Lexington (CV 16) - Naval Cruise Book

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I am always reluctant to go below during the daytime because I might miss something topside, but now our planes are home, the excitement of the strike over, ship activities are following normal routine, so it seems both safe and expedient to go down to my quarters to replenish stock and equip- ment, number exposed rolls of film, bring notes on the subject matter up ,to date. I While attending to these things, GQ. is suddenly sounded and it is All hands man your battle stations. While the alert gong is still sounding I stuff some film in my pockets . . . Vic dashes in and does the same. Our 5 inch guns begin firing, down here they sound like bomb hits. We grab cameras, head for topside, get there in time to see an immense column of smoke and fiames rising from the water just ahead of us. It begins to sound as if all the guns on the ship are pounding hell out of something we can't even see. Now, luminous tracer bullets are being fired at a plane directly overhead. Down on the Hight deck Buie is waving his arms wildly and yelling some things that even gunfire can,t drown out entirely, his face is livid with fury-we are shooting at one of his planes! I head up to the bridge where I can see in all directions, arrive there in time to see another patch of fire and smoke on the water toward the stern, learn we have just shot down three Kates, Iap torpedo bombers. They came in at us from the starboard side, skimming low over the water about twenty seconds apart. The entire action, from the firing of the first gun to the last shot, took place within ninety seconds. We also shot down one of our own fighter planes, later find out that a destroyer picked up the pilot who was fortunately not hurt. The first warning came at II :57 A.M. when our radar picked up unidentified bogies about IQ miles out, and our combat air patrol over: head was vectored out to intercept them. GQ. was ordered at I2 103-at I2 :04 ship's lookouts visually spotted the first enemy plane at II miles, heading for the Lexington. When he got to 4,500 yards one of our 5 inch batteries opened up and the Kate started to smoke, at 2,500 yards flames began to show, then our 40 mm's opened up, the plane banked, then exploded in fiames and plunged into the water about 300 yards ahead of the Lex. ' S R a L I 2 94l I

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