl Iohnson.