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'L ,A .I 2 .-. ,. . as' if , ., . .. ..- 1 1. fu--,-:----+::-f-- -- -- ..a,+f-v-.- A --:.,-.-1-.---------- 1-1-- 11 H 1 11 11 1 1 I 1 I1 1 1 11 11 ll 11 11 11 1 1 1 I 1 11 41 1 l 1 1 ll 11 1 l1 1 1 1 1 11 l 1 1 11 i 11 1 1 -1 l I I i 1 ri I 1 5 1 E P l. 1 11 1 11 1 1 Il ,1 1 A Proud Shzlo Today Boosts cz Proud H eritoge It was March, 1776, and another crisis faced the Continental Congress in Philadelphia. The Marine Committee was called into hurried Ses- sion to consider the problem: a British warship was reported cruising in the Delaware Capes area, posing a threat to several vessels which were headed north from St. Eustatia, West Indies with loads of powder for the Continental Army. Robert Morris, Pennsylvania's representative on the Committee stated that 'ca Maryland armed brig now is in Philadelphia and urged the Members to consider buying her immediately and Hsend her to fightn the British warship. The vessel in question was employed by the Maryland Committee of Safety and was current- ly at the docks on the Schuylkill River, unload- ing a cargo of powder she herself had just brought up from St. Eustatia. On March 13, 1776, the Marine Committee notified the Mary- land Committee of Safety they would purchase the ship, under the Act of October 13, 1775, for use by the Continental Navy. The acquisition was a black-hulled, yellow trimmed brig christened Wild Duck, measuring 86 feet in length and having a breadth of 24'6 . She was armed with fourteen 4-pounders, a pair of 6-pounders, and twelve swivels. The ship was immediately turned over to the Philadelphia ship- builders, Wharton and Humphrey for recondi- tioning, and re-named Lexington in honor of the famous battle at that Massachusetts town April 19th of the previous year. Captain John Barry was appointed to her command. On March 24 she was loaded with powder- much of it the same cargo she had brought north - and the following day small arms and cutlas- ses were dispensed to the crew. Early in the morning of March 26 the final crewmembers signed the shipping articles and Lexington got underway with a complement of 109 officers and enlisted men. The initial combat engagement was not long in coming. On April 17, while' cruising off Chesapeake Bay, she encountered the British sloop Edward, a tender to a ship which had been ravaging the, eastern shores of Maryland. The British vessel fought for approximately an hour, killing two American seamen and wound- as 53 QE 1. ,. 5, 5 5 , 1? i F gl T I , Av 1. 2 g. ii la 5 s II 'Q i s E E I . ,- ,.,. ...... ,-.-- ..1!!l...,,,,..... ,.,....:.,., , -mn: . A-N-mu-1-rv-avnummsvna-es-ui.-g..-wx mama-an-rr v sr-e.1.e..-mfg' in-enfniviu. A isa: ur?-flf-'lTTfiffT1fl'5'7g Eff 'TF ' Z' flT1I3zELi51 fZ ITT '?'1 ' f 'ZP ing two more, before surrendering. Captain Barry placed a prize crew aboard his victim, who sailed her back to Philadelphia, while he re- ported that very afternoon to the Marine Com- mittee: HI have the pleasure to acquaint you that at one P.M. this day I fell in with the sloop Edward fof eight gunsj, belonging to the Lz'ver- pool frigate. She engaged us near two glasses. They killed two of our men and wounded two more. We shattered her in a terrible manner, as you will see. We killed and wounded several of her crew .... I have the happiness to acquaint you that all our people behaved with much couragef, Continuing to operate off the coast, Lexington encountered no other enemy ships, and, when provisions ran low on May 5, she slipped past British frigates Roebuck and Liverpool and their tenders to moor again at the Wharton and Humphrey Shipyards for refitting. Three days later the ship's crew was hastily mustered and taken in small boats down the Delaware River to a floating battery. Rumors had reached Phila- delphia that two British frigates in the roadstead were about to force their way up the river to bombard the city, when the assault didn't ma- terialize, however, the crew returned to their ship. On May 20 the ship sailed down the river to Chester, where she joined the 16-gun Continental Brig Reprisal. A week later these two were off Cape May with the sloop Hornet when they spotted the 74-gun British frigate Liverpool in the early morning haze. The British captain was amazed when the American ships hove to, rather than fleeing his mighty warship at first glance. He immediately seized the opportunity to challenge the lighter vessels, ordering his topsails shaken out and his steering sails rigged. However, when Liverpool had closed to about one mile, the Americans ran up all the canvas they could find and headed to- wards the shallower waters off Cape May. Their strategy was to lure their opponent into shallow water where she would run aground, becoming helpless. The frigate's Captain was too wise in his nautical ways to fall for the ruse, however, and he gave up the pursuit when his soundings showed a depth of only four fathoms. 6 With both sides thus frustrated, the American ships sailed on to Cape May and 8.I1ChOICd- Lexington remained 'there until june 6, when she slipped through the blockading British forces and sped southward to warn powder and am- munition ships coming from.Cape Francois of the existence of the blockade. June 29 the armed brig Nancy, enroute to Philadelphia with a cargo of ammunition and stores from the West Indies, was sighted and pursued off the Delaware Capes by half a dozen British warships and their tenders. Lexington and Reprisal came to her assistance and were able to take aboard the most valuable part of Nancy it cargo, including 270 barrels of powder. Nancy was run ashore and grounded, under cover of fog, near Cape May, there her Captain and crew set afire and abandoned her. Several British boats were dispatched in an attempt to seize what was left of the burning prize, but the powder still aboard exploded just as the hapless boarding party took possession of her with three cheersf' ending any hope of salvage. Lexington, meanwhile, not wishing to risk her newly-acquired cargo in a battle, fled to Cape May. In july she sailed for the waters off Ber- muda, but it proved an uneventful cruise during which no enemy vessels were encountered, and she returned to Philadelphia in October. There her original commanding officer, Captain Barry, was relieved by Captain William Hallock. That month the ship was placed at the disposal of the Secret Committee of Congress to carry im- portant dispatches in addition to her other duties. Lexington? initial assignment in this connection came almost immediately, when she departed for Cape Francois on October 23. Misfortune overtook the ship on her return voyage in December, when she encountered the British frigate Pearl and was captured. Officers and some of the crew were removed, and a prize crew from Pearl took command. Their conquest was short-lived, however, for the captive sailors overpowered their guards that very night. Upon assuming control they hauled down the Union jack, hoisted the colors of the Continental Navy, and sailed to Baltimore, Maryland. There she was refitted and placed under the command of Captain Henry Johnson. On February 27, 1777 Lexington sailed from Baltimore toward Europe, having been assigned the mission of harassing British commercial ves- sels there. She arrived in Bordeaux, France on April 3, having captured two small British ships while making the crossing. A squadron was formed with Reprisal and Dolohin at the mouth of the Loire River on May 26th, and two days later the trio sailed from St. Nazaire. Captain Lambert Wickes, commanding officer of both Relorisal and the entire expedition, issued orders for the ships not to separate . . .unless we should be Chased by a Vessel of Superior Force 8: it should be Necessary to do so for our own preservation. His instructions dealing with the capture of ships included the admoni- tion: 'GThe Prize Master must not Report or Enter her as Prize, but as An American Vessel from a port that will be most likely to gain Credit according to the Cargo she may have on board .... Be Very Attentive to your Signals and if you should be taken, you must take Care to Destroy them .... Take care to have all the Prisoners properly Secured, to prevent their Rising 8: taking your Vessel .... '7 Proceeding through the Irish Channel from the south, and after passing through the north chan- nel, they arrived at a point in the Irish Sea op- posite the ports of Glasgow and Greenock-in a position to intercept both coastal and inter-ocean commerce. Rewards were not long in coming. On june 19 the squadron captured two brigs and two sloops off the north coast of Ireland. Following addi- tional successes the next day, Captain Wickes reasoned that word of the attacks might be reach- ing the British Admiralty, and ordered the three ships south along the coast of Ireland. Their plundering continued, and by june -25 the score showed nine brigs, two ships and seven other vessels had been captured. Eight of the eighteen prizes were sent into French ports, seven more sunk, one was used to allow prisoners from all the ships to return to England and one was re- tained as a tender. The final vessel stopped had been a smuggler, and was allowed to pass. Lexington reached Morlaix, France on june 278 - only to be restrained there by the authoritiesg France had been threatened with dire conse- quences by the British if they allowed American vessels to sail from their ports to prey on Eng- lish commerce. The ship was ordered detained until proper assurances could be given that she would head straight for America. It was Septem- ber 17 before she was finally permitted to sail, and two days later she engaged the British cutter Alert, boasting only 10 guns. Exceedingly rough weather made a pitched battle impossible, although Lexington managed to shoot off her rival's sails. Her ammunition exhausted, the American ship broke off hostilities and headed back towards France. The cutter, however, perhaps realizing A black-lzulleal yellow-trimmed brig named Wild Duck became the first Lex- ington, propergz of the Continental N avy, in I 7 7 6 Alternatebf running the British blockade and fighting gallantbz on her own of the Middle Atlantic Colonies, she continualbz hustrated her would-be opponents. Boarded and cap- tured on one occasion, her crew imme- diatebz regained control and sailed her to sajegz in Baltimore. Lexington .9 plight rigged some emergency sails and gave chase. Defenseless under the new at- tack, unable to outmaneuver and escape, and with seven men killed and eleven wounded, Cap- tain Johnson struck his colors. Reporting the conquest, British Lieutenant Bazeley stated: HI gave chace at five in the Yard Portsmouth Virginia in November. on May 31, 1831 she was returned to active duty under the command of Master Commandant Silas M. Duncan. She proceeded to Sao Paulo, Brazil, and joined the South Atlantic Squadron. Master Commandant Isaac McKeever took com- mand on August 16, 1832. Four years later the L . ......... , , . B-unvimsu mv:-vBrviil411! ':- IS??'1'Y'.i '7 'fm-1'1 - - ' '1-v nnv -msq'xx-m 's-n - 4 -mv v vi ' .4 ,.. --.L ...... ..- i... .. . 2 ' ' 7 7 7 . Morning and came up with him at half past seven, had a close Engagement till ten, when He bore up and made Sail, as soon as I got my Rigging to rights, again gave Chace Qsicj and came up with him at half past one, renewed the Action till half past two, when he Struck. A British prize crew was quickly placed aboard and sailed the ship to England. The first Ameri- can ship Lexington, therefore, had its short but proud history draw to a finale. Authorized by an Act of Congress on March 3, 1825, the second U. S. vessel to wear the name Lexington was an 18-gun Sloop-of-War. Con- structed at the New York Navy Yard for a cost of 3112,128, her vital statistics included: Length ............. 127 feet Breadth . . . . 33 feet, 6 inches Draft .............. 16 feet, 6 inches Gross weight ......... 691 tons Her complement was 190 officers and men, and her 18-gun title was somewhat of a mis- nomer-armament consisted of twenty-four me- dium 24-pounders. The new warship was launched March 9, 1826 and commissioned june 11 of the same year, sailing under the com- mand of Master Commandant William B. Shu- brick. Her initial mission was to protect Ameri- can fishing vessels off the coast of Labrador. Upon her return to the United States the ship was dispatched to Trinidad to bring back the remains of Commodore Oliver H. Perry who had died there in 1819. In 1827 she was sent to the Mediterranean where she cruised for three years under the com- mands of Master Commandant B. W. Booth fApril 28, 1827 -july 20, 182811, Master Com- mandant S. L. Breeze Uuly 20, 1828 -August 182811, Master Commandant William M. Hunter QOctober 2, 1828 - November 1830j. Returning to the United States in 1830, Lexing- ton was laid up in ordinary at the Norfolk Navy 8 vessel was sent to the Pacific Coast of the United States to protect American commerce. Returning to the east coast, Lexington was con- verted into a store ship and her armament of 24 medium 24-pounders was taken off to be replaced by six 32-pounder carronades. In April 1843 the Sloop-of-War was sent to the Mediterranean where she remained for several years before being sent via the Suez Canal to the Pacific Squadron. During the War with Mexico 11846 - 1848j Lexington, under the command of Lieutenant Theodorus Bailey, operated along the coast of California transporting troops for the U. S. Army and assisting in the blockade of Mexican ships in California ports. On january 12, 1848 a naval force was landed at San Blas and after attacking the Mexican fortifications, drove off the defenders and captured the guns. She returned to the east coast in the early 1850's and sailed from New York on june 18, 1853 under the command of Lieutenant Johnj. Glasson. After joining CommodorePMatthew C. Perry's famous expedition to Japan, Lexington remained in far eastern waters for two years. Closing out her naval service, shereturned to New York City and was decommissioned Febru- ary 26, 1855 and subsequently was disposed of by sale. In june, 1861 Commodore john Rogers purchased a ship for the War Department which was to bear the name Lexington, but which was radically different from either her two predeces- sors or those to follow. It was a side-wheel steamer, drawing only six feet of water, which had been built at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania the previous year, and had made two runs from that city to New Orleans. Described as a splendid, three-tiered wedding cake of thin white pine topped with usual carved woodworkf, she was purchased at Cincinnati, bf iq Assigned to harass British shipping of the very coast of the island Empire in I 77 Z the Continental Brig Lexington assisted in the capture or destruction of numerous enemy vessels, until her am- munition exhausteai she was captured ojj' the French coast following a fierce battle. 'Y 55+ -xveaud-rinuzmzmramhwssawnunv-remain wnmmnmmeenm-mmmn: Ohio for l1320,666, and naturally required a con- siderable amount of refitting for naval service. The conversion to a gunboat was accomplished by cutting her down to one deck, raising per- pendicular oak bulwarks around the sides as a defense against musketry, dropping the boilers into the hold, and placing the steam pipes as low as possible. She was armed with four 8-inch smoothbores and a pair of 32-pounders fone of the latter was later replaced by two 30-pounder Parrott rifles, and by 1864 she had also been armed with two additional 8-inch guns.j Commander Roger N. Stembel was assigned as first captain of Lexington, he commanded a vessel 177 feet 7 inches in length, having a breadth of 36 feet, 10 inches, weighing 448 tons, and boasting a speed of 7 knots. Furthermore, his officers were all army men! At Cairo, Illi- nois on August 12, she was assigned to duty with the Western Flotilla, an Army organization whose ships were paid for and controlled by the Army and staffed completely by Army officers and enlisted men-except for the Commanding Officer who was appointed by the Secretary of the Navy. Later, after much friction, between the Army and Navy-each wanted control of the river-going forces, but the Army didn't want to man them-naval officers and men took over the gunboats. This gunboat, along with a pair of other timberclads, Tyler and Conestoga, was placed at the disposal of General Grant and assigned to aid Union forces in maintaining control of the environ lands along the Ohio, Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers. During the organization of the main Union ironclad fleet she and Tyler were used to support Union Army movements and disperse possible concentrations of Confed- erate sympathizers. In this capacity Lexington supported Grant's movements against Paducah, Kentucky, where she seized the steamer W B. Perry on August 22. On September 4 Lexington briefly exchanged fire with Confederate Gunboat jackson Qformer- ly the old towboat Yankeej, but was forced to break off the engagement because of a depleted powder supply and because half the gun tackles for the cannons were not in working condition The same day shots were traded with the bat- teries at Hickman and Columbus, Kentucky. In company with another timberclad, Lexing- ton covered the advance of Grant's Army on Norfolk, Mississippi. This was accomplished by the ships steaming down the river, lobbing shells ahead of the advancing troops-much in the manner of gunfire support ships' shore bom- bardments in conjunction with amphibious land- ings or beach head attacks in modern warfare. The next day, as the town had fallen, the Union vessels engaged the batteries near Lucas Bend and attacked enemy ships in the river. jackson and a steamer took refuge under the potent Con- federate shore batteries which prevented their capture, but one vessel was severely damaged when one of Lexingtonis 8-inch guns dropped a 15-second time-fused shell into the starboard wheelhouse. The next assignment proved an uneventful one - standing guard in the Ohio River for ten days in support of an expedition to Owensboro, Ken- tucky. Returning to harassment duty in the Mis- sissippi, Lexington again engaged the batteries at Columbus on October 7. Exactly a month later she joined with gunboat Tyler to protect General Grantls Army transports during the bat- tle of Belmont, Missouri. When the reinforced Confederates, supported by fresh artillery, sud- denly launched an attack on the troop trans- ports, the two ships moved in close to shore and opened up a withering fusillade of grape, canis- ter and 5-second shells. The land-based guns could not depress quickly enough to fire on the gunboats, and the Confederates were routed with heavy casualties. The effectiveness of the timber- clads in this engagement reportedly gave Grant a high idea of the powers of floating artillery. The beginning of 1862 saw Lieutenant james W. Shirk take over as commanding officer. january was spent primarily in operations in the Tennessee, and on February 6 Lexz'ngton joined the Union flotilla for the attack on Fort Henry. There were seven Union warships in the river for the attack-three ironclads, the super-ironclad Essex and the trio of timberclads Tyler Cones toga and Lexington The morning was dark and threatening with the river running high after 10 - - '.2i,-++r,:x::guLg44a,+,:::,g.1:ggr.rr-2.'3i1'11f 'tQi6? ' -'- ----.:: 1.55 .2 heavy rains. The stream was filled with drifting trees and a number of large white objects that looked like polar bears but were in actuality rebel contact torpedoes fcomparable to today's mines, torn from their moorings by the flood. The ships arrived in position at 11:35 a.m., when the ironclad Cincinnati opened the battle with the initial shot. A furious exchange of fire from both sides quickly followed, and several of the ships took a terrific pounding before the Fort struck her colors under the bruising bombard- ment. The fight was of rather brief duration and im- mediately upon its conclusion Flag Officer Andrew Foote dispatched his three timberclads up the Tennessee. They cruised right through the heart of the Confederate states to Alabama and at Cerro Gordo, Tennessee, captured the steamer Eastioort, which was being refitted as an ironclad ram, and two other Steamers. In addi- tion, the rebel forces were forced to burn six Steamers loaded with supplies to prevent their capture. After repairs at Carondelet, Missouri, Lexz'ng- ton and her fellow gunboat Tyler were taken up the Tennessee by Navy Lieutenant William Gwin to attack a rebel outpost at Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee. On March 1, 1862, Lexington and Tyler easily dislodged the Confederate artillery and infantry from the landing to permit the Army transports to land troops. At daybreak on April 6 the Confederates launched a tremendous counter-attack which bent the Union center and started swinging the left flank back into the river. The two gunboats moved in close to shore-so that their keels were almost on the river's bottom - and with double charges of grape and a short amount of powder fired into the charging South- ern ranks. After ten minutes of firing by the gun- boats the carnage and destruction was so terrible that the Southern ranks broke and scattered in a disorderly rout. Upon seeing their comrades fleeing in panic, and assuming the Union forces had launched a counter-attack, Rebel forces in other sectors broke off the attack and also fled. Lexington and Tyler were thus credited with pre- venting certain Union defeat. The Army reports to the War Department were so laudatory in their comments on the service rendered by the two gunboats that on April 19, 1862 Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles pen- ned a special letter to the Commanding Officers of the vessels commanding them and their crews for the sterling performance and ability in combat. Remaining in the Tennessee River until May when they were forced to the riverls mouth be- cause of the low stage of water, Lexington and Tyler proceeded to Cairo, Illinois to take on stores and ammunition. At the Naval Base Lex supplemented her armament with two rifled 30- pounders and then proceeded to join the main Mississippi Squadron in its attack on FortPillow. Moving down the Mississippi and into the White River with several other gunboats in mid- June, Lexington scored direct hits june 17 to si- lence the batteries at St. Charles, Arkansas, which had been thwarting the vessels' progress. After landing some embarked Indiana volun- teers to occupy the fortification, she pushed sixty- three miles further up the River, before turning back. On july 16, 1862 Congress passed an Act changing the name of the Western Flotilla to the Mississippi Squadron and turning the ships over to the Navy. During the fall Lexington was detailed to escort Army transports on the Mississippi, offering them protection from the guerilla bands which were roaming the river banks. When the autum- nal rains started falling in November, the streams were full enough once again for active operations and Lexington joined in the force at- tempting to ford the Yazoo River and land an infantry force to attack Vicksburg from the rear. The expedition got underway on December 12, with the Lex and several other light-draft gun- boats in the van of the column. The presence of torpedoes was soon discovered and the work of taking them up was extremely hazardous be- cause of the Confederate sharpshooters who were concealed behind the levees. At Haynes, Bluff further progress was halted by the Southern forts which lined the heights. Lexington and her sister ships, along with two ironclads, shelled the forts, but without success. The river's shallow draft and the possibility of 11 9--1531 7' 4.-.gzrzzrzzir-.1 -N .f.::.:::1L ? l.-l air:-.-:rv i f-:::fr-.kgif jig -7 r '--- -'-' 'A it ...... ...L K1-1-umm mu:-mq-n-munfvf 'rw 'V-11-4+ 'L :ggvw xtillinvdsindylilhv . . i r f m .,.L .-. -+-HLAC, Mgt, -L-1. - -. .. I il 1, 1 I! is H Q. li ii l 1 O ii ,, EE ll l l 1 K.. I P torpedoes prevented more than one ship from raking the fortifications at one time. A land force which attempted to dislodge the Confed- erates also failed. On December 29 the expedi- tion was given up as a failure and the ships re- turned to the Mississippi. The combined land and naval forces were then directed to proceed to the Arkansas River and at- tack Fort Hindman. The gunboat's bombard- ment, followed by the Army's assault, led to its surrender on january 11, 1863. Lexington was next detailed for duty on the Cumberland River. Although it was determined that there were no Confederate Navy ships there, the fact that its banks were infested with bands of guerillas and regular Confederate Army troops who harassed Union ship movements made necessary the presence of combat ships. Lieutenant Commander S. Ledyard Phelps as- sumed command in late january and took the gunboat up the river. Upon meeting a transport that had been fired upon some twenty miles above Clarksville, Lexington immediately steam- ed for the area and landed a naval force which burned a storehouse being used as an ammuni- tion depot by the guerillas. On the way down after the venture, the ship was suddenly taken under fire by three concealed Confederate field pieces and was struck three times. ' The first week in February another officer had been placed in command of the timberclad, Lieu- tenant Commander LeRoy Fitch, and while con- voying a fleet of Army transports he received word that Colonel Harding, commandant of the post at Dover, had been attacked. Lexington built up full steam and led five other light-draft gunboats to the scene. They arrived just in time, finding the Union forces surrounded, outnumber- ed and out of ammunition. As the troops fled towards the river bank, their closely pursuing attackers were suddenly met with an unexpected hail of grape shot from the vessels on the river The tide was dramatically turned 1n short order with the 4 500 man Confederate force routed leaving behind 120 dead A somewhat less glorious episode in Fitch s career occurred in April Upon hearing that a fleet of unarmed transports had been attacked at Palmyra, he joined with other ships in proceed- ing to the site, which was Hlaid to ashes for harboring Confederates which would fire on un- armed transportsf' An accompanying landing force also ferreted out the enemy soldiers actual- ly guilty of the attack, killing or wounding the majority. In April Lexington assisted General Grant and Colonel Webster in getting out of a tight situa- tion near Pittsburg Landing with a gunfire sup- port operation, and on june 7 she and gunboat Ckoctaw saved another Union garrison from al- most certain annihilation by their timely arrival at Millikenis Bend, Louisiana. On August 13, 1863 Lexington left Clarendon, Arkansas, and steamed up the White River in company with gunboats Cricket and Marmora. The same day the expedition, under command of Lieutenant George M. Bache aboard Lexington, burned a large warehouse and destroyed the telegraph at Des Arc. The next morning the gun- boats arrived off the mouth of the Little Red River and Cricket was sent up that stream in search of the Confederate steamers Tom Sugg and Kaskaskia. Lexington proceeded some thirty miles farther to Augusta where she accom- plished one object of the expedition by confirm- ing information that the grand Southern Army was concentrating at Brownsville, intending to make their line of defense on Bayou Meto. She then pushed down stream again and went up the Little Red River to meet Cricket which was return- ing with the Confederate steamers she had cap- tured at Searcy. For 250 miles on the White River and forty miles on the Little Red River, the gunboats were harassed with small arms fire from Rebel soldiers, although the damage inflict- ed was negligible. Lexington returned to Claren- don with other vessels of the expedition on Au- gust 16 and was later sent to Cairo, Illinois, for repairs. The first week in March 1864 Lexington ac companied an expedition up the Black and Wa shita Rivers where the Confederates about 2 000 strong were driven from point to point Fire from the vessels inflicted severe damage at Trinity and Harrisonburg and three heavy 32 pounder guns and all cotton found near the river Q . . . . . u .I . , , U - e 7 - 0 3. - 9 . l a 9 I ' af . ' . . ' - - - 9 . . lil K gg I o n o a . I tl gr 12 !Q F E banks were captured. On March 7 Lexington rendezvoused with Rear Admiral David D. Porter's fleet of twenty ironclads and gunboats at the mouth of the Red River, where four days later they were joined by some 10,999 soldiers in transport vessels, under the command of Brigadier General A. Smith. On March 12 the gunboats started up the river, followed by the transports of the Red River Expedition. The Confederate defenders were driven off at Simmes- port and General Smith's troops marched on Fort De Russy, Louisiana, which was taken by the combined land and naval forces on March 14. Lexington with the gunboat Ouachita, and followed by Eastbort, pushed on to Alexandria, Louisiana, arriving just too late to capture six steamers which had succeeded in getting over the falls. The Army transports arrived the next day and troops were landed to occupy the town. The cooperation of the gunboats were deemed so essential to the Army movements planned against Shreveport that unusual exertions and risks were undertaken to get them over the falls above Alexandria. Camels were placed along- side Lexingtonis hull and she was hauled over ,I 1 z 4 1. ff f r the rapids, other gunboats and a fleet of trans- ports followed. Grand Ecore, Louisiana, was occupied by Union forces without opposition, and on April 7 Lex and five other light-draft gunboats steamed for Shreveport as convoy for twenty transports carrying a part of General Smith's Army and army stores. It was intended that the fleet link with the ,main body of the Union Army at Springfield, but upon reaching that landing the gunboats received word that the land forces were falling back towards Grand The Lexington ofthe Civil Wan a 'tim- berclad gunboat was actualhz a very 6ff6ClZ'U6 weapon, cruising up and down the Illississzppihring upon Rebel posi- tions. Capable of onbz seven knots, she nevertheless played an important role in General Grantis River campaigns, her shallow draft enabled her to stearn close to the river's banks, under the guns of the fortresses, and rake Con- kderate positions with grape and canis- ter shot. . . .......... ., . - - gm'-FF'-Srfrww-. -vw' ' T' -.neva-.-nsxhimeemrfzizu - -0-----f-2' ' V - - f '1 g ' mm-w .mrs wpuunzmeamwv--qemmm-dnmnxvusrmm Ecore. 'The gunboats, therefore, had little choice but to return down river since they would have no infantry to dislodge the Confederate batteries which could be mounted on the river banks. On the return voyage they were constantly taken under fire by the enemy from every assailable shore point. In addition, the speed required to maintain steering control in the hazardous cur- rent of the narrow, winding river increased the danger. Many of the vessels hit floating logs, there were several collisions and a few ran aground. Near Blairis Plantation on April 12 the fleet was attacked from the rear by three pieces of Confederate artillery and two brigades of dis- mounted cavalry, numbering more than 1,500 men, who nearly succeeded in cutting off the ex- pedition. During the morning Lexington collided with the transport Rob Roy, resulting in damage to the gunboat's chimneys, it also caved in her Wheelhouse, and she was forced to lay to awhile for repairs. When the ironclad Osage, protecting the trans- port Aliee Vivian was attacked bynthis force, Lexington steamed past all the vessels of the fleet to her assistance. Lieutenant Bache later widen- ed the distance between the two gunboats, open- ing a deadly crossfire on the Confederates and quickly knocking over two artillery pieces they had brought up. Force after force of Confed- erates stormed the edge of the river bank to con- front the guns of the two vessels and Lex, in her maneuvers to destroy the Confederate artillery, passed under the musketry fire of some 1,500 men at a distance of twenty feet. The effective crossfire soon decided the extraordinary fight between infantry and gunboats, however, as the Confederates, blitzed by canister shot, finally fled in haste, leaving the space of a mile covered with dead and wounded. Upon reaching Grand Ecore the fleet was greet- ed with new difficulties. The Red River, normally high until late june, had fallen so much that the gunboats could not pass over the rapids, it seem- ed that the better part of the Mississippi Squad- ron was doomed to destruction as the Union Army made plans for evacuation. Lieutenant Colonel joseph Baily, acting engineer of the 14 Nineteenth Army Corps, proposed a daring plan for building a series of dams across the rocks of the falls and raising the water. A center opening would let the ships ride out on the crest ofthe water. On May 8, 1864 the dam had nearly reached completion but the pressure of the water became so great that it swept away two stone barges which swung in below the dam on one side. Seeing this accident, Admiral Porter jumped on a horse and rode to where the upper vessels were anchored, he ordered Lexington to make an at- tempt to pass the upper falls. Lieutenant Bache succeeded in getting her over the upper falls, then steered directly for the open- ing in the dam where the boiling waters threaten- ed her destruction. The gunboat 'cshot the gap in the dam under a full head of steam, rolled nearly to her beam ends, touched a rock, and finally plunged safely into the deep water below. Thirty thousand men on the banks cheered lustily at the success, and turned their eyes to the next vessel ready to attempt the perilous run. Neoslio started down, but her pilot lost his nerve at the breach and shut off steam, the ship was thus thrown sideways, knocking a hole in the bottom. Three more got through, however, before the water level dropped too far for others to pass. The labor corps fell to work again and three days later the remainder of the vessels had passed through, marking the saving of a Union Fleet valued at nearly two million dollars. On june 15, 1864 Lexington seized the Confed- erate steamers Mattie, M Walt and R. E. Hi!! with their cargoes of cotton at Buelah Landing, Mississippi. A week later, in one of her last sig- nificant acts of the War, she repulsed an attack on White River Station, Arkansas. The gunboat continued in service through the end of hostilities in April, 1865, however, serving as patrol vessel and convoy escort in the river campaign. She finally arrived at Mound City, Illinois on june 5, 1865, and with her military function as a gunboat no longer required, Lexing- ton was placed out of commission there july 2. On August 17 she was sold to Thomas Scott for 36,000 On August 29, 1916 a three-year building program was authorized for the construction of six battle cruisers. One of those, scheduled to be christened Constitution, had a contract for her hull and machinery signed April 20, 1917, al- though was not started immediately. December 10 of that year, the name of the proposed ship was changed to Lexington and her keel was final- ly laid at the Fore River Shipbuilding Company, Quincy, Massachusetts january 8, 1921. Construction was approximately one-third complete at the time of the Limitation of Arma- ment Conference in Washington early the follow- ing year. Building was suspended February 8 in accordance with this treaty's provisions for curbing naval armaments. On july 1, however, conversion of Lexington was authorized by Con- gress, and work on the ship resumed twelve days later. The makeshift pioneer carrier Langley partici- pated in maneuvers early in 1925, and her show- ing was so impressive that the first regularly designed flattops, Saratoga and Lexington were rushed to completion. The latter was launched October 3 of the same year, under the sponsor- ship of Mrs. Theodore Douglas Robinson, wife of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy. Designated CV-2, the United States' second aircraft carrier was placed in commission Decem- The United States Navy contracted for hah' a dozen battle cruisers during World War L but as one of them, Lex- ington, was being constructed in the post-war period the Limitation ofArma- ment Conference ensued and plans had to he changed The vessel instead be- came C V-.2 one of our earliest aircrah carriers. When commissioned in 1922 she was the heaviest ship ever launched ber 14, 1927 under Captain Albert W. Marshall, USN. At the time of launching, Lexington was the heaviest ship ever to hit the water, and be- cause her characteristics were unique for an American vessel at that time, perhaps they bear mentioning. She was 888 feet long, with a flight deck extending 900 feet-over the entire top of the ship from stem to stern and free of all ob- structions with the exception of the 6'island on the starboard side. This island contained a massive combined funnel enclosure, masts, up- takes, turrets and the superstructure. To make up for the preponderance of weight on the star- board side, quantities of oil, gasoline and water were carried on the port side, with sea water be- 15 am+nmewmmmvuwmans-msx pgpp, ,U ffm ., -2'- ' ing substituted as ballast when fuel or aviation gas was consumed. The ship had a beam of 106 feet, a mean draft of 24 feet, 1-1 X2 inches, and a standard displace- ment of 33,000 tons Qfull load displacement- 41,000 tons.j Armament was eight 8-inch 55 caliber breach-loading rifles, twelve 5-inch 25 caliber antiaircraft guns and four 6-pounder saluting guns. The carrier's interior was also unique for an American warship. There were storage places for aircraft as well as cranes and elevators to hoist them to the flight deck. The crew 's quarters were on the deck beneath the flight deck, the hangar deck was just below that, thus being protected by two upper decks. More than 600 compartments Qincluding accommodations for 195 officers and 1,927 enlisted menj divided the interior of the vessel and there were eight decks from the hold to the flight deck forward of the hangar deck. Designed horsepower was 180,000, propulsion apparatus being comprised of four 33,200 kilo- watt turbine generator sets. These were operated by steam from sixteen oil-fired boilers. Trial speed was 34.24 knots. Following commissioning Lexington proceeded to Hampton Roads, Virginia, where aircraft and aviation personnel were embarked. After fitting out was completed, and preliminary shakedown operations held, she steamed to the west coast to join the Battle Fleet at San Pedro, California, ar- riving April 7, 1928. Two months later, on a run from San Pedro to Honolulu, she broke the 24-hour steaming record three days in succes- sion. Other marks established on the voyage were for miles steamed in three consecutive days, and time for the passage-74 hours and 34 minutes to travel the 2,228 nautical miles. If the Navy and the general public were im- pressed by these feats, there were those who doubted the wisdom of maintaining such large warships. Representative Fiorello H. LaGuardia of New York was quoted by the pressin 1929 as describing Lexington and sister ship Saratoga QCV-31 as Ha 390,000,000 blunder, and add- ing, 'fLocation of either ship by the enemy would not only put the ship out of commission, but would mean the destruction of itslarge personnel, all its planes and its purpose. CTheyj should be de-commissioned because of their ineffici- ency. . . Looking gigantic during construction, below, Lexington had a flight dech ex- tending over 800 jhet. She drew nearhz 25 het of water Above, right, she churns through the water with her hi- planes clustered forward while below, one of them, an earbz Boeing jighten tal-ces off' aher a fast run down the flight declc. reg-A'-f --f---1-Y., m,+ef:f4n'fa, '4 jfuwfymh , 4, MN f f f W Af 2 f f 1 X N: y 'V , 1 , . .,',.,,f1m..N,..... Q Q Q Q f w ' . 1 , v v wc-4 ef vmvw Later that year, almost as if to prove her added worth against such charges, Lexington was dis- patched by the Secretary of the Navy to the city of Tacoma, Washington, which was suffering a severe power shortage due to a low water supply. Arriving there December 17, she kept the fires in her boilers going exactly a month supplying electric current to the city, 4,251,160 k.w.h. were delivered, and the city was subsequently billed by the Navy. A metropolitan crisis was averted by this unus- ual role and the ship was free to steam south for operations at sea off San Diego with Langley and Saratoga. After a brief stop in that port, and upon completion of a minor battle problem on February 14, CV-2 sailed with the Battle Fleet for Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Operating from this base, the ship conducted maneuvers with the Army in the Canal Zone. Upon completion of this assignment Lexzngton proceeded to Norfolk Navy Yard to serve as a 18 public exhibit, following several weeks in that capacity she steamed back to the west coast to rejoin the Fleet there. Again in Guantanamo the next spring, she was available for extensive relief operations when a severe earthquake struck Nicaragua. Leaving the Cuban base on April 1, 1931 she steamed toward the distressed nation, sending off her planes on a continuous mercy mission supplying medicine and food, as well as transporting doctors, until the emergency was over. That year the annualspring exercises - involv- ing Langley, Saratoga, Lexington and other fleet units-were staged in Panama Bay. The follow- ing years they were conducted in the Pacific Q1932Q, between Hawaii and the West Coast Q1933j, on both sides of the Panama Canal Q1934j, in the triangle of Hawaii,the Aleutians and Puget Sound 1935 , the Pacific side of Panama 1936i and in the Hawaiian area 419375 C D . . . 7 . C , - .. CV-219 Marine Deiachrnentforrns an' of the island under two of her 8 55 tur- reis. Right, during the 193019 Lexing- ton, Ranger and other U S. carriers rendezvoused each spring for combined exercises. Resting at anchon below, the HLady Lex sei several speed and en- durance records during herjirsi decade ofservice. , i ,, Y ,, .. - ,Y... 2... .W .f T: mA,,,,,,,,.-ff, ,, ,.-,::T. Q, - ... .. - -- . Www-mwnuwmmjwmr-nmwmmmmwsme W..... . 'm R '1 ' When the famed woman flier Amelia Earhart disappeared crossing the Pacific in july of 1937, Lexingtonis' aircraft joined in the fruitless search for many days until such operations were reluc- tantly called off and the heroine given up for lost. The next three years the aircraft carrier partici- pated in major fleet operations in the Hawaiian, Caribbean and Northeastern Pacific regions re- spectively. Captain Frederick C. Sherman as- sumed command Iune 13, 1940. The fateful japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Sunday, December 7, 1941 was indeed a HDay of Infamyw against the United States and her Pacific Fleet in particular. Countless words have been written on how much was known of japan7s intentions and devoted to speculations of how a key warning made or heeded in any number of quarters could have averted orlimited the disaster. However, the fact remains that the japanese assault dia' come offwith a marked suc- cess and the United States could only be grateful that her aircraft carriers were not in port on the fateful morning. Enterprise was returning from Wake Island where she had delivered Marine Corps fighter pfanesg Saratoga had left Pearl Harbor for up- keep and repairs on the west coastg and Lexing- ton, on December 5, had departed as the center of a Task Force under Rear Admiral Newton to deliver 25 scout bombers to Midway Island. The absence of these vessels was described by Naval Historian Samuel Eliot Morison as Ha slight concession that the god of battles made to us .... 'L At sea, when the message, Hostilities with japan commenced with air raid on Pearl, was received aboard Lexington, she immediately dis- patched search planes to hunt for the enemy fleet. At mid-morning she headed south to rendezvous with the Indianapolis and Enterprise Task Forces to conduct search operations. Unfortunately, an incorrect radar fix had placed the retreating apanese Fleet to the south of the Hawaiian Is lands nearly 180 degrees in error so an un successful search was conducted southwest of Oahu Island until December 13 when these Task Forces returned to Pearl Harbor The next day Lexington set out on her first 20 offensive assignment of the conflict- a raid against japanese forces on Ialuit Island- a di- versionary tactic to enable the Saratoga Force to relieve Wake. On the 20th, however, with hope of a surprise attack slim, Lexington was diverted to support Saratogag when the latter ship delay- ed to refuel two days later, the japanese forces seized Wake without naval opposition December 23. Both carrier forces returned to Pearl Harbor December 27 without having engaged enemy naval units. Saratoga was operating about five hundred miles southwest of Oahu when she was torpedoed by a japanese submarine on january 12, 1942. She stayed afloat and made it back to Pearl with three firerooms flooded. Throughout the initial month of 1942 Lexing- ton conducted patrols in the Oahu-Johnston Palmyra triangle to preventpossible enemy raids. On january 23 she was unsuccessfully attacked by a submarine 135 miles west of Oahu. In February she departed from Pearl Harbor as flagship of Vice Admiral Wilson Brown's Task Force Eleven, and after covering the retirement and refueling of the Enterprise and Yorktown Task Forces from the Marshall Islands she j oin- ed the Anzac Force in the Southwest Pacific. February 16 TF-11 turned north-northwest in preparation for an attack on Rabaul the 21st. Plans called for an air strike first, and, if this proved successful, a follow-up bombardment by the cruiser Pensacola and a pair of destroyers against Rabaul anchorage would take place. The day before, however, a pair of Japanese flying boats on patrol spotted the U. S. ships, and even though they were both shot down by Lexington aircraft, they managed to radio a re- port to their base. QOther accounts indicate there may have been three reconnaissance planes, one escaping to broadcast the alarm.j Two flights of nine bombers arrived on the scene that after- noon to avenge their fallen mates' the first were met with a potent Combat Air Patrol from CV 2 which shot down five of the attackers on the way in and three of the remainder as they attempted to flee after unsuccessful bombing runs The second flight however approached from the east while all but two of the CAP were pursuing the original attackers One of the two defenders . , 0 , J .. - I . - 7 - - - ' a D . I .D U 9 Qthe other had his guns jammed Q, was Lieutenant E. H. MButchH O'Hare who interposed his plane between the enemy and the Task Force, shooting down five- an act which was later to gain him the Medal of Honor. Lexington maneuvered radically under the attack from the remaining planes, shooting down one and causing all bombs to miss astern. The final three were de- stroyed by the returning Wildcats ofthe Combat Air Patrol. The aircraft carrier emerged unscath- ed, with the loss of only two planes, and the com- manding officer, Captain Sherman, was subse- quently awarded the Navy Cross for this action Lexington returned to the Coral Sea for offen- Eoery tbree years brought fleet opera- tions to the Hawaiian area. Here Lex- ington is between Saratoga anctRanger. In spite ofsz'rnz'tan'Q1 ofloroj?tes between Saratoga ana' Lex, Naoymen could at- zuays zdentzyjz the forrner by strzloe down ber stack. ji!! Z:l!!iiY sive patrol until March 6 when she rendezvoused with Yorktown QTF-17D and steamed again for New Guinea. The following day word was re- ceived that the japanese had landed at Lae and Salamaua, and the ships immediately swung to- wards the Bismarck Sea to counter this move. In a surprise raid on March IO, Lexzngtonis Air Group struck at enemy shipping andinstallations in the area of the landings, sinking a minesweep- er, a transport and light cruiser K ongo Maru in addition to damaging several other vessels. No aircraft was lost, and the U. S. ships weren't even located by the enemy, Lexington immediately re- turned to Pearl Harbor, arriving March 26. Five days later Rear Admiral Aubrey W. Fitch relieved Vice Admiral Brown as Commander, TF-11. In mid-April, following a brief upkeep period, GV-2 departed Pearl Harbor, rendezvousing with TF-17 southwest of the New Hebrides Islands May 1. Yorktown and Lexington forces were refueling when word came on May 2 that the enemy on New Guinea were mustering for a drive on Port Moresby. Rear Admiral F. J. Fletcher ordered Admiral Fitch to complete his fueling while en- route to the middle of the Coral Sea, where an air search would be conducted. A rendezvous between TF-II and Admiral Fletcher's TF-17was scheduled for the 4th, but the night before a re- port was received that the japanese were landing on Florida Island. Yorktown immediately steam- ed in that direction, and on the 4th launched a 22 blistering strike against the invasion fleet in and around Tulagi Harbor. She joined up with Lexington again on the 5th, however, making Task Force 17 a two-carrier group with Rear Admiral Fletcher in tactical command. Alert Naval intelligence had realized as early as April 17 there would be a heavy concentration of japanese strength in the Coral Sea around this time, and therefore, according to historian Mori- son U .... Admiral Nimitz saw to it that Task Force 17 .... was there to spoil it. That is why, he continued, the Coral Sea, where no more serious fights had taken place in days gone by. than those between trading schooners and Mela- nesian war canoes, became the scene of the first great naval action between aircraft carriers -the first naval battle in which no ship on either side sighted the other. ' There was actually little action May 5 and 6 when the japanese carrier force QShol-cal-cu, Zuika- ku and Shohoj and the Lexz'ngz'on-Yorlciown Group searched in vain for each other. The fol- lowing day, however, the two climactic days of the Battle of the Coral Sea began with a dawn search mission from Shokal-zu and ,Zuil-cal-tu to look for Allied forces suspected of being in that body of water. The japanese planes spotted the retiring fueling group -the oiler Neosho and her escorting destroyer Sims-and made one of many errors credited to each side in the battle, reporting the pair as a carrier and a cruiser. Rear Admiral Hara, the japanese carrier divi- sion commander, immediately launched an all- w:14L1::f1:rff-:Hfs:fia1aaP ---11212-,fa.3a,,.l4Lf,!aQgE3:.-JJ ' 'kiL,f,:f5.:,.-.,.2..L.1.::F..,... .5 --gg-'f'-Jfif' 1 li f 5. , ' . Z''1.'2?'lf?5as'5211.1,-.Qi 9' 3' 7-1413 Q , ' :H -- f- ' -. 11 out bombing strike on them both were sunk but this spared the U S flattops from attack Undue advantage could not be taken of this however because at virtually the same time the American carrier planes were launched in a mas sive raid against what was thought to be Admiral Takagi s main striking force A Yorktown search plane had reported two carriers and four heavy cruisers instead of what was appar ently three converted gunboats a seaplane tender and a pa1r of old light cruisers Planes from the two Air Groups while conducting their search stumbled upon light carrier Shoho however and succeeded in sinking her in yust ten minutes a record for the entire war Morison advises the mission was certainly not a complete loss In fact Morison reports in describing the battle the loss of Shoho so discouraged Admiral Inouye Commander in Ch1ef apanese Fourth Fleet that he ordered the Port Moresby invasion group to ull around at a safe dis tance north of the Louisiades Thus our attack on the wrong carrier thwarted the enemy s main obyective The day s significant operations closed with another apanese search for Admiral Fletcheris carriers. Instead, they ran into the Combat A1r Patrol and lost nine aircraft They finally lo- cated Yorktown after dark-but six mistook it for their own carrier and attempted to join the landing pattern. Eleven more were lost attempt- ing night landings on their own flattops. The stage was dramatically set for a show- Fortunatehz out o Pearl Harbor when the japanese attacked Lexington zrnme dzatebz a'zsloatchea' azrcra tto search or the enemy eet and was ernployzng her azr group o knszvebx a week later T he apanese were stzll very much on the o enszve the ollowzng slorzng and were threatenzng Port Moresby New Guznea to thwart thzs Adrnzrat Nzmztz moved CV2 ana' the rest of TFI7 znto the Cora! Sea It was here a'urzng the rst great naval actzon between carrzers that Lex was hzt down the following day The opposing forces were relatively even Rear Admiral Fitch whom Fletcher had 1ust that morning designated as Officer in Tactical Command due to his greater carrier experience had five heavy crulsers and seven destroyers the japanese had one less of each type The carriers of course were now even In the morning of the 8th a Lexzngton search plane sighted the main enemy force and an attack was immediately launched a total of eighty-two planes from the two flattops. Shokaku received two bomb hits from Yorktownfs planes one of which buckled her flight deck, making further air operations impossible and another bomb from Lexington? Air Group The carrier planes had been unable to locatezuikaka, hidden under a low overcast. A return attack on our forces was anticipated- 23 - Y- M ,,----AM -.-- -.V.-.....- Y H.- .-s-.- HY.. ...-.... - -, - A-. ..-..-.Y-. ,.. YM.. ..., .s. . . W..- ,.,,.., , ......, ,...,-..,......, -. . .- W .r... ....-....,....--.. .......,-..,-..,...- ., , Y ..r. Y.,. . Y, ,..-, - V Y. ,.......,..a.,.-..-..--.., ...x.,--.. ,.,, 1-sum-Q,,.f , - ...,d.,.,.,,,,a.,., af,,f-.1-,Q-.f-m-rw-1:--.af-1. f- -4-- X-O f. an intercepted message had indicated the japan- ese knew the location of the two carriers. Late in the morning the expected attacking force was sighted, and the Combat Air Patrol Qassisted by the anti-submarine patrol flying Douglas Daunt- lessesj challenged them, managing to shoot down seventeen. The attackers were numerous Cprobably seventyj however, and a number penetrated the air cover and anti-aircraftbarrage thrown up by the flattops and their escorts. Yorktown received but one bomb hit, and man- aged to evade all torpedoes, a number of person- nel were killed, but the ship's mobility was not materially affected. Lexington, however, did not escape so lightly. A correspondent from the Chicago Tribune, Stanley Johnston, who was the sole press repre- sentative aboard, described the action in detail. The great old ship - one of the twin carriers around which almost all mod- ern carrier fighting technique was de- veloped-was hard hit in the attack which began at 11:16 a.m. It contin- ued for 17 minutes. 'cFive torpedoes had torn huge holes -20 to 30 feet in diameter-in her port side along the waterline and be- low it. One heavy bomb, probably a japanese 1,000-pounder, had hit the ship's rail on the forward flight deck and on the port forward 5-inch gun position. Another lighter bomb had ripped holes in her smokestack and killed with its splinters several men of an anti-aircraft machine gun crew sta- tioned there. In addition to these direct hits by 24 . torpedoes and bombs the Lexington also had been damaged to some extent by scores of near misses by japanese dive bombers. The heavy bombs, ex- ploding in the water at distances of 100 feet to 10 feet from the carrier's sides, had rocked her and possibly had sprung certain side plates.'7 japanese pilots throughout the war had an af- finity for reporting American ships, and carriers in particular, as sunk, sinking, or in some other state of inoperation. In this instance accounts of their attacks on the Task Force convinced Ad- miral Takagi that both U. S. carriers were sink- ing, so he ordered the damaged Shohaku to re- turn to Truk around noon. Both Yorktown and Lexington had indeed been badly hit, but at that time there was little cause to believe either would go down. ,The former had taken only the single bomb, while Lex had apparently recovered from her much more extensive damage by battle's end. She still had a list at noon and three fires were burning aboard, but the former had already been corrected to seven degrees and the latter ap- peared virtually under control. By 1:00 p.m. the situation appeared even better, damage con- trol parties had righted the ship on an even keel, only one fire still burned, the steering gear was intact, and she was making 25 knots through the Water, conducting nearly normal flight opera- tions. Because of her damage, however, and loss of carrier aircraft, Admiral Fletcher decided to retire for re-assessment of strike capabilities be- fore considering further Air Group actions. As the crew battled gamely on, however, a sud- den, heavy explosion shook the ship, the result of the collected gasoline vapors below decks ig- x ' ' wr'-ef X ,,.,,,,, ,,, - ,, f ' at pdlquep ,, f ea-rf My niting. A bad fire followed, then more explo- sions, more fires, and a gradual loss of ship- board communications. The earlier fires and explosions had damaged water mains and other equipment necessary for battling the spreading blazes, intensifying damage. At 3:58 p.m. Cap- tain Sherman, fearing for the safety of those working below from the present fires or from the imminent danger of stored bombs and torpedoes going off, ordered all hands topside. Explosions continued, with destroyers bravely moving close aboard to receive the wounded or to turn their hoses on the blazing structure. Reluctantly, shortly after five p.m., the order was given to abandon ship, and an orderly debarkation com- menced. A few men jumped, while others slid down lines into the water where they boarded life rafts, or merely swam until they were picked up by the circling destroyers or nearby cruisers. Some 150 wounded were lowered in basket stretchers into motor whaleboats, a skillfully conducted opera- tion under the circumstances. ' Admiral Fitch and his staff transferred to lllinneapolis, and after all crewmen had aban- doned ship, Captain Sherman and his Executive Officer, Commander M. T. Seligman madeafinal inspection of their vessel amid flying debris, smoke and flames. They then slid down a line, with the commanding officer being the last to leave-just as the torpedo head locker exploded, shaking both from the line and into the sea. All but 26 officers and 190 men were rescued Qin- Iiive torpedoes and two bombs turned the proud carrier into a limping casual- Q1 on the hnal day of the Battle of the Coral Sea, May 8, 1942. Thejighting oven her speed was restored and her fires nearby out when accumulatedgases below decks suddenbz exploded' more fires and detonations followed and final- by the order was given to abandon ship, left. She jinalbz became a raging holo- caust and had to be sent to the bottom by one ofour own destroyers. f M3'iW9W2mf'f 't,:,fi,-7 irrrr ' aw ,f-f-ef-v--.-q-fffe-v1m--w+vvv--'- :- ' .- agua--11--mer.-wif.-fy . 55 -:xmas-'mm-1:1 1f'4 -'-'z iEf?!'5E'? Ti'1 :?.'Z:.,. . -. cluding seven brothers aboard named Pattenj, and it is thought none of these casualties occur- red by drowning after abandoning ship. Even amid the tragedy of the ship's final strug- gle for survival, a few anecdotes and stories of a less serious character emerged. As a certain group commander had his men gathered about him on the flight deck, speaking to them about the fortunes of war, one of his men approached to report he had finished fitting an accessory on his plane's pump. When the Commander com- mented that it had taken a long time, the airman agreed: HYes, sir. . .had to draw it from stores and had an awful job getting to it. There's a terrible fire down there. In another instance some fliers were navigating clear of the burning carrier, when one was hailed by an officer still aboard. Dutifully paddling his tiny yellow life raft back again, the crew chief in- quired what the officer wanted. f'Nothing, came the answer, just wanted to say you look fine and that it's only 4,000 miles to Australiaf' And one enlisted survivor reported: . No one seemed to be excited. Some of the boys were matching coins to see who'd go Qabandonj first. Most of them stood around swapping stories. N o one hurried unnecessarily. In fact, a couple of the boys curled up in a corner and went to sleep while waiting for orders to leave. When we realized the ship would have to be abandoned all hands who felt the urgewent down to the canteen and had a feast of ice cream. Some of the men filled their metal helmets, others filled cups and their hands or anything handy. One fellow who couldn't swim went down to the galley and got a huge aluminum cooking pot which he tossed overboard and then climbed into and proceeded to paddle away using his hands as oars. c'Some of the boys saved odd things when they left the ship. One man took with him four books and a tube of toothpaste. He left the toothbrush behind. Another was carrying a picture album. Still another saved his wallet containing his driver's license. The commanding officer himself related amov- ing experience about his final moments aboard: HI made an inspection aft and ran into a couple 26 of gun crews of from 40 to 50 men preparing to leave the ship. One of them shouted, fLet's give three cheers for the Captain. ' And they did, right there on the deck of the sinking Lexingfon. They gave me three cheers. It was something I,ll never forget.'7 Reporter Johnston, who abandoned ship along with the rest of the crew, had some poignant words about the brave men who accompanied him into the water. In a lead to his account of Lexingfon is final hours, he wrote: f'It is a tale of gallantry above and beyond the valor of men in the heat of battle. It is the storyof a crew, smash- ed and blitzed from the air by an over- whelming enemy force, that rose to a second desperate fight when attacked from within by natural enemies that fed upon the fuels and stores within the great, valiant aircraft carrier. HIt is an account of the dogged deter- mination and unshakeable courage with which the humblest and highest mem- bers of the ship7s company strove to- gether in a long, torturing and deadly hazardous effort. Celts heartbreaking finish, in which the doomed Lexington slid flaming be- neath the calm waters of the Coral Sea, was one they had battled against for hours. X, As it was, f'Laa'y Lex, described by Morison as 'fbeloved as few warships have been by her crew, had to be finally Hput awayw by our own forces. When she had become a raging in- ferno, with flames shooting hundreds of feet into the air, the destroyer PlzeLos steamed within 1,500 yards and fired two torpedoes into her hull. With a final thunderous explosion, Lexing- ton sank at 7:56 p.m. at 50 degrees, 20 minutes South latitude, 155 degrees, 30 minutes East longitude. As Captain Sherman himself described it after the destroyer had fired her torpedoes into his ship: H. . .but she didn't want to sink even then. She finally went down on an even keel, her flags still flying and with signal flags meaning 'Abandoning Ship, still aloft. On june 12, 1942, the Navy released a full report to the public on the action. HWith the loss of only three ships, Task Forces ofthe United States Pacific Fleet in the period of March 10 to May 8 sank or damaged 37 japanese ships and smashed a series of desperate enemy efforts to encircle and probably invade Australia .... uFifteen japanese ships were sunk, two others probably sunk and 20 heavily damaged- some so badly they probably also sank .... c'Most grievous loss to the American Fleet was the USS Lexington, .... 7' In retrospect the Battle of the Coral Sea was I The sinhing of one Lexington brought an irnrnediate call for a successorg and a ship already under construction, CV-I6 was given the name and launch- ed September 2d 1942 at the Fore River Shipyard Quincy, Massachusetts. It was an historic event in Boston, as thousands of Navyrnen, civilians and dignitaries hailed the new warship. V , ,- A. ,,.,, . V .v.,vm,n.Ufms-nngx T........-...M ,. V -- ., . V .. auvnfauuemfmuvv-vt-:svvx .-. - 2 - one of the most important of World War II in the Pacific, for Port Moresby was not invaded, and the japanese never got another chance. When the 'iLady Lex QCV-2D gave her final shudder and plunged beneath the waters of the Pacific on May 7, 1942, another aircraft carrier was abuilding half-way around the world. At the Fore River Shipyard, Quincy, Massachusetts the hull of a warship rested in the ways-her planned name: USS Cabot. It was over a month later that the public learn- ed the fate of CV-2, and the tragic news stirred particularly deep emotions among the citizens of Lexington, Massachusetts, who had donated a silver service to the ship early in her history. The Navy released the story of the sinking June 12, and the following day, at General MacArthur's Day ceremonies on Boston Com- mon, the townspeople formed a delegation and launched a campaign to have another vessel car- ry the name Lexington to war. The plea was enthusiastically taken up by the personnel at Bethlehem Steel's Quincy Shipyard, for it was there Lex had been constructed seventeen years before. On their initiative, therefore, a telegram was sent to Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox, on June 16, 1942, which read: HTWENTY THREE THOUSAND WORKERS AT BETHLEHEM'S FORE RIVER YARD WHERE THE LEXINGTON WAS BUILT RE- SPECTFULLY URGE YOU TO GIVE THE NAME LEXINGTON TO OUR CARRIER CV-16. WE GLORY IN THE AGHIEVEMENT OF THAT FINE SHIP, THE SACRIFICE OF WHICH TO MANY OF US IS A PERSONAL LOSS.. WE PLEDGE OUR UTMOST EFFORTS TO BUILD SHIPS WITH ALL THE SPEED AND ALL THE SKILL THAT IS IN OUR POWER. WE BEG THE PRIVILEGE TO PRO- DUCE ANOTHER LEXINGTON. It was signed by W. H. Norton, President of the Independent Union of Fore River Workers and W. G. McDermott, Chairman of Employee Members, War Production Committee. 28 The Government moved quickly during war- time, and so it was later that very day when separate answering wires were dispatched by the Secretary to both men: YOUR TELEGRAM OF JUNE 16 IS NOTHING LESS THAN AN IN- SPIRATION. I AM MORE THAN PLEASED TO GRANT YOUR RE- QUEST AND GIVE TO THE NEW CARRIER GV-16 THE NAME OF LEXINGTON. WE WILL GIVE THE NAME OF GABOT TO A LATER SHIP OF THE SAME DIVISION. I KNOW THAT, INSPIRED BY THIS ACTION WHICH YOU YOUR- SELVES SUGGESTED, EVERY MAN EMPLOYED ON THE CON- STRUCTION OF THE NEW LEX- INGTON WILL CONTRIBUTE HIS MAXIMUM EFFORT TO ITS SPEEDY CONSTRUCTION AND COMMISSIONING. EACH ONE OF YOU WILL BE CONSCIOUS THAT HE IS WORKING FOR THE RE- PLACEMENT OF A GALLAN T SHIP WHICH CONTRIBUTED TO A GREAT VICTORY. I FEEL SURE THAT, UNDER THIS INSPIRA- TION, YOU AND YOUR ASSOCIA- TIONS WILL REDUCE TO THE VERY MINIMUM THE NUMBER ' OF DAYS IT WILL TAKE TO PUT THIS SHIP INTO THE FLEET. YOU MAY BE ASSURED THAT THIS DEPARTMENT WILL LEN D EVERY POSSIBLE ASSISTANCE TO 2 ACHIEVE SUCH A RESULT? For their part, the workers pitched in with a re- newed fervor, with the result that the ship was launched over a full year ahead of schedule- on Saturday, September 26, 1942, just over four- teen months since the laying of the keel. It was a major event in Boston. Ten thousand Navy personnel, shipyard dignitaries, workers, spectators, and those who had served aboard the previous Lex were on hand to cheer as Mrs. Theodore D. Robinson, the woman who had sponsored CV-16's namesake in 1925, sent her on her way with the traditional bottle of cham- pagne at 1:05 p.m. As the Boston American described it that day: 'iAmid ringing cheers of vengeance for the war- ship it was named after, the giant aircraft carrier USS Lexington slid gracefully down the ways at Quincy today to replace the gallant ship that went down in the Coral Sea after exacting a mighty toll of Jap ships and lives. 'She'll carry on where the old ship left off,' declared Rear Admiral Frederick C Sherman just before the great vessel smashed her 25,000 ton bulk into the water at Fore River The full quotelof this part of the Admiral s address is Today the new Lexington takes up where the old left off May her career be full of glorious achievement She will help carry out our pledge-that freedom shall not perish from this earth The American continued Admiral Sherman last commander of the old Lady Lex and the last man to go over her side when she was going down was one of a number of other officers and men of the crew of the old ship who witnessed the colorful launching of her avenger The Admiral utilized the occasion to emphasize the new found importance of the carrier as a mighty wartime weapon He detailed for the first time publicly some of the highlights of CV 2 s combat record and stated Control of the seas formerly dependent on battleships and ships of the line 1S now dependent on control of the air We still use the surface of the sea for surface craft but the primary weapons we use to conduct fighting at sea are the aircraft which fly from the decks of aircraft carriers The day was marked by inspirational words such as those by Massachusetts Governor Salton stall who declared We on the home front have a clear path of duty to be worthy of the inspiring tradition of Lexington If we all go forward to gether the boys at the battle front and we on the home front then we will keep our flag flying And inspirational deeds more than one hun dred of the crowd of Lexington volunteers who jammed the city s Federal Building were sworn into the Navy that day The following day the Boston Sunday Herald described the new Lexington as Hprobably the most formidable aircraft carrier in the worldn and 'cdedicated to the cause of freedom and the dignity of man. The newspaper also reported, Although the Navy has not officially announced details of its new carriers, jane's Fighting Ships reports that vessels of the Essex Class would displace around 25,000 tons, have a speed of 35 knots, carry more than 80 planes and 2,000 officers and men, and cost approximately 360,000,000 On February 17, 1943, at the South Boston Navy Yard, Rear Admiral R A. Theobold, Commandant of the First Naval District accept- ed Lexington in behalf of the Navy Her com- missioning pennant was hoisted and Captain Following the launching of Lexington a ull year ahead o schedule the carrier spent several months 'tting out he- ore being turned over to the Navy 0 '- cialbz on February I7 1943. Ahead of her lay one 0 the most active and ex- citing war careers o any American ghtzng vessel lxx 29 . . .. qi q3,g5.:.99i:A-m:.uN- ...tw Y..Y- - V A JAAN.,-.L.. -,.,... Felix B. Stump became her initial commanding officer. Following a fitting-out period in Boston, the carrier steamed south, and, on April 23 in Chesa- peake Bay, welcomed aboard Air Group Sixteen which was to make history in strikes from her deck. The ship engaged in training maneuvers until May 11, when she departed for a shake- down cruise to the Gulf of Paria, Trinidad. Four weeks of rigorous exercises sharpened the crew and Air Group before a return to Boston was made for a brief post-shake-down shipyard avail- ability period. The tide had definitely turned for the better in the Pacific War in the year or so since CV-2 had gone down in the Coral Sea. Offensive tactics were now the keynote, rather than defensive, and the Allied high command was plotting a step-by- step advance across the Pacific toward the lap- anese home islands. The United States joint Chiefs of Staff had formulated a plan on May 20, 1942 for the de- feat of japan, according to naval historian Samu- el Eliot Morison. The object was to attain posi- tions in the Western Pacific from which the enemy's unconditional surrender could be forced, either by air attacks alone or, more likely, by invasion following repeated air strikes. A key to this offensive would be simultaneous and parallel carrier and amphibious operations. As Morison states, i'The basic idea was this: an offensive through Micronesia fGilberts, Marshalls, Car- olinesj must be pushed at the same time as MacArthur7s New Guinea-Mindanao approach to Japan. The one would support the other, and the fast carrier forces, now being augmented by the Essex class, could free-wheel between the two. It was a very bold plan. Nothing in past war- One of the mostfamouslohotos to come out of World War II was this one of an F6F taking ofjfhom the deck of c'Lady Lex. These aircraf? and their crack Naval avzators played a key role zn countless azr and sea battles throughout the Western Pacz c scorzng several lczlls for each ofthezr losses 0 Q X , , 4 W 1 5 fx A ,W W W f X K f , X A X N, X f W if A05 'nc 'Www H x I Q N-W Mr' fare told how amphibious forces could advance in great leaps across an ocean where the enemy had dozens of island bases. Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Fleet QCINCPACD had secured through reconnaissance of the Gil- berts, and as a result was able to convince the joint Chiefs that it would be wise to seize Tarawa and Makin for air bases before pressing on to the Marshalls. Such a directive was issued july 20 1943, with the operations scheduled for November. Meanwhile Lex transited the Panama Canal july 26-27 arriving at Pearl Harbor August 9 and reporting to the recently-organized Fifth Fleet. Her first mission was as apartof a Carrier Task Force under Rear Admiral Pownall, striking Tarawa and Makin September 18 and 19 Half of the eighteen enemy aircraft on the former island soldiers were killed and wounded' a Japanese 32 diary entry described Tarawa as Ha sea of flame. The most significant result of the raid, however, according to Naval Historian Morison, was the Lexington 19 planes' obtaining reconnais- sance photos which were to prove of great bene- fit in plotting the subsequent invasion of the island. October 5-6 Lexington joined five other car- riers Cthe largest fast carrier force yet organized under Rear Admiral Montgomery for strikes on Wake Island The six Air Groups flew 738 com- bat sorties, and these attacks so reduced the enemy s air strength that apan was forced to call upadditional planes from the Marshalls Heavy damage was also done to the island s fixed installations, according to estimates record- ed in the ship s War Diary at that time, least 60 per cent of the gun installations ap- peared to be untenable on the second day The forward anchorages had not yet been cap- , . . , I ' - ' ' ' . . .at target were destroyed and a great number of X' tured at this time, and Lex was therefore obliged to return to Pearl Harbor following such brief missions. During this period the use of our submarines to recover downed aviators was becoming signi- ficant-something which proved to be a con- siderable morale factor forthe carrier pilots. In one instance, when the submarine Skate succeed- ed in rescuing four fliers downed in a carrier strike, the captain of that vessel received a mes- sage reflecting the appreciation of Lexington 's Captain Stump: MAnything in Lexington is yours for the asking. If it is too big to carry away, we will cut it up in small partsf' On November 10, as a part of Rear Admiral It is the men who win the wars - notthe machines. Pilots literalhz live in their Ready Room during hostz'lities,' it may be the place for a tense hriehng prior to a vital mission, or, far left, where the details of the last air strike are rehash- ed Below, officers and men thinlc, plan and coordinate in Lex 's plot room while her aircraft are engaged in wartime strilce against Gilbert and Marshall is- lands. These photos, and others on previous and succeeding pages, were taken on location by world-famous Captain Edward Steichen aboard CV-I6 during 1943 Pacifc action. i ...,., ., , E .. v , - -, . , - . .. .... .. .. ,, . V - H ,.. .... www. -.MW .-----Y-------W . -- Pownalls Yorktown carrier Interceptor Group TG 50 lj Lexmgton departed from Hawaii on her first mayor operation of the campaign From November 19 24 she supported the landings in the Gilbert Islands by flying searches and aseries of destructive strikes against enemy air bases at Mille Atoll in the Marshalls Her Arr Group Fighting Sixteen lost no time 1n acquaintmg the apanese with their proficiency on November 23 seventeen of twenty enemy aircraft were shot from the sky The following day the score was twelve for twelve In the action report covering this engagement Captain Stump said, I would be interested to know if rn the brilliant records of other Fighting Aircraft Units in this war such a record has been equalled It is probable that the courageous and aggressive action on the part of Fighting Sixteen, in promptly intercepting and shooting down twenty nine apanese planes, demoralized the apanese Air Command in the Marshalls to such an extent that they were temporar1ly unable to send any more planes towards the Gilberts wh1le we remained in the intercept station and by thus stopping a1r attacks from the Marshalls, Fighting Sixteen contributed an appreciable share to the successful conclusion of the conquest of the Gilberts N 1m1tz edited The Crea! Sea War, provided some evidence that carrier planes could gain command ofthe air over enemy atolls and proved that the fleet could operate against such pos1t1ons with acceptable losses, and that, with naval a1r and gunfire support, well trained, resolute troops could cross reefs under even the most adverse conditions and seize strongly fortified islands The fact that our aircraft squadrons were meet 1ng with such successes at th1s time was attrrbut able in part to the vast improvement in planes and weapons since the earlier days of the war. The slow Wildcats F4F were replaced with 7 ' . . K. v ' I ' ' 3 . , . 4 . . . 7 . . , . - - as . , . H ' ' ' , ' ' ' ' Winning these islands, according to the Potter- . . . 5 . . , 1 n . CCC D I o o ., . . . . . . . . . , . . . . . . ,, - 7 - . . . . , , - - - I - I . C D . Hellcats QF6Fj and Corsairs QF4Uj. All three types were armed with six .50 caliber machine guns, but the latter two carried almost twice the ammunition of the former, furthermore, the FGF and F4U had speeds of more than 400 and 425 m.p.h. respectively, compared to about 300 m.p.h. for the Wildcat. The TBF torpedo bomb- er could fly at 250 m.p.h.-about 100 m.p.h. faster than her predecessor. As Commander James C. Shaw reported in his Fast Carrier Operations, 1943-1945, weapons development was making significant progress at this period. U. . .planes carried heavier bomb loads and adopted the vicious 5-inch rocket. Fighters were converted into fighter-bombers. . . .By the simple expedient of a drag ring placed on the nose of a torpedo, its falling rate was suf- ficiently reduced to permit launching at double the speed and at many times the previous altitude. The whole gamut of airborne weapons, excepting the atom bomb, was explored by carrier planes. The hours required to overrun Tarawa were relatively few, but the toll in casualties was high -over 1,000 marines and sailors killed and more than double that number wounded. The tactical lessons learned in the operation, how- ever, proved extremely valuable, and were credit- ed with making future amphibious engagements in the Pacific run much more smoothly. The battle ashore was over by November 23, but Lex continued to operate on a track between the Marshall and Gilbert Islands to intercept enemy planes attempting to strike the marines on Tarawa and Makin. This defensive operation was singularly successful, every daytime attack was intercepted and thwarted, and not one Jap- anese plane appeared over Makin during the three days of fighting there. Five days later she retired to refuel at sea. During the war our fleet oilers would continually venture into waters infested with enemy subma- rines, and within range of japanese aircraft, to refuel carriers and other combatant ships. This enabled fighting units of the fleet to remain at sea for months and strike anywhere in the Pacific at will. Admiral Nimitz, well aware of the im- portance of such operations, termed at-Sea refuel- ing his 'csecret weaponf' Left, the Air Officer directs the spotting of F617 is for immediate take-of SBD is are spotted ay? on the flightdeck. Above, a pilot from the escort carrier Liscome Bay paid an unexpected visit on Lexing- ton. Unfamiliar with night carrier op- erations, he was unable to find his way back to hz's own ship. Here the next morning, he walks down Lex's flight deck, chart z'n hand T he time was November 1943. Lex returned for a strike against japanese ship- ping and aircraft at Kwajalein and Roi, record- ing a toll of two cruisers and a cargo ship dam- aged, three planes destroyed on the ground, and twenty more shot from the air. While returning from this mission, her dive bombers engaged enemy fighters and shot down seven more. After refueling, the ships proceeded on their next mission, where they QTask Group 50.11 were destined to run into stiff opposition. Their warning came in a signal on December 3 from Admiral Pownall: UBe ready for anything after 1700 today. Be accurate, keep cool, and hit 'em hardf, December 4 was a significant day in Lex's history-offensively and defensively. As her War Diary for that day reports: M1016-strike 2 successfully attacked shipping andinstallations on Kwajalein, effecting complete surprise. 2 CL, 1 AO, and 5 AK torpedoed or bombed and be- lieved destroyed. 1 AP severely damaged. 27 enemy aircraft shot down. 'L That afternoon it was the japanese' turn to attack, with the initial wave of torpedo planes coming in from the starboard side. The first two or three one of which had launched a torpedo that passed 100 yards astern of Lexington ex- ploded in the air in the face of devastating fire from the carrier and her escorts, but the majority turned back for the time being. In the early morning, however, the enemy returned for a sus- tained raid against our naval forces This attack itself lasted seven hours, although the men re- mained at their General uarters stations for The under way replenzshrnent and refuelzng ofslzzps was called Arnerzca s secret weapon zn the Pacznc By trans errzng uel arnrnunztzon and supplzes at sea Arnerzcas jiglztzng fleets could be kept zn orward operatzng areas or rnontlts at a tzrne wztlzout needzng to return to any zxed bases The develop rnent 0 under way replenzsltrnent was a rnajor actor znflrnerzca snavalstrengtlz zn the Paczffc Kr Y Y i i .mu,,,u, ,,..---.-7. . , , ..--...-,..... . . I Q f 'ak . QW f 'Q over twice that period - sustained by the necessity of keeping alert and the sandwiches supplied them via messenger from the galley. A passage from the ship's log late that day reads: 'c'At 1925 bogies funidentified aircraft as opposed to ban- dits-known enemy planesj began closing and the Task Group began firing. Both groups were maneuvering at high speeds on evasive courses, and firing by the screen was continuous. To those with topside battle stations it seemed like a long, drawn-out, unreal dream- the ship silently steaming through the water, throwing out a bril- liant phosphorescent wake, the moonlight reflect- ed against the planes on the flight deck, and all the while the bright streamers of tracer bullets and the flash of five-inch bursts from the ships of the screen firing at unseen targets. f'At 2150 float lights were dropped in the water to guide the attackers to the target. At 2322 four parachute flares appeared on the port beam. They were beautifully placed to silhouette the ship, and it was obvious we had been picked out as the target. uAt 2325 the ship opened fire, bogies were closing in fast on the starboard bow. A torpedo was seen to drop from a Betty on the starboard beam Qwhichj was immediatel fired on but Y , came in close and got away at high speed direct- ly over the ship. 38 At 2327 the torpedo hit. The ship settled five feet to starboard and lost steering control. Nine men were killed and thirty-five injured in the explosion. Shortly after the detonation, Captain Stump's calm voice was heard over the radio telephone, informing the other vessels of his situation, L'She can make speed but cannot steer .... We are put- ting five submersible pumps in to clean out ship. . .We are going to ina' a way outof this thing. Here fate played an important role in saving Lex from possible further attack. With her rud- der jammed full left, the carrier commenced a sharp turn to port, as a dense cloud of smoke from her ruptured gas tanks on the stern formed an unplanned smoke screen, partially concealing her from other attacking aircraft. The brief respite was well spent, for within twenty minutes the rudder had been returned to an amidships position, and ten minutes later, steering only with her main engines, Lex was making twenty knots in an easterly direction. Attacks continued on her until after midnight, but all were beaten off by anti-aircraft fire. She proceeded all the way to Pearl Harbor in this manner, where Fighting Sixteen was debarked and temporary repairs were accomplished. A return to Bremer- ton, Washington, for permanent repairs was then undertaken, with arrival December 22. l i 1 5 'FI MG .IS N -4 -1 .. .. M..- A,.,. in An interesting sidelight developed from an event in the attack. The device used to bring Lex is rudder back amidships was an emergency, hand-operated hydraulic unit which had been de- signed by one of the ship's officers, Lt. P. N. MacDonald, and installed by ship 's force during the last availability period. Following the recog- nition it received after enabling Lexington to seta course and steam out of the battle area, this ap- paratus was subsequently made 'cstandard equip- ment on other ships of the class. About this time Tokyo Rose reported the ship had been sunk. This was the first of several such premature tales of Lexington 's demise hope- fully released by the enemy in an attempt to weaken American morale. It was Tokyo Rose also, who is credited with endowing CV-16 with her most famous nick- name: c'The Blue Ghostf' The two most popu- lar tales of the origin of this tag were: first, that having been reported as sunk, her reappearance made her a 'ighost shipgi' second, Lex was the only carrier in the fleet without camouflage, and appeared blue from a distance. When the shipyard availability was terminated February 12, 1944, Lexington embarked Air Group 19 at Alameda and set sail for Hawaii. Air Group 16 re-embarked there, and the ship, now operating as a part of Task Force 58, December 4, 1943 was an eventful day for Lex. Her aircraft successfulbi hit shipping and ground installations on K wajalein. Later in the day, Lex herseh' was hit. Left page, Lexington is under heavy air attach in this picture taken from the escort carrier Cowpens. Left, a japanese torpedo bomber explodes close aboard. Below, a fapanese tor- pedo plane bursts into flames just aher launching a torpedo attach against Lex. just before midnight a torpedo hithilled nine of Lexington's men and injured thiriji-five. December 1 1943 saw a great deal of actz'on in the Marshalls. Above, a japanese 'Yfaten torpedo bomber slfims in on LCXiI1gtOI1,S starboard side. The '7Cate began to smohe just after LeXington,s five-inch gunners opened up at i500 yards. At Q500 yards, she burst into flame. Here she is just off LeXington,s starboard side, after the ship is 40mm isstarted hammering home. Right page, the torpedo bomber ex- plodes within three hundred yards of Lexingt0n's bow. 40 Overleaf, an SBD rests on the flight deck, as another carrier steams quietbl along on a parallel course. Overleaf, right page, on December 51 1943, ex- hausted enlisted men sleep on Lexing- ton's flight deck after more than twenty- four hours at their General Quarters stations. f x NN X i -, X Q55 ,W X Q? 2-ff A WNW W fy, fa , y ff fy Q fix ,W W Z ff, W ,W , 4 U VW 'JSM W' , X, M ff 7' X f W ,f ZW ,f W Z fi, ,f ff ,V 1 W Z 1 .. . ,. .:......:........f:-,:::1::::::.':::'.:::'::'.: '- ' '---'-f'---- dwvffc 42 Nso f-.KL 'wwf' , :W E ,- Z 2 3 5 5 E 5 : : r I z 1 2 5 E s 5 5 5 3 E E Z i 3 3 z 1 3 : 3 2 s E 5 z 1 E E 5 5 3 E 5 5 5 E E 5 E I a U a I 1 . 3 Z : E 5 s Z a : -Em-3-1.-,rainy-new-rr:1fz:11:1'1.s.-1:41-uysvfx-1-L, .vs , 1 1 vivfvmnvvwrcxgnnwcrv:xmwrnzv-vnu- :1:-1:1-q-::v:ran:1-::n .... . ::r-3 T he carriers flzght dech is freguentbz compared in size to about three football helds. Some of the crew turn to with sitting-up exercises under cloudy Paczfc shies. X moved towards Majuro in the Marshalls, where Rear Admiral Marc Mitscher shifted his flag aboard March 8. In the two-month period prior to being joined by Lex, Task Force 58 had made itself strongly felt in the Pacific. Providing vital support to the successful campaign against Kwajalein, it also had exploded the myth that japan's uimpreg- nable Truk, the 'cGibraltar of the Pacific,'7 was a fortress too strong to be successfully attacked. TF-58 proved the ability of the carriers to neutralize enemy bases without any assistance from land-based air, according to The Great Sea War. uDuring thenightofFebruary 17-18, the book continues, 'fcarrier aircraft, exploiting a newly-developed technique, bombed vessels in Truk lagoon by radar. At dawn the carriers, already beginning to withdraw, launched a final all-out attack. In the course of this two-day strike, the attackers destroyed about 200. enemy aircraft and damaged some 70 more. They sank 15 Japanese naval vessels .... CV-16's return to the battle fleet meant a swift return to action. A strike launched against Mille Atoll on March 18 is described in U S. Destroy- er Operations in World War II as upart of a training exercise for Lexington is new Air Group. 7' Actually, according to the ship ls War Diary it produced an estimated 30 per cent reduction in the island's coastal defense guns and destroyed many machine gun positions Four days later Lexzngton sortied with other units of TF 58 for strikes against the Palau Is lands by mounting this attack from their base at Majuro 2 300 miles away from the target the Fast Carrier Task Force demonstrated its great mobility The two day strike resulted in our de stroying 150 planes and sinking 104 000 tons 44 'Q A an E zu 33 5 n',. I 3 R 1 7 5 ? A .1 4 5 E ,. 3 2 E of shipping, with a loss of only 25 aircraft. A novel feature of the operation was the laying of numerous mines in shipping channels-a first for carrieraircraft. Following their return to Majuro on April 6, the ships replenished Qduring which timeCaptain Ernest W. Litch relieved Captain Stump as Gom- manding Officerb and then sortied April 13 to support the Army landings at Hollandia, Dutch New Guinea-the largest amphibious operation yet undertaken in the Southwest Pacific. After launching preparatory attacks against airfields in the Tanahmerah Bay area, Lex covered the landings on April 22, and, except for a brief withdrawal for refueling, remained on station to offer support for the ground forces. The Task Force then left the scene, stopping to harrass Truk once more, April 29, on the way back to Majuro. Air Group 16 alone flew 202 sorties against the japanese-held fortress that day, leaving it so helpless that bombers from Eniwetok and the Admiralties subsequently had no further trouble keeping it neutralized. Whilg these strikes were going on, a couple of dive bombers made runs on Lex, but failed to score hits. However, this was all Tokyo Rose needed, for before the carrier arrived back at Majuro, she had reported HThe Blue Ghost sunk again, On june 6 Task Force 58 left the Marshalls, heading northwest, followed at a considerable distance by the amphibious forces,which included 535 ships and carried 127,000 troops. On June 11 the Task Force was 200 miles from Guam, and Vice Admiral Mitscher sent his Air Groups against the southern Marianas. In that day they destroyed 147 enemy planes C 81 airbornej ata cost of only 11 Navy fighters. Four days later Lex aircraft struck at shore de- fenses and gun emplacements in support of the landings, but the same evening the ship came under heavy attack from japanese torpedo planes. As reported in Tarawa to Tokyo: L'At 7:07 p.m. our lookouts reported sighting ten twin-engine planes dead ahead and closing fast. When the Lexington opened fire with automatic batteries eight cFrances' were plainly visible on both port and starboard bows. The ship put up a volume of fire so great as at times to black the attackers from view, and brought five crashing into the water around the ship in flames. Two torpedoes, however, were launched at the ship. Captain Litch daringly maneuvered her between them, and they passed the length of the ship close aboard on either side. Simultaneously, one plane, flaming and out of control, flew the entire length of the flight deck, so close as to scorch the faces of those topside, and crashed off the port quarter. In this swift encounter, gunners of the Lexington displayed the highest degree of cour- age and coolness. They destroyed five of the at- A Grumman F617 Hellcat turns up before a deck-launch lCZk6-Off Tlzesingle seaterfghter has less than fonrhundred feet of flight deck in fiont of her. tacking planes without assistance from other ves- sels. . .and with assistance from screeningvessels destroyed two moref' Tokyo Rose had her usual words to say in describing the engagement: One U. S. carrier sunk - Lexington ! The enemy's carrier force was reportedly mov- ing towards the Marianas to attack our landing forces there, and on june 18 Task Force 58 steamed westward to intercept them and thus protect Saipan. The aircraft from the opposing navies tangled the next morning to open the Battle of the Philippine Sea. All day long waves 11 '. ,441--ww! QR ,-.Q , . ,Q X 7 ki X.. .fri 5 . X --QI! ,, ,ls One of Lexingtorfs photo reconnais- sance planes tooh thephoto, at left, at an anchorage somewhere in the Paczfcn on May 13, 1944. Numerous destroy- ers anct a North Carolina class battle- shzp can he seen in the anchorage. Saipan, in the Marz'anas Group, was next. Below, afapanese torpedo plane crashes close aboara' Lexingtorfs fan- tait during a nzght attach on Task Group 58.3 on func Ii 1944. Nm : .. - l v 11... ,, ,,i'i.,a:,i,1T ' .. f'7 'i' ghgg. q-,annum-arm lv 'lwusf .L.n.xa.aw..., ff'-'fe 4+'eff'M-f .tzS::f:s -..E'.fas'-emeL'z1:efrv.-3'9:. .....-a.-,....-- WW'a -- 4.1,-, . , n .M ..- W.. E' M ' . M' A I l . I I I I I 1 I I I I I I I S' II 1,12 I5 Ii I3 EI It Ie I1 It ,.,m...x .I 5 I I I I I I I . 5 I I I il I I I I xi I. 4. 3 5 I 1 In of japanese carrier-based planes launched strikes against Admiral Mitscher's ships, but each raid ran into the covering Air Groups, with disastrous results for the enemy. As an excerpt from CV-16's War Diary that day reveals: c'It was apparent that TF-58 was being attacked by successive waves of carrier planes. From- 1200K until 1500K Qnoon to 3 p.m. local timej groups of bogies were detached and intercepted with deadly regularity. . . .on most occasions interception was affected 40 to 50 miles from the force. A A Correspondent Noel F. Busch reported from aboard Lexington on what was going on in the air: The japanese had apparently. . .planned to run a shuttle-bombing service between their carriers and Guam, at our expense. Unfortunate- ly for them, however, they had set out to do this by sending in their planes in groups of .... 50 or so, and whereas out ofa huge group of 300 a few would have been almost certain to have reached us, these comparatively little clumps were without exception entirely at the mercy of our more numerous interceptors. Actually, according to The Great Sea War, four enemy raids were launched, the first con- sisted of 69 planes-including 16 Zero fighters, the second 128 IfMorison says 130j, the third 47 and the final 82. The same reporter described the Air Group Sixteen fighter pilots as being especially eager to run up their individual and the squadron scores,'7 and Hin a hurry to get back into the air. Indeed, from their attitude it would have been reasonable to guess that they were engaged not in a battle at all but in some especially fast and exciting game .... In Fast Carrier Operations, 1943 -19452 Com- mander Iames C. Shaw reminds us ofa complete- ly different aspect- the personal emotions present in an Air Group. 'cThere is a subtle difference in attitude between a carrier's wardroom and those of other ships. In a cruiser or destroyer, months may pass without a casualty, in acarrier every strike brings death to someone. Everyone realizes that some of those present are eating their last meal. There are curious, furtive glances from table to table. Then, too, in the flattop there is the certainty that, if the enemy at- 50 tacks, this ship will be the prime, probably the only target. The japanese 4'Mobile Fleet had 9 carriers and 430 carrier aircraft compared to 15 and 891 respectively for Task Force 58. This historic engagement, the first phase of which on june 19 saw 346 japanese aircraft blasted from the air and two of her carriers sunk, was nicknamed, in an expression credited to ,Lexington pilot Gom- mander Paul 'D. Buie, Marianas Turkey Shootf' When the Battle of the Philippine Sea was over it was considered notable for other rea- sons also-it was the greatest carrier battle of the war, and one in which the surface ships of the opposing forces never sighted each other. At 10:20 Con the 19thj shortly after the initial enemy raid was sighted, Admiral Mitscher sent aloft over 450 fighters Call those availablej. When they were airborne, the torpedo planes and bombers were launched- so the decks would re- main clear of the Task Force while the Hellcat fighters landed, refueled, rearmed and flew off on their next launch. Actually the bombers did a great deal more than 'ckeep out of the wayf' Their strikes caused great damage to the air- strips of Guam, where Lex pilots dropped sixteen 1,000 pound bombs. i In all, the score of Air Group Sixteen for a single day's work was 45 sure and 4 probable kills in the air, and 3 destroyed and 10 damaged on the ground. A On the way to amassing this impressivetotal the squadrons had some individual heroes emerge. The newestmember of a Lex fighter squadron had landed his plane on another car- rier the day before, and was ferrying his plane The British invented radan but the Americans were the first to put it into extensive use aboard shzp. The superi- origz of American radar was an impor- tant factor in both the ofjvnsive and de- fensive roles played by the fleet Patrol planes, such as thoseshown above Lex's radar antennae array, were launched several times each day to further extend the eyes ofthe fleet. - . f X back to his ship when his radio crackled with a report of japanese planes coming in. Having fuel and ammunition, he decided to do a little hunting before landing. When he set down on CV-16 there were three kills to his credit-not bad for a 3,000 yard ferry flight! One of the Navy's foremost Aces, Lt. Vraciu, shot down six ,bombers with 360 rounds of am- munition on a single flight during the HTurkey Shoot. Describing the attack on the enemy bomber squadron later, the former wingman of Butch O'Hare Chero of CV-2's Air Group in 1942, who had since been killed in actionjlwho led a dozen planes against thirty, related: HAfter we had been on them a few minutes they began to separate like a bunch of disorderly cattle. Every time one of the laps would try to lead a string out of formation the Hellcat pilots turned into ccowboys' and herded them back into the group. If they had been able to separate we wouldn7t have been able to shoot down as many as we did. Realizing the advantage to be gained from this increased air superiority, Mitscher was anxious to close the enemy force. The exact position of the japanese ships was not known, however, and therefore little progress was made toward that end during the night. After a fruitless search to the west the following morning, Mitscher finally turned northwest around noon. As the day wore on TF-58 had to reverse course several times to launch aircraft, and it was beginning to appear that the enemy would evade detection and attack completely. At 4:00 p.m. a search plane finally reported the enemy vessels about 220 miles WNW of the U. S. Force. Although this was .M ..m...- ..... l . El closer than anticipated fearlier searches had failed because they were looking too far awayj, it was a long range and late inthe day to launch carrier strikes. Fully realizing that dangerous night landings would face tired pilots running short of fuel when they returned, the Task Force Commander nevertheless had little choice but to order the attack against the weakened enemy. Actually, the reported position proved to be an error. The correct position was sixty miles further away, by the time the carriers turned into the wind and launched their planes, some had to fly 300 miles to the target. The first enemy ships sighted by the T F-58 aviators were Oilers, and several planes imme- diately turned their attention to them, sinking two. Most of the attacks were concentrated on the carriers, with torpedo planes sinking Hzyo while bombers ripped up the flight decks and set fire to Zaikalfu and Chzjioda. A battleship and cruiser also were damaged. The return to the flattops was the most difficult part of the mission for many of our pilots, as eighty aircraft ditched or crashed on landing. Several of the latter occurred when pilots were unwilling or unable to take Hwave-offs . Many of those forced to ditch were either damaged or had failed to adequately conserve their limited fuel. A great number of those who went into the sea were picked up by the destroyers in the T ask Force, wghile many more landed on any carrier in the Force in whose landing circle they could find a space. A tradition in the fleet commanded that a destroyer picking up a pilot from the sea be rewarded with five gallons of ice cream from the airmanls aircraft carrier. ' The loss of life and aircraft could have been considerably worse than it was. Following' the precedent set during the Battle of Midway by Admiral Spruance, the Task Force Commander ordered the lights of his carriers turned on to facilitate the recoveries. Running lights, truck lights and the glow lights outlining the flight deck all served to guide the weary fliers in. In addition, search lights aimed at the sky served as homing beacons, while ships in the Force fired star shells to provide further illumination. Total losses of American aircraft during the Radar information is plotted in Lex's Combat Information Center. Above, Vice Admiral Marc A. Mitschen whose flag flew from Lexington. Overleaf, bom bs are tal-:en on the deck edge eleva- tor ,to re-arm aircraj? on the flight deck. two days of battle, from all causes, were 130, of airmen, 76. The enemy fleet had only 35 serv- iceable planes remaining out of their 430. An even more critical result of the two-day battle, however, was the decimation of the Japanese Navy's trained pilot corps. By the time it was light enough to launch a strike the next morning, the enemy had opened to a range of360 miles, TF-58 had had to steam in the opposite direction for two hours while re- covering aircraft the previous evening, while the enemy, of course, not wishing to becomeinvolved in any further actions, had continued to flee. After looking unsuccessfully for stragglers among the japanese Force, while steaming in a vain attempt to close the enemy, Admiral Mits- cher ordered his Force to reverse course for the Marianas around dusk. On july 6 Lexington departed from these is- lands, where they had been providing support for our troops on Saipan, and steamed to Eniwe- tok for replenishment. Three days later heroic Air Group Sixteen was relieved by Air Group Nineteen, who brought Helldivers aboard the 53 x 1' A f f ff f X kf f f w f Xfff f f s 1 X . . I X f A . 2 ' ? ? i 2 f 0 I I ff' MMR fh 1 S , y. V ah f W V 5-wx R ff f ' f an -Ku-...M SY V Vaal, f X , ai1nwmU FWf hM fy: fx M . . , b ,-,Er.-i.-.YJ ..,.. ::i::11:i:.-vg::41::.4i.'2-1-- . mag Eau.: ,.,, . U ,.....-- '2'-'v': - U .ffnen-'H ...ipsum 07M y 7 f , -wf 4124 ,, ,, X X ww: , X f, 5 'Q WW ' ' W.-vm QW 5 , ' x X1 Xff yiwfkwwy? S409 QWL x Q fff W -Q QQ f H z . -ff MRWWN S ff wx x 4. , V ff Q w 1. in If' ff X 'WW A 0 W f W 'WWW VXUSW wwf X - x V ,fx Y AQW5 W f A if If Us 'fl X f gi carrier for the first time. the central Philippines, hitting airfields and ship- 44 7 vqmq, .,., ...L . , . . , .,.,...-- - ---f --- W- ,rmnqqwnnxvzavu1:...1.hf-L-1-12419--9 'v .. .. .Y . . ,. .- - ---- - -- -- - -- '---- - gf-J W, -- - . -'Q'- '1 1'EF l ' a ' -emu-v-:ved-vxuuuvn:-nnmaswmwuvw mnmnwwm-wf:3?emqfusmwm.feukm L LN 1 31 1- Guam was subjected to thirteen continuous days of methodical bombardment and air strikes be- fore the landing on july 21 and was described by one observer as Ha mass of smoke.'7 Lex had contributed 551 sorties although engaging only in the final days' operations before moving on to the Western Carolines for three days of air strikes against the Palau Islands. In early August Air Group 19 launched raids against Iwo jima, Chichi jima and Haha jima before its flattop re- turned again to Eniwetok for rest and replenish- ment, August 10. The same day Guam was, de- clared secured, as Saipan Q with a heavy toll of American casualties- 16,500 including 3,400 deadj and Tinian had been shortly before. Lex didn't get underway again until the end of the month, arriving in the Carolines September 6 to commence strikes against Yap and Ulithi. By this time there had been significant changes in the Pacific command and organization, and the next major policy steps had not been finally de- cided for the conduct of the war there. According to the Potter-Nimitz The Great Sea War, the joint'C.hiefs of Staff, and Admiral King in particular, questioned the advisability of afull- scale operation against the Philippines. MacAr- thur could obtain merely a foothold and air bases there, they reasoned, then join forces with Nimitz' Central Pacific Command for an inva- sion of Formosa and the China Coast. MacAr- thur strongly dissented, preferring an all-out Philippine offensive, and Roosevelt still wavered between the two positions when the Second Que- bec Conference opened September 11th with Churchill and the joint Chiefs. 7 Admiral Spruance had returned to Pearl Har- bor for rest and to plan future operations, and his place had been taken by Admiral Halsey, under whom the Central Pacific Force now be- came designated the Third Fleet. This change reportedly led the japanese to believe there were two fleets alternately opposing them-the Fifth and the Third. Vice Admiral Mitscher, by his own choice, remained in command of his Fast Carrier Task Force, which was now known as TF-38, and still included Lexington. Task Force 38 carried out air strikes against 56 ping to make way for impending landings on Leyte. In a brief period the combined Air Groups destroyed about 200 enemy aircraft and sunk a dozen freighters and a tanker. Lexing- tonis Air Group was running into its first real opposition on these raids, and they tookadvan- tage of the opportunity by scoring impressively against enemy fighters. p - I Strikes were launched against Mindanao, the Visayan Islands, and on the 21st, the Manila area. Lex sent aloft four deck-loads of planes on separate strikes, and the resulting damage to enemy planes caught on the ground, hangars and other shore installations proved most signi- ficant. In addition, two convoys were caught off the West Coast of Luzon, and suffered consider- able damage. The next morning a few japanese made runs on the Task Force just as flight operations were commencing, but no damage was suffered. Fol- lowing a few final air strikes, CV-16 and her es- corts retired to the newly-acquired Carolines for replenishment September 27. The Task Force put to sea again October 6, launched attacks on Okinawa four days later, and then followed with heavy strikes against aircraft, airfields and shore installations on Formosa on the 12th. Task Force 38 flew 1,396 separate sorties on the 10th, 1,378 on the 12th and just short of 1,000 more on the 'morning of the 13th. In describing the September-October attacks on the Philippines, Lzk reported on October 23, 1944: c'The cost to the japanese was awesome. In 35 days they had lost the backbone of their Philippine air and naval strength, 894 planes destroyed, 157 ships The shzpis magazines are located far below the thick armor plate that forms the hangar deck of the ship. When the time comes to arm aircraft the bombs are taken to the flight deck using eleva- tors within the carrieris island structure , itsebf or using the deck edge elevators. Five hundred ,bound bombs are about to be loaded aboard a TBR f . 5 is ? 5 5 s E c E E 5 : E 11 z 5 f E s E E 5 2 E 'E V, ,-f ,. ...,....-H , . - -Av--Y-- , J ,1-sync. -affix 'ff-ff 'SJFF-11fm:11'11f-0--':L'Ji'1i:1 ::i:t'5: ' M' B? M 'r'i's H 1 sunk. By the attacks on Formosa the Navy. . . Qwasj neutralizing the base from which the jap- anese could best replace their lossesf' Heavier air resistance was met in this period than had been confronting Navy pilots recently, and on October 14 a raid of enemy torpedo planes Uillsj sneaked past the Combat Air Pa- trol and launched their attack. Lex gunners were the first to open fire, shooting down three and assisting in two other kills. The cruisers Houston and Canberra took seri- ous torpedo hits during the attack, but the elated japanese pilots, in their usual modest style, flash- ed word that eleven carriers, two battleships' and three cruisers had been sunk. Radio Tokyo duti- fully broadcast these reports to the world and japan was 'cswept by a sudden wave ofexhilara- tion which dispelled overnight the growing pessi mism over the unfavorable trend of the warf, After lingering 'briefly in the area to cover our retiring damaged cruisers, Lexington resumed at- tacks against the Philippines October 21. Three days later an enemy force was located in the Sibuyan Sea, and pilots from Air Group 19 were credited with hits on three cruisers and an assist in the sinking of the battleship M usacki. The same day TF-38 fell victim of an air attack LeX's guns are manned and ready as an F617 makes ker ina! approach, be- low. At right, is a view of tke flight deck, looking ybrward from Prilfbz, as aircrap' ,are respotted afer a strike on Formosa in Octoben 1944. itseli the CAP was able to splash or drive back most enemy planes Qwith Air Group 19 splash- ing 63 of the 150 shot down during the dayj, but one broke through for a hit on Princeton. When Essex scout planes sighted the japanese carriers the next morning, their Air Group joined with Air Group 19 to deliver a fatal attack on one of them, Ckitose. A second strike successful- ly attacked other enemy units Qincluding the car- rier' Ckzjzodaj an hour later, while Strike No. 3 was sent against additional carriers located to the north. Lex is planes here were credited with sink- ing Zaikaku and assisting in the serious dam- aging of another flattop, Zuiko. The dayas opera- tions were facilitated by the fact that most of the N ipponese aircraft had been caught on the ground at Luzon rather than being on hand to defend the -shipsg Hellcats reportedly made short 'Yu Y Wim 'lfvffh -' nmvsntuxvn ' A-gixizis - X . , ........ig.g xa:.s::4:.ee2m4w-1.ua-i1:...4.541T.,L..,..1.g.f--:mfg,lf-eu-22232.--1,---:EL X X w X R 1 XX X g XX R X R X X x X XX XR 'ix X X x x X v X X X X ff. ,N,,-,...4.,4, 1 ,H M. ,. .., ., W -. . .V ,M H., ..,-.X.. .. -MM AW .W .. .. , , , ,, .,,, ,, f Z4 , f ., , 3 ..f',. . M 4... pq 4..,4.., .1 -MAWAW if HX.. .w ,W MW-. 4.. M 'W .. . M f.. 1, .. 4. 1. .. .H . .. . W ru. f 2111114942 it 40.91021 dw 01741 tl' in in DY f' nn..-az arg 1-an 7 f fauhrl ,, f ' in -xv: mr rua mv f , Minn lf, M W ,Z 'QIT if 2, , f, f W W 'IIEZJW v, ,, W zany, ff fifffk ,WZWWMW ,nan ,f GQOIKJLPIZ ff Q , ,nga nfy fwfr gwwigg ff www? fakfi fwfyff ,f,,W,, 7X7 Q' f X aQ,,fWmWQW af 0 JZ www W W ww,b 45,17 ?2W Qyz M ? f Z Z Q KI' fw, A, ff as ,-w, Zxhhhdwl 0, W QZWWQQZZWW 4,,g4W.0w My QWWM , , ,f 5111 ,11lZJfl'L'7 ,MW ,, , W 51165161111 Amana if in W, KSC 4 Sl!! 313 .... V rn U . . , ,,,---,,,,.,.- -, - .,.. . -F.:-.,-Li.. ----Q-zasfsa-wa-efiisfa mf-r v v--f-1-.1 v-ff f- work of those Zeros which did venture off the island to do battle. The fourth strike, during which Lex3' planes worked with those from Langley, resulted in only near misses on Ise Qa battleship which had been converted to a carrier, and put up Hexceedingly intense anti-aircraft fire j, although the carrier Zuiho, concentrated upon by 27 planes, was finished off. The fifth strike of the day again was aimed principally at Ise, but again no hits were scored -only U34 near-misses. Strike No. 6 was the third in a row to accomplish negligible results, and prompted Japanese Admiral Ozawa's-Chief of Staff to remark later, HI saw all this bombing and thought the American pilot is not so good. However, as naval historian Samuel Eliot Mori- son points out, HHe was pretty good to have sunk four carriers and a destroyer with a total of 527 plane sorties-201 of them fighter planesf, It should also be pointed out that the majority .of the pilots flying the final two strikes were on their third of the day. This important action was a part of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, which was described in the afore- mentioned Potter-Nimitz volume as 'cfor com- plexity and magnitude, without parallel in naval history. The Great Sea War continues: L'Last- ing four days, it was actually a series of actions hundreds of miles apart. The most important were the Battle of the Sibuyan Sea. . .and the Battle of Surigao Strait, the Battle of Cape En- gano, and the Battle of Samar fOctober 25j. When the long-drawn-out conflict at length sub- sided, the Imperial japanese Navy no longer existed as an effective fighting force, and the United States Navy commanded the Pacificfi About this time Admiral Mitscher, back in the United States on a thirty-day leave, commented to the press, Hjapan's homeland is pretty well open to our naval power.'9 I On October 25, 1944 thejapanese carried out the first successful operations of the newly-orga- nized Kamikaze fDivine Windj Special Attack Corp against units of the U. S. Fleet operating near the Philippines. The corp of suicide pilots took the name Kamikaze from the typhoons that saved Japan by scattering Kublai Khan 's inva- sion fleets in 1273 and 1279. 60 The Kamikaze pilot did not merely crash his plane into an enemy target, he deliberately flew to his death in a special, explosive-laden aircraft -literally a human guided missile. Within three months after the first such attack, 424 suicide planes had sortied from Philippine bases to attack the American Fleet. At least 50 of our vessels were damaged by them, including six aircraft carriers, two of which were sunk. After two more days in the Visayan area, Lexington Qnow Admiral McCain,s flagshipj, retired to Ulithi to replenish, emerging on the battle scene again November 5 to strike aircraft facilities at Clark Field on Luzon. The same day her Avengers and Helldivers blew off the bow and stern ofthe cruiser Nachz', sinking her. A severe counter-attack blossomed that after- noon, with the enemy taking advantage of the considerable cloud cover to strike with Kami- kazes. As her War Diary related: 4'All batteries opened fire on cZeke' 4,000 yards on starboard beam heading aft. Plane was hit and on fire, but came in to crash ship, directly outboard of sec- ondary conn Qcontroljf' Tarawa to Tokyo elaborated: uThe 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 typewrit- ten pages in reports. The gasoline explosion from the plane and the bomb blast together start- ed many heavy fires, though prompt work by fire-fighting parties had the blaze under control within twenty minutes. ' c'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. Hlncredibly, through all the shock and confu- sion, the ship continued normal operationsf' Quenching fires, repairing machinery, halting flooding-which allowed Lex to steam on, was what Commander Shaw was talking about in his ju introduction to Morison's Volume VII,Aleutians, Gilberts and Marshalls, when he stated that, Damage control,. . .an orphan trade in the pre-war Navy, so matured that after 1943 only one fast carrier QPrincetonj was lost .... Intri- cate compartmentation, the fog nozzle, fire-fight- ing schools and the use of screening vessels as fire boats prevented wounded flattops from burn- ing and sinking. When relieved, and heading towards Ulithi for repairs and the debarkation of wounded, word again reached Lex that she had been sunk. More wishful thinking for Tokyo Rose! As repairs were being accomplished, Air Group 19 returned to the United States, being relieved by Air' Group 20 fresh from a tour aboard Enterprise. On December 11, CV-16 was at sea again, assigned to Task Group 38.2 and flying the flag of its commander Qwho was also Com- mander, Carrier Division Fourb, Rear Admiral G. F. Bogan. Three days of successful strikes were flown against Luzon airfields, a period in which 208 planes were destroyed on the ground, according to Admiral Halsey. Enemy air opposition was sparse, with 62 of those which did attack being reportedly shot down. No japanese aircraft penetrated the Forceis defensive air patrol. The American ships were caught in a severe typhoon on December 18, costing three vessels and more than 800 lives. Morison observed, Has the center of this tight, violently whirling cyclone approached, the weather became worse than the foulest epithet can describe. Fortunate- ly, Lexington weathered the storm with only fapanis 'Divine Wind the Kamikaze Corps, hz't the U S. Fleet hard with its suicide pilots. Lexington sujjhred a Kamikaze hit on November 52 1944. Forgz-seven ojfcers and men were hilleaf and one hundred and twengf-seven z'n- 'jared when a 'Zel-ce hz't the carrier's island. f-Uv, W y W A , m y nmmmmw-rv 4 in-f ' -cvfisi-itil:-iirvmuxvrnnwiirnuxdfv''nif-i-cirksxfi-1:11152 'T-' 3-' ,:'.1' xJ: ::.3:E?!.1f -, r r :ai'f'v :' 5':'AT5 minor damage, and she steamed into Ulithi with the rest of the Force for aweek of rest and liberty over Christmas. 'cTime off from the war was, needless to say, always welcome, although a few days respite in the South Pacific was hardly what the officers and enlisted men would have ordered from a travel agent. As Commander Shaw de- scribes it: , HOfficers crowded into a Quonset hut, where, after purchasing a book of coupons, they could fight their way to the bar and drink bourbon and chlorinated water from wax-paper ,cups. Enlisted men landed on at beach where they play- ed softball, drank their quota of two beers and wished they had not left the ship. A The Task Group emerged again and headed for the South China Sea to support the Army's landings scheduled for january 9, 1945 at Lin- gayen Gulf. The Air Group practiced up'7 with strikes on Luzon and Formosan airfields prior to this date, and then commenced a search for enemy naval forces which might impair the inva- sion. Although no major japanese Fleet units were discovered, the carrier aircraft, bucking horrid flying weather, managed to destroy nu- merous enemy merchant vessels and their escorts. The Force departed the China Sea January 20, proceeding north to launch strikes on Formosa and Okinawa the next two days. After the latter attack, the vessels retired, and when Lex finally dropped anchor at Ulithi on the 27th, she had steamed 9,758 miles. Three days later Captain E. W. Litch was relieved by Captain Thomas H. Robbins as commanding officer. On the 31st Rear Admiral Davison QCommander Carrier Division Twojb broke his flag aboard Lexington, relieving Admiral Bogan as Commander, TG 58.2. Air Group Nine, whose home-coming had been a magazine feature on May 1, 1944, re- lieved Air Group 20 two days later. Vice Ad- miral Mitscher remained as Commander, TF-58. Many pilots in Air Group 9 lacked previous combat experience, and they were reportedly elated that their first strike was against airfields in the Tokyo area February 16-17. The first fighter sweeps were benefited by clouds and rain squalls which concealed them until they were almost over the targets, and they therefore met 62 T he fast American carriers were the japanese suicide pilots , prime targets, for the japanese recognized the carriers as a major threat to her Island Empire. A combination offactorshnalhf defhated fapan, hut America hasicathf extended her might through seapower. I 1 I I A :iff q0vl5..,,,, .1 5 '4 'f '-' - - 1, 1212921-'fr ILE:rv-rritvttvff!h ffeI1f11+2e.e+fe-meeidiiizwee-9 -we ,..,. .FEW T, , -+--,f-- -so -1 MA, lk ny' 'WH Above, left, an F6F3 fhes across the how ofa South Dakota-class battleshzp, as she approaches Lexington for a land- tng. Left, fhght declf personnel man- handle a damaged az'rcraj?. Above, the catapult ojfcer gives the szgna! to launch an F6F Overleaf, another Hett- cat is launched from LeX's fhght dech. 51 'a I F 5 if if 5 e 3 5 3 2 i 1,1 U uf 1-H n 1- nuff 1 ru L 0 W HWY A M X WW ,, W, -X WS W little resistance either from fighters or anti-air- craft fire. Later raids however met enough op- position to enable them to shoot down 25 de- fenders they also destroyed 18 on the ground although their Group Gommanderwas shot down Two days later the initial landings were made on Iwo ima and Lexington s planes operated in close support of the ground forces dropping 14 tons of bombs and 85 rockets. On the 20th the Force retired and that day Lex rearmed from Shasta the first time the carrier had performed such an operation at sea. The Task Group moved back to attack the japanese home islands February 23, but nearly all future operations were nullified by continuous- ly inclement weather. The trio. of strikes launched on the 25th-found the targets in and around Tokyo closed in, and it was nearly a week later when the Air Group 's next action came- against Nansei Shoto fan island chain in which Okinawa liesj. Only a few enemy aircraft were discovered, and most of the planes spent their ammunition against shipping in the area. The following day the Force again retired, arriving Ulithi March 5. This marked the end of combat operations for A fighter-pilot s ready roorn ahoardLex shortbf before manning az'rcra t or an- other strihe. Some read some play chess others carry on johing conversa- tions or catch a ew rninutes sleep he ore the brie ing or the upcoming strike. miral Sprague s TG-38.1 in Admiral McCain s TF-38D Lexington conducted intensive training on the way north and was therefore . ready willing and ablej' for the strikes beginning july 10 on the Tokyo area. . In certainrespects this day set the pattern forthe weeks to come- raids against airfields on Honshu and Hokkaido, runs on industrial targets around Tokyo, and strikes on remnants of the japanese Fleet at Yokosuka and Kure Naval Bases. Throughout these operations, it is noted in Tarawa to Tokyo, uthe japanese refused to take to the air to protect the Homeland. Although. . . half-hearted attacks against units of the Task Force were made by enemy planes individually and in small groups, no airborne opposition was at any time encountered by ourplanes, and the --1-.-5-n-an-r.-as-xauatw-.mmf-J---' L V. 4- Q-my-1-mxgem :-gf. -'wma-:mama5-.eafmaaasevsiwm-:nwmaenwtmfwers2'1raa2'.3r'v'vaffm'f1-If ' - m .... 1 , 7 f If J C D' Q f f ' I : a 9 7 C 7 7 a cc 7 a GV-16 for awhile, after transferring Air Group Nine to another carrier, Lex embarked Air Group Three and headed for the United States. Following six weeks in Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Washington, Lexington picked up planes and passengers at Alameda, California, and proceeded to Pearl Harbor. There she embarked Air Group 94 and steamed westward for her third combat tour of the war. After a week of training exercises enroute with the carriers Hancock and Cowpens and other units of TG-12.4, she struck the long-belabored japanese garrison at Wake on june 20. As the ship 's War Diary described the strike it uwas in the nature of a practice strike for the benefit of the new Air Group. . .in addition to harassing Jap installations .... H Air Group 94, flying the first Corsairs to operate from Lex, dropped 63 tons of bombs and 470 rockets on the island, shortly thereafter, a Nipponese hospital ship evacuated approximately 1,000 sick and wounded and very defeatedi' japanese. Back in the Philippines as a part of Rear Ad- 68 ship 's guns never opened fire. ' UIt was evident that the japanese had taken ex- tensive precautions for the wide dispersal and careful concealment of their planes. During the following weeks effective attacks were made only when study of photographs enabled our pilots to concentrate on good planes and to leave alone the more obviously placed duds and dummies. The technique of destroying grounded planes involved low-level flying over areas well protect- ed with anti-'aircraft fire and was an important cause of the Air Groupas casualties during the operations: ten pilots and four aircrewmen listed as killed or missing in action. M In spite of the fact that Lexington herself was not subject to attacks from enemy aircraft, life aboard was not peacetime routine. As a War Diary entry on july 15 relates, f'We maintained our usually heavy strike day combat air partrol, and the ship again remained at general quarters throughout the day-this procedure will be fol- lowed throughout the remainder of all strike daysf, I i One of the Air Groupls major attacks on the fleet at Kure saw three hits scored on carrier Katsuragi, two on Ise Qlast blasted by Lexington planes eight and one-half months earlierj, seven on the cruiser Aoba, two on cruiser Oyodo and two more on the unfinished flattop Aso. Another successful day was enjoyed july 28, when Air Group 94 pilots claimed 41 enemy planes de- stroyed, 16 probably destroyed and 26 dam- aged, in addition to hits which left Ise in flames, Aoba awash at the stern, and both resting on the bottom. This date also marked the end of battleship Haruna, converted battleship Hyuga and several other cruisers damaged in previous raids. japan was thus left with a lone battleship QNagat0j, six carriers and five cruisers, all of them out of action and without a crew aboard any of them. Proud and triumphant, Admiral Halsey sent a 'cWell Donej' to his fleet, advising them to HMark well this day the twenty-eighth of july. At dusk on the 30th, following additional strikes on airfields and the planes concealed around them, the Task Force retired to replenish. A week later Lexington was steaming 300 miles off Honshu when the news of the first atomic blast fired in anger was announced. The bomb had been dropped over Hiroshima by a B-29 at 9:15 a.m. on August 6, and the results were ucatastrophic. '7 As described by naval historian Morison, ccThe bomb exploded right over the parade ground where the japanese Second Army was doing calisthenics. The soldiers were wiped out almost to a man. Everything in the city within an area of over four square miles was razed or fuzed. An estimated 71,379 people, in- cluding the military, were killed, 19,691 were seriously injured, and about 171,000 rendered homeless. Three-fifths of Hiroshima had been blown off the face of the earth. 69 ff'-ff-Q--ss-.11-3.-111m , . , .. .-.. ,r .,..:.r:: .n as ,. ..x.:m. ......r ..,..tt'rv..:'- . ,. .-. .-.. . ..,.lv'i'TL - fff '. ' f ' ' X ' ' Three days later the japanese high command had not agreed on unconditional surrender, and even after the second atomic bomb exploded that morning at Nagasaki, there were several policy- making officers who insisted on holding out for certain conditions before agreeing to end the hostilities. Finally, following an Hlmperial Deci- sion by Emperor Hirohito, a message was dis- patched to the Allied Capitals, signifying japan's readiness to accept the Potsdam Declaration. Iapan's Premier, Prince Higashi-Kuni, in ad- dressing the Diet fParliamentj September 5 ad- mitted the atomic bomb was the immediate inducement to surrender, saying, 4'This terrific weapon was likely to result in the obliteration of the Japanese people .... - Following an exchange of official communiques concerning specific surrender terms, President Truman received the final message of agreement from the Emperor on the afternoon of August 14 and made the announcement to the American people at 7:00 p.m. . It was 8:01 on the morning of the 15th feast longitude datej when AZNav 194 reached Lexing- ton, proclaiming, that the war with japan had been brought to a conclusion. The first strike had been launched nearly four hours earlier and completed their missions, but several carriers called back strikes already in the air, before the targets could be reached. It would be vastly incorrect,,however, to say that ournmilitary forces immediately relaxed and prepared to celebrate. As the Lex War Diary stated that morning, We maintained a heavy Combat Air Patrol which was put to good use, since many enemy planes attempted to make suicide attacks on the Task Force, they were all shot down, as Admiral Halsey put it, 'in a friendly sort of way'f' - Attacking enemy aircraft were to be challenged, the Admiral's message was: HAll snoopers will be investigated and shot down, not vindictively, but in a friendly sort of way. Thirty-eight japanese planes were actually shot out of the air on August 15. A memo in Lexingionis record dated August, 1945, lists the following unofficial accomplish- ments of the carrier and her Air Groups Q16, 19, 70 20, 9 and 94j. Total number of flights .... 21,492 Action sorties ................................... .. 8,635 Enemy planes destroyed in air ........... 375 Enemy planes destroyed on ground ..... 665 Ship 's planes lost to AA fire ................ 107 Ship 's planes lost to enemy planes ...... 23 Total bomb tonnage dropped .......... .. 3,156 Total planes' rockets fired ......... .. 4,781 Combat ships sunk ............... . ............ 20 Merchant ships sunk ............................ A 57 The last Air Group to see action aboard, Ninety-Four, claimed 190 enemy planes destroy- ed on the ground, plus 64 Hprobablesw and 176 damaged, their total of only one enemy plane shot out of the air while based aboard CV-16 emphasizes the token opposition from Japanese fighters during the final months of the war. Air Group 94 engaged in gunnery exercises during the next couple of days, until the Task Force sailed south to rendezvous with aReplenish- ment Force. While reconnaissance planes from other carriers roamed over japan's skies during the next week, Lex remained 200 miles to the southeast of Honshu, conducting routine training operations, exercises were also held in which several Task Groups in the area-American and British Ships-joined together for maneuvers. August 25 CV-16 moved to within 100 miles of the japanese mainland and her Air Group conducted patrols over the land soon to be occu- pied by our advance occupation forces. When prisoner-of-war camps were located teach mark- ed by large letters 'LPWUQ the ship was imme- diately notified, and the next aircraft to leave her flight deck -within only two hours - were cram- med with food, clothing and medical supplies. Shipis company donated magazines, clothes, shoes and toilet articles while the print shop ran off a special edition of Lexington? newspaper, Sunrise Press, for an audience which had been isolated from the news of current events for such a long period. The squadrons' pilots flew many such mercy missions throughout the next week, earning for themselves, as well as the officers and men of the Blue Ghost, the heartfelt apprecia- tion of the captives anxiously awaiting release. The first Americans ashore arrived August 28, with Lexs Marine Detachment being employed as one of the initial landing forces in the Tokyo area. Air Group 94 flew countless hours over the coastal waters and Japanese home islands during this period, including September 2, when the historic unconditional surrender of Japan was formally accomplished aboard AdmiralHal- seyls flagship .Missouri in Tokyo Bay. Lexington is planes continued dropping supplies to concentration camps until September 4, meet- ing no hostile aircraft or other signs that every- thing wasn't perfectly secure. On the afternoon of September 5, 1945, the flattop set a precedent for heavy 'carriers by steaming into Tokyo Bay, her crew proudly lining the rails in the hallowed Navy tradition. With the exception of a break for rest and re- plenishment, September 27- October 7, Lexington remained in the waters of Tokyo Bay and vicin- ity until December 3, when, carrying a number of military personnel Mguestsn awaiting dis- charge, she set a course for the United States. Upon arrival at San Francisco twelve days later, her passengers debarked, along with many crew- men slated for separation or taking advantage of long-awaited leave. In addition, 18 officers and 249 of her men were detached, being replaced by only 95 for peacetime Navy duty. To prove she could make history when there wasn't even a war going on, Lexington intro- duced HProject Pinwheelw on October 28, 1945. Two rows of planes, six per row were securely lashed facing inboard on the forward and after ends of the flight deck, alternate banks of planes were then turned up Qapplied with full powerj to give a turning torque to the ship. It was found this would swing her to starboard or port as de- sired at a rate of fifteen degrees per minute. Along with many other combatants which had served so gallantly, Lexington was scheduled for The tradition of painting symbols on tlie side of the carriers island structure to indicate enemy airerai destroyed grew up earbf in the war. Here, a pilot adds fajaanese flags in May of 1944. it if vrhfiarmf-'H-ffpiml -J-'M f -L 1 1 -1'1 :'e'f'PT5 'ii5- b l1Q??2'?iiE'33?I?E?5i?i5- Q2Q.Zl? f Lexington fought a long and hard war and she served her country well The American Navy was largehf responsible for dejhating japan, and Lexington fought her role with honor and distinc- tion. The nuclear blasts over Hiro- shima and Nagasahi climaxed a long hard campaign, fought by the Navy on the high seas and by the Marines on the beaches and islands ofthe Pacijia with support hom the Army Air Corps. As so many times in the past Americas might had been extended across hostile T waters by herlbower at sea. inactivation shortly after final hostilities ended. The proud flattop arrived at Bremerton, Wash- ington for this purpose May 23, 1946, and exact- ly eleven months later was placed out of commis- sion. Her assignment- Bremerton Group, U. S. Pacific Reserve Fleet. 1950 brought the Korean War and a build-up in strength of our Naval forces in the Western Pacific-the Seventh Fleet. United States' air- craft carriers - employing squadrons of jets from their decks for the first time in history-played an important role in the conflict, ranging from strikes against inland targets to close air support of amphibious operations. Lexington was slated for modernization and re-activation during this period, and on October 1, 1952 she was re-designated an attack aircraft carrier QCVA Exactly eleven months later the ship commenced conversion in Puget Sound. The most important modernization feature was the new angled or canted deck, which was being tested aboard Anti'etam at the time Lex entered the shipyard. This concept, first conceived by the British, would enable aircraft to land diagon- ally across the deck, instead of straight up the centerline. Landing planes would not interfere with those taking off simultaneously from the bow of the carrier via catapult, and furthermore, less arresting gear would be required. The pre- conversion Essex-class flattops were equipped with thirteen arresting wires, five barriers and '72 Zi I 1 1 4 1 1 4 1 1 F 1 1 1 1 I 1 1 I 1 1 1 1 f 4 , , X , x xW 6 X ,gs N X 1 1 L, ,, ,NE ,gm J Q!-, f xx I X35 1 M N 1 fx .F m-1 W r .Z?'Z'FJQi'I :. .. z... . ,i'l':1- ...... . -..- .fEW'?1?!'?'.. - 3- ' 7 'f 2' L ' one barricade, with a total of a dozen arresting engines. With the angled deck, a pilot failing to engage one of the few arresting wires could apply full power to take-off again, and come around for another pass. The greatest implication of this for the pilots, of course, was the substantial improvement in the safety of landing operations -not having to face barriers, barricade and parked aircraft should the arresting wires not be engaged. Other significant features were being added to carriers at this time to compensate for the larger, heavier and faster aircraft then becoming opera- tional. Twin steam catapults Qanother British developmentj, a mirror landing system and a longer and stronger flight deck all became a part of the 'fnewv Lexington which emerged from the shipyard in August 1955. Recommissioning occurred the 15th of that month, with Captain A. S. Heyward, Ir. assum- ing command. After her fitting out and readiness- for-sea period, Lex conducted Shakedown train- ing out of San Diego, California, returning to Bremerton on January 29, 1956 for post-shake- down overhaul. In early March she steamed south again to spend the next two and a half months engaged primarily in training operations in and out of San Diego. t ' May 28 was the commencement date for a de- ployment to the Far East. After a stop at Pearl Harbor, Lexington headed .toward japan, chopping to the U. S. Seventh Fleet june 16. Upon arrival at Yokosuka, Commander Carrier Division One broke his flag aboard, and was with the ship for visits to Kobe and Okinawa. Twenty-eight days during the summer were spent on rescue station off the China coast, as a part of Task Force 77. On a visit to Hong Kong on October 4 Captain Iohn W. Gannon relieved Captain Heyward as commanding offi- cer. A fleet operation christened Slim jim shared the October spotlight with a violent typhoon, although Lex managed to survive both. A cruise to Melbourne, Australia was next on the operations schedule, but this was cancelled by another of the frequent flare-ups which character- ize the international situation in Southeast Asia. When nothing serious materialized, however, the 74 ship returned to Japan, and on December 6, de- parted from Yokosuka for Pearl Harbor, San Francisco and finally to home port San Diego. Pulling in there December 20, her log book show- ed 54,000 miles steamed and 4,000 sorties com- pleted by the Air Group. The initial three and a half months of 1957 were spent in the vici-nity of her home port, con- ducting training exercises for the crew and car- rier qualifications for Air Group 12. These fliers were very much at home, therefore, when they were assigned to Lexington for the next deploy- ment, departing for Pearl Harbor April 19. Fol- lowing the usual brief stopnthere, the ship arrived Yokosuka June 1, and the following day became flagship for Rear Admiral H. D. Riley, COMCARDIV ONE Cwho also served as Com- mander, TF 77 june 19-September 6, and Com- mander, TG 77.7 September 6-October 10j. After a period of refresher training at Guam, Lex anchored a week in early july at Kobe. The remainder of the summer was spent in various operations in the waters around japan, with lib- erty stops beingsmade at a variety of ports in- cluding Yokosuka, Iwakuni, Sasebo and Hong Kong. On September 19 a new commanding officer took over- Captain B. L. Bailey. A milestone of the deployment was the receipt, October 3, of the coveted Qfiscalj 1957 Chief of Naval Operations Aviation Safety Award. On such a pleasant note another long deployment was ended in San Diego on October 17. q Shortly thereafter the flattop steamed up to Bremerton for a routine overhaul, and was rest- ing in drydock at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard when 1957 drew to a close. Work was finally completed and the ship headed south on March 26, 1958, stopping on the way to San Diego to participate in commemoration ceremonies for a new USO in San Francisco. Spring and the month of june were spent in extensive training operations for ship's company, as well as assist- ing a number of squadrons to up-date their car- rier qualification proficiency. Lexington was dispatched tofSan Francisco again the initial week in July to join other ele- ments of the First Fleet in celebration of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Great White Fleet's arrival on the westcoast. On the return voyage to home port, Lex participated with other Fleet units and the Continental Air Defense Command in f'Strike Bluebolt , testing Army and Navy military capabilities. Following only three days in San Diego, the carrier was again operating off the California coast when orders were received to return to San Francisco and embark Air Group Twenty-One. Half way around the globe the LebanonCrisis was unfolding, and our armed forces worldwide were immediately placed on various stages of alert. -' A return was made to home port only long enough to say good-bye to everyone's fam- ily and to embark Rear Admiral Clark, COMCARDIV FIVE, and his staff. On the way to the western Pacific a two-day stopover was made at Pearl Harbor, and at that time Captain james R. Reedy relieved Captain Bailey as commanding officer. Following a brief stop at Guam, Lex Hchoppedw to Commander, U. S. Seventh Fleet and immediately began a period of forty-four consecutive days at sea off Taiw an, finally concluding the continuous steam- ing at Subic Bay in the Philippines September 18. On September 27, at sea, Rear Admiral South- erland embarked and Lexi'ngton became flagship of Carrier Division Seven QAdmiral Clark had debarked twenty days earlier, shifting his flag to USS Midway.j The Chinese Communists had intermittently been shelling the Nationalist-held islands of Quemoy and Matsu just off the Main- land, but when a cease-fire was declared in October, Lexington steamed up to Yokosukafor a week in drydock. When the cease-fire was cut short three days after her arrival there, CVA-16 was immediately ordered back to station off Taiwan. The ship was able to return to japan to complete her brief yard period soon, however, and then, after another look at Taiwan, she sail- ed to Buckner Bay, Okinawa. It was there, on November 15, that Admiral Southerland was killed in a helicopter crash dur- ing a flight from the ship to Naha Air Base. December 1 Lex headed home again, after the usual stop in Hawaii and taking time to debark Air Group 21 at Alameda, she arrived at San Diego in time for ayear-end holiday leave period. Routine operations, including carrier qualifica- tions, consumed most of the first third of 1959 in the area off San Diego. Carrier Air Group 21 came aboard April 24-25 in time to depart for Pearl Harbor. One element of the Air Group, Attack Squadron 212, became the first Navy Air Unit to take the air-to-surface Bullpup missile aboard a carrier in an operational status. The ship continued into the Western Pacific for a full-scale deployment. On June 16, four days after arriving at Yokosuka, Captain Stanley E. Reuhlow assumed command, and he was on the bridge when Lexington sailed into Hong Kong july 3. In mid-july maneuvers christened Operation Blue Sky were undertaken in conjunction with Nationalist Chinese forces. Other liberty ports and various operations occupied the next six weeks, and CVA-16 was scheduled to steam to Kobe when unrest in Laos once again threatened the political situation in unsettled Southeast Asia. Lex was therefore diverted to Subic Bay, and on September 6 rendezvoused with USS Shangri-La to await developments. Also unsettling things in the Pacific around this time was Typhoon Vera, which Lex had to go to some lengths to avoid in late September. Once clear of this dangerous storm, the ship embarked Marine Air Group Eleven, and entered the final phase of the deployment. Following final stops at Sasebo, Buckner Bay and Yokosuka, she headed for Pearl Harbor and home, arriving San Diego November 25. The remainder of the year was relatively quiet, being devoted primarily to leave and upkeep. America emerged hom World War II as the most powerful nation on earth - with world-wide responsibilities. T he U S. Seventh Fleet helped maintain the peace in the Far East The attach car- rier Lexington regularbz deployed to Asiatic waters. jets were now operation- al units ofthe fleet. Overleaf, Lexington launches a Shywarrior hr a mission with the Seventh Fleet in the summer of J 95 8. 75 1 , ,,,, ,,,, ,, ,-.,-,.g-v ,ff I n I I I 3 I ' 'A ' '-'H'- 4--M-A--1-1 H1-'H rfu111111A1:L:r1':1w:r:1Lk1 nf- V4.1f--Y'-I.1-'ln'-.LU.,-.-mam-.Y. 4 , ,-,-. , . :: .:,.L,1 N -:- Y- -1 4- - V k - -1 -- - - 1 V x - xl: ...L..., ..... ..--, .-.., , ., Xxx k v I . . . X X ,, f Y-1, ,.. tr 6 . H' r if ' ff? i ,N nf. 4 ff , f , X X ,, If , f f , X . f A V, 4-.mm vw-X 1 i 1 I f ixiw My , 1 W,,Q.m X , V f Nami M W D N,M,q,,,, , . ,,,, f X. X 'Q X. X 1 A ' vwbyw Q 7 .bn af, X W fx 1 . H' X M f ' X . A N V+ un' A N ,, W f WANX 1 ,,W,.X,,,,,,.,,,.....N..xN , M y, X A K f f w---- - - V .. - .1-fm 9---. -11 n r. ,. .- , ,, . . - , ,y--4-HT,znx?,gmm,1, 1--,-,.-,Ti ..,.:..,.4.....,....-...,....,..,..-w.......,........-.............. .U-A..T+-......... .............................. , , ,K , Y El!! 1 5, 'f 5'? '1 5 '4 ' '3. 4. ' ' f J ' ' - - v -f-, - ,-M-A-i-f-5-A15,,-in1.32U.:1,mn.azmgm.-iw.gm.1.WJz.............f..,...,,.,....,..w......-..........u.-ywf, U,--A-.:'.,.'-v..- V-.-QM... ..,. L. .. f g:3z14 :s.+ mszaziizszzsifaiaiazazaazeleausamziazzzaaeazseasmaszzszs.2'z:s:sF5a.f2.f1212.zaz?.:saaasazaseaaf:zs5:l.:-Lu.,LL..-,..,-..J-.., , ,Y , 5 i 1? .',.Mff ! 4 X WWW W my ,W Wffyf YW M W ww WW WA' f , ff mf fw X W W 4 f Wf AB Aa? 5.34 f v .,,Y1V-NN L LXZW' ,f a , ,WWWW ,M ff fy f , , A yw fgfff 'ww Y .Q Q.- 'Q T Another cycle commenced again january 13, 1960, when the ship arrived once more at Brem- erton, Washington for shipyard overhaul. This period was completed in the spring and she then returned to home port for training operations. With summer came a Midshipman Cruise- an interesting first experience for many of the crew. They reportedly found the future officers eager to learn all phases of the flattop's operations, and were friendly and cooperative to an extent the cruise was a productive and enjoyable one for all hands. It was during this period Uuly 8j that Captain Strong relieved Captain Ruehlow as commanding officer. A veteran unit of earlier Lex cruises, Air Group 21 also embarked over the summer, and their personnel assisted in hosting an open housen September 11-12 for 18,000 visitors. The next six weeks were devoted to sharpening the skills of ship 's company and the Air Group. Lexington crews had led a Hcharmed life since recommissioning, in that they had not been engaged in an overseas deployment over the Christmas-New Year,s holidays. 1960 broke the string, however, for on October 29 the ship set out for Pearl Harbor and the Pacific Fleet. Operations during the early part of the cruise were generally what had taken place on previous deployments, including the usual Southeast Asia crisis. Asthe ship 's cruise book relates, 'cShortly after the cruise started, we were called upon to take station off the coast of Vietnam to be in a position to aid the government of Laos .... Com- munists were pushing from the north into fLaosj. Lexington, a veteran ofthe Pacwc Wan proudh led the First Fleet into San Francisco in September of 1960. Midway is about to follow Lexington under the Bay Bridge as a new guided rnissile cruiser heads for her own berth. 79 7131. ' T ' f,L.li...'.1 .f,:Q. Fortunately, the situation eased somewhat, and it was possible to initiate a visit to Hong Kong over the holidays-it Wasnat home, but it Wasn't Okinawa, either ! Immediately after this brief visit, however, the carrier headed back to her old station in the South China Sea. Shortly thereafter Lex was ordered north toward japan, but the crisis took another of its sudden turns for the worse, and the ship hurried back to station once more. World attention was focused. on this area of the world, and on our protective Seventh Fleet ! fet squadrons had become operational in the Fleet durz'ng the 195019. The high performance aircraji' demanded changes z'n the Essex-class carriers that had been built for the prop-driven air- craft of World War IL Lexington and a number of other ships were modzfed for jet operations, with the British- developed angled flight deck, steam cat- apults and the mirror landz'ng system installed Here a Fury just prior to launch. - 80 V-1, , g, v ,v X-,ev -vn-1-1, ,, mnnvumnnymmrnvnvumxymnauwnnnuevnpgnpnnngg. A nz-syn:-s-gyaxf-B A - b 1 J A A 4 , , - ,,,..,, ...nlzfxm , 1 4 . , ,A , 1. ,,,, , ,J ,gg-. .,f,-1-,.-wr: 1- --,-f'.v-f.Lf':,g':- .- -.-,,1::3r 1:::: . 7--1.4,--.,,:....-.::,:::g:.: 1.1.-::LQ-,L.,.: r., :.v,-,.,.f:,,,.r.. ...-. .....-..--.w.-.-..,,-......f,..-.-. -- -. -M- -.H -Y,---1 5---,--A --Q A-V - f-1---1----M ---4-- H A f - f M4 2 Q x , NZ X f ,X vw' Xwdw SX Q r xy , Q. .Q , X W S wi x W X , . ,x X O M' N' N fwwzawm- .N ,,, , www M W - W . , ,N f 4 X- , ,, ,, H... H ,,,Vf ,in -- ---4--ff' -- gf -f-- 7-if-f-w --f i1f-- - ,f..,m,uxq-1.xmw.wnr,f.:,.L,,,,,,,-znfm:nuw:- 1-am:--'gm :qP .-r-:xznxvs-avr-m'--v1v'v1-'r H The initial five and a half months of 1961 were spent alternately conducting operations at sea-and visiting friendly ports in the Western Pacific where ship 's company engaged in a num- ber of constructive projects in implementation of our People-to-People Program. Lex thus con- tinued to serve her country in two vital ways- further solidifying friendly relationships with na- tions already allied with the United States, and standing by ready to defend the interests of free peoples against hostile forces. With her long deployment finally drawing to a close, Lexington turned and steamed back towards home, arriving in San Francisco on June 5 for a brief visit before eventual docking at San Diego. Leave periods, liberty and opportunities for naval schooling were made available to her per- sonnel over the summer months, while routine up-keep, brief training periods and some special events dotted the calendar for the ship herself. Two of the latter included a July visit by a con- tinent of NATO officials and the mid-August par- ticipation in the Navy's Golden Anniversary Air Showf, This featured, in addition to an uopen house for local residents, the hourly launching of jets from Lex 's catapults-the first time this had been accomplished in San Diego Bay from a ship not underway. The public-relations-'minded carrier hosted 1 14 former naval aviators-many' of them the real old-timers-for a view of modern naval aviation in mid-September, and then received wide-spread press coverage from thirteen guest editors who remained aboard for a three-day cruise. ' It seemed all to soon for the veterans of the most recent deployment in the Western Pacific, but on November 9 Lex steamed forth again, and after a brief but pleasant stopover in Hawaii, made her initial foreign port, Yokosuka, Japan, December 4. This city, Lexington is traditional Hhome port in Asia, offered plenty for experienced and boot crewmen alike to see and do. This particular stopover, lasting until the 17th, additionally of- fered sufficient time to take the variety of planned 82 tours available. Since immediately after World War II, japan has offered the most popular liberty ports in the Pacific, and CVA-16 officers, and crewmen were anxious to capitalize on the benefits of their first foreign port of the cruise. Particularly popular with those making their initial visit to the island nation were. the scenic beauty of the gardens, buildings, and mountain- studded landscape. The quaint fishing villages, the booming modern industry, and above all the hospitality of the people would all be long remem- bered- and practically every man ashore carried a camera to record the highlights of the visit for those at home. The night life was interesting too, and proved itself well-adapted to the 16V2 odd years of American servicemen. Even signs read- ing 'cCome on in, suffer, brownbaggerf' and We have only ugly girls, poor drinks, rotten musicn failed to deter crewmen from some of the waterfront nightspots. After a gay Christmas holiday at sea, Lex returned to Subic Bay for the New Year's holiday. A week at sea, a week in Sasebo, ten days more of operations at sea and then two more weeks back at Yokosuka-so it went moreor less through the deployment. A variety of training exercises were conducted on the brief cruises out of port, but at least there were not as many of the tense patrols in the South China Sea that had marked the previous deployment-although the 14-month Geneva negotiations on the fate of Laos were still rambling along without a conclusion in sight. A week-long visit to Hong Kong in February was one pleasant respite from the routine, but all hands kept busy enough Withtheir duties and frequent in-port periods that the Weeks literally flew by. May 4 the ship departed Yokosuka for Lexington made stops in Hawaii, both on her outward voyage to the Western - Paczfc ana' her return trips from the WesPac deployments wz'th the Seventh Fleet. Members of the crew spell out ALOHA 50, honoring the jfftieth state. Zi X A kk .qv -' '. I Q, , f ! 1 f Jr? . M , . f 1 X o .....:x:-...,,L.,...,.. ...... the final time, heading east to San Diego where she arrived eleven dayslater to arousing welcome of wives, families and Sweethearts. A lot of the families would be moving shortly, for Lexington had been designated to relieve USS Antiefavn. Her new role would be to train pilots of the Basic and Advanced Naval Air Training Commands, her new home port-Pensa- cola, Florida, her longest cruise probably to Vera Cruz, and her area of operations, the Gulf of Mexico rather than the expansive Pacific. Arrangements were quickly expedited for moving both the carrier and families of her per- sonnel, and on july 23, 1962, she departed San Diego for the last time. The cruise to the other side of the continent was a pleasant one for all hands, however, providing many of them their initial opportunity to visit a number of colorful cities never before encountered. After a stop at the tourist haven of Acapulco, Mexico, where she received the silver tray now gracing her quarter- deck from the Navy League of Mexico, Lexing- ton continued south across the equator, where the ushellbacksa' were duly initiated into the Realm of King Neptune. This traditional Navy cere- mony was reportedly endured well by the Upolly- wogs making their first crossing on August 2, and was certainly marked down as one of the highlights of the journey around- the horn. Valparaiso, Chile was the remaining port visited on South America's West Coast, with Rio de Janeiro, Brazil the first and best stop on the Northward voyage. I A final visit was paid to Trinidad September 5-6, with Lex finally pulling into Norfolk, Virginia on September 12. Shortly thereafter Lexington moved farther up the coast -and for a routine six-week overhaul period in New York Naval Shipyard. The fall of 1962 was not a routine period, however, with the Cuban missile crisis capturing the headlines. When the Cuban blockade was established, Lex was ordered to expedite her repairs and make ready to get underway. Set for action in a manner of days, the carrier steamed south, and began qualifying various ,, ,. . . , ,. , - V . . ... ..-,..,.,.-.,.y...,-,-.1:.:i:er.,..:.:rq.-gina.... 1- -f- v F- ff- f ' Left page a pretgz rnzss from the USO show Laugh wzth the Gzrls poses at the wheel on the carrzer 5 brzdgezn anu ary 1962 Lexmgton sazled rom San Dzego on 23 1962 kr a trzp around Cape Horn bound or new dugz zn the Atlanfze Fleet At left zs a radar ozew as the shzp rounded Cape Horn Below zs the same scene vzewed rom theflzght deck - --- .::-uv-. ,,:::::. ,-r'z::1:.::1r'::'-m.:,.1Lf.r..rV-...:1.-..,f --Q Q 1-wxzax'-IJ T T lf ' 111: :z : 2:1a':..':L1':.z':1.1.': -'- - -'--2171?-F-1'lI'f1TJ-Tfxliizi 7 rc . . pp . 5 . . f , - f . 1 . J , f . . . 3 , , f . ' ' ---' ' f ' - , All 'V ' Y' gHE-8g'fK'.EIg1gT: i.'E12fii ll117l?7rl7?IJ41FPlfi .' ' .-,n...,..w-1... x ' HL - 1 ,::::.3?-'!??E7- .-..m-......... .. .. ., . , W -P-v:uf:. ---- .... -- -, ,. .-, - .. .. ... f ., 4 i Air Groups in underway flight operations. She operated in this capacity out of Mayport, Florida for about six weeks, but was never called upon to actually participate in the Cuban quarantine. When the crisis finally abated, Lex steamed around to Western Florida and relieved Antietam at Pensacola. Operations since becoming based at Pensacola have constituted a steady routine previously un- known aboard the carrier in its world-wide travels. One week a month-'4Fleet Weekl' -is devoted to operations with Navy and Marine Squadrons assigned to the fleet, this means day and night flight operations with our most modern aircraft. This busy period also provides the ship an opportunity to conduct other drills and training operations necessary -to maintain over- all readiness. Most of the time, however, Lexington is en- gaged in her prim ary mission-qu alifying student pilots under the cognizance of the U.S. Navy's Basic and Advanced Air Training Commands. The weeks and weeks of long hours ship's com- pany have devoted to the duties involved since assignment to Pensacola have occasionally been broken by Search-and-rescue or disaster-relief missions, but it has been the exacting perfor- mance of her vital number 1 job that will long stand out in the minds of the officers and crew who compose the proud complement of Lexington. 87 . . ..r...... .,..-..- ,.....,...........w- .-Z---T--fffffffy-. 1-1:1:11:11::r--.....---.:.':::-......---c:::::.-:::::::-.,...-'-'::::::.-..,.'-'-'--H-...m,...-:5.'::,:...3fj55.3g.j35555:55g5g:::::'-'..g....j ' ' ' ' 1: '.1I.f2.Q,-fl ', :'.:, 5xMfi '....i 'f '11xgi?LeEEz.f',,',,gf', 152 'liiidiiiks- 75f55'.g:-!: '2 ' ' ' ' C arrier Qualifications - A The specific missions of U. S. Navy ships differ according to their size and capability, all com- bine, however, one overall mission -the preserva- tion of World peace. . At Pensacola, Lexington is under the operation- al control of the Chief of Naval Air Basic Train- ing. The ship conducts carrier qualification landings and launchings for basic students in the T28A, a propeller-driven training aircraft, and the T2A QT2j j, a single-engine jet trainer. Often operating from 7:00 a.m. until dusk- sometimes six days a week until the scheduled operations are completed-Lex is not a c'soft shore-duty billet by any means. In addition, Lexington pro- vides fleet carrier qualification training for pilots of the Replacement Air Group of the Naval Air Force, Atlantic Fleet, located at jacksonville, as well as other operational Naval and Marine Air Units flying fleet-type aircraft. This is during the monthly 'fFleet Week , when she operates at sea, conducting day and night flight ops and other fleet exercises. Approximately every three Weeks CVS-16 crosses the Gulf of Mexico and operates in the vicinity of Corpus Christi, Texas, Where she is under the operational control of the Chief of Naval Air Advanced Training. Advanced stu- dents conduct their carrier qualifications in the TF9j QFQF-8j, a single-engine, swept-wing jet Vital Mission trainer formerly used as a first line fighter in the fleet, the A1H CAD-Gj, a propeller-driven fleet attack aircraft, the S2A QSQFQ, a twin-engine propeller-driven, anti-submarine aircraft, and the T2A basic jet trainer. In addition to her primary' mission of conduct- ing carrier qualifications, Lexington is prepared to render aid to hurricane and earthquake vic- tims, as the training carrier has done in the Gulf area many times. She is capable of providing medical and sanitation assistance as well as con- veying foodstuffs and other supplies to stricken communities in case of any unusual emergency. Lexington also is available to assist in any School of Aviation Medicine projects, including space operations and recovery procedures. By discharging her responsibilities as training carrier for fleet and future fleet pilots, CVS-16 fulfills her role in the preservation of world peace. She also is ready to move into the front lines and stem the thrust of aggressive powers, as necessary. A ' The ship 's new mission - training car- rier pilots. Air operations are frequent-s ' br Conducted continuousbz, from seven in the rnorning until the greyingqtwilzght of evening, day after day. ,,,,, , An- ,, . . . . Z . .. l.,,m.,il-..avr......:,,,,,:,.5.,.,.,,.L..... ...N SW f 4' 1 7 1...i...,. ,,.....-new , W S 7, I' X Si A Q ' XS A w ax 7 - f Q51 Sw 17' , X My 6- dz, Wm, f . V1 x ,V Qwifg . ff f, WX MSW , WWSQ x .f V ,. f f A51 59 y . f , M A Zsmsw saw f , in W Nm M, ,M aw 4 Z X xam U , ,ff ' W. W' ., 'W W W U, ,Num as ,. K X f x 41 if . 7 K W SZ fi fw mv- ,fs 0 Q ,wfws f- JY NZS X 'Z Nz5y Q yy, X fQf Xfg f Sfsf As A w Q f Se N X QSAQ Y WAWS 2 XAS W S 7? S W 5 x wf SWQWS WS il 'E W fi ,ga 4 X Q fx M X ,xx x -Q, 3. A X X ww S- Qs QQ5 N I 0 ,wow WN N N S QNXN X XX X .X vwww SJSQWXXZRQKS ., 5 The good weather in the Pensacola area makes for gooa' flying conditions. It also makes for gooa' relaxation. The beaches in the Pensacola area are well- hnown for their natural beaugz ana' thez'r beautiful gi rls. K rv' 45 -ia ,'u'iZi,X4 W- pktvgrjmrr I. auf, f f f 2 -.,.,,h' 'QQ rhhik I wa.. 5.34 ' f f - V fp xg ,gig V xr I VE: , ., . , 1 Mi A 4 At left, the pretzgz iniss is more suitabb dressed for the climate than the saz'lor ouftted in his fire-fighting garb. Below, Mz'ss Pensacola Navy with LeXington's Shipper and Executive Officer and the 'Fiesta beauty contestants on the flight dech. Guiding visitors around the ship is heguentbz pleasant duty. ' 93 I .kt F! Yffv- W an J53.-'?- W- W W - 1 , 1 1 i 2 5 ,Z 5 1 V4 as ri? 's N ei i 9 le nfs ii :fa f Z M Q If- Z W1 Kg 2 sg is ix if 5 is 1 ,Q 1 M SS 3 I ..z ,WI Q -1 22' WM WMM z ff f f Z' if f ' f X, 4 Z if i f ff if 2 f 'L' ffwwr f xxx Lexington spent Mardi Gras 1964 in New Orleans. Lexingtonis rnen greatbz enjoyed the eigz and the cizjz enjoyed the ship, with thousands of visitors wet- eomed aboard during the stay. At left, the river boat President greets Lexington in the Zllississzppi as the carrier arrives hr the celeb ration. J mlq5 '-W, H M ' TTY :':::'::?'m 532' gi Q? E , N4 W X 7 Z Je X4 is EK 2 A X if ,yu Top, Lexington has served the United States long and well LTI W Poore, USN, of VT25 at NAA6, Chase Held Texas, made the earrier's I OQ 000th arrested landing on Feh ruary 20, 1964. Below, an S2 sub-hunter laxis forward jbr another launch aj?er an arrested landing. At left, a T214 on her final ap- proach. At right, underway withadech- load of trainers. ll I I I I I I I I I I I I I I, I II II II II I I I I I I I I I I I ,II IDIHHIIIIV rl IIIH1 H11iIII1?i'R1i!I3xlI!13II, I4 QIIIIIIIIIIALII Iiliiiiliiiliili Tr I 1:1 1: F1 ISE Iii I ii re 5 It' I? T2 IE IT' IAS' I I ii Q 3: Ii as :I 5? 5:53 T52 1-2 Q? Wi ,..J iid ILL! T.: .H IJ 242 - rx: rm T93 :TE SE 2 -as E 'Y .: . 'X 1l'l Wssisf mx: ,, ' VIII :emi Iiiif' ,Tum 3.51.3 E ' Q---11--Q-Q-11:1-are-Le-fm-1-.1-A-1-r semi: .-L .- -1 -vs.:tem-vm-'ya-.-, 'a-rw-fn+f:i-gizaainbmiivmvfi . .'- ' ' T' '- if iw' 'G- - w l l f W 6 uafm . W. a E 5 T , ., . ,...7..-....-N.-L,..,.Y :wfff-.,,.,..., ..-1. if if l -,s 1 4, W lv he ea ! W Z 2 -A 'ma Air Department In her present mission under the training command, Lexington operates with approximate- ly seven types of fixed wing aircraft and two types of helicopters. She handles more landings and take-offs per month than any other carrier in the world. Her primary mission is conducting carrier qualifications for student and fleet pilots. The mission of the Air Department is to conduct launching and landing operations, including the control of airborne aircraft incident thereto, and to 'provide service and facilities for the care, maintenance, and servicing Qincluding fuelingj of aircraft. During a typical day of flight operations in the waters off Pensacola, CVS-16 might be called upon to operate with ten or twelve 'cflightsn of five or six planes each. The training command ashore states its weekly requirements, and then the Ops Department establishes the daily sched- ules. After the aircraft leave their fields ashore, Air Operations guides them in toward the car- rier and turns them over to the control of the Air Department, which supervises those planes in the traffic pattern and those actually on board. Rescue helicopters from Pensacola, which remain airborne near the ship during operations, are also controlled by this Department. Control of the aircraft is exercised through the Air officers in the tower, the Landing Signal Officer fa mem- ber of the squadron, rather than of ship's com- panyQ on the Flight Deck, and the many super- visory Air Department personnel on the flight deck and hangar deck, employing radio, light, and hand signals. Communications between the Air Officer and flight deck supervisory personnel is carried out principally by means of transistor- ized two-way radio headsets. Propeller planes in the training command rou- tinely make one pass over the carrier to 6' get the picturef, and then shoot two touch-and-go land- ings and six arrested landings during their flight. Jet trainers, because of fuel limitations, by-pass their 'clook-see pass, merely making a pair of 98 utouch-and-goes and four arrested landings Cthree for F9F's in Corpus Christij. Prop air- craft, after their arrested landings, taxi down the flight deck and take off, while the jets must be catapulted into the air. Landings are made every 30-45 seconds at Pensacola, so the flight deck crews must be extremely alert to maintain Hdeck clearn and still concentrate upon safety pre- cauuons. Air Department functions are carried out by five separate divisions with a total of approxi- 250 officers and men. An observer viewing flight operations for the first time might be confused by the color coded jerseys and helmets worn by these personnel, actually, the colors indicate the type of work performed by the wearer, thereby facilitating speed and safety of operation. All officers and plane directors wear yellow colors. This distinguishes them as overall super- visors of various groups of men andf or functions. V-1 division, wearing blue, handles all aircraft on the flight deck. These men move, planes about the deck to the catapults, and to and from the three elevators which operate between the flight deck and the hangar deck below. A small group of V-1 personnel, wearing red, must be ready at all times to respond instantly to a crash or fire on the flight deck. In the rare event of an accident, instantaneous reactions of thecrew gets the pilot out of his plane and clears the deck for the next aircraft on the way in. The Hangar Deck Division, V-3, also wearing blue colors, handles the aircraft on the hangar deck and on the elevators when at hangar deck level. These personnel must also be ready to 'ac- tuate fire fighting equipment installed on, the hangar deck. V-2 personnel, in green, control the twin cata- ' Lexington's landing path z's seen here horn the shzpis' rescue helicopter about to take station on the starboard quarter, just before Air Ops. -iffs?-3..5:Z-ifzf-f''fffiirl--gi:---'3??--5542::STE SES: ?ff1':g zz., A--y Q - 5:1 :-1L-:uL-......-'- 1- -- - 4 xv ,F W i A f , A QM If WM QM ,fwvfff f Maw, grlxeyk X W, v x my, , 4' A ff 4 TV f x, , V f W law, My Z, QWWQW, 0 f X N-,f .. f, Z , Z My W A , XX Zxfl? iff f x ' mtv Wimw N QW fx A , 9, 45 f, ,X -fmlv-S,-W MQ' ,. nf ww ,V ,CM ,, wg, -xv wiv , 4 W,yk-4, ,NZNQWW x - m . W x f q ,,, ,s I , f A , , x x af X I 4 2,6 , ,7 yn 5 A ' f W img fy 1 A , sm W 'I i pults, either of which is capable of launching air- craft every 60 seconds at a speed of 135 knots. V-2 also has domain over the four arresting gear systems, the optical landing system, and the bar- ricade system. The arresting wires are capable of bringing aircraft weighing as much as 35 tons to a quick, safe stop. The barricade is a huge nylon net which can be suspended across the landing area in approximately two minutes Ca job requiring 30-35 men, and necessitating fre- quent rehearsalj, for the purpose of stopping an aircraft which for some reason, such as an inop- erative tail hook, is unable to engage an arrest- ing wire. V-4 division, also with red coding, handles and stores the aviation fuels, AvGas and IP-5. Extreme safety precautions must be observed in stowage and handling of these volatile fuels. When fully operational, fuel may be pumped from 26 different stations on the hangar and flight decks. The men of V-6 wear green, and maintain all of the 'fyellow gear used to pull, lift, dismantle, start and test aircraft and aircraft systems. They also maintain electric, electronic, hydraulic, struc- tural, and engine repair facilities to support air- craft maintenance. During operations with train- ing aircraft these men operate starting equipment and make inspections of aircraft in addition to shop maintenance. Since the ability to accomplish the assigned task in the time available depends principally upon the efficiency of flight deck operations, every moment is valuable. Speed of operation is second only to considerations of safety. Team- work and precise coordination from the Air Boss down to the newest airman are planned, prac- ticed, and scrutinized constantly. The object is to land aircraft, get them serviced, repaired, or replaced, and launch them again. Lady Lex continues to do this in a manner which exceeds her own record performance with speed, efficiency, and pride. Left, top, 159s being reacliea' for catapult launches. Left, below, V-4 Division per- sonnel rush out to refuel a helicopter. Below, member of V31 retracting the tailhooh of an F9 as a V-6 checker in- spects wing andflap. N 1.1 : . ',.., ..'.- cr.-. ..-.- ....... .,.n.. L... ..-......Y.,-...............:::::.L.5:4:.....:. L. ',4-H-,-QAAQMA , - ,ATV-, U :A V v,.. ...'-.- - V L- , ,. , ., .. N . ...,.. ,.,...a.,2.- .. .- --.--W-----------A--H'---W--gg--'-H--'---nf-,: :- ' mmhfmmnnmmm Hwn...x.m1:.1,g1Asseg..a.4m..,,,-mqefaasawemmnr . . , nn r ...........-.... .yt-.w-fm-nv.1.s-fn,-1-.n-un-in nnnnmwm--.. m f - , Below, cz helicopter refueling on the flight deck. At right, cz member of V2 Division retrieves a caiapult bridle afier a launch. Righi, below, Air Depari- meni personnel work on the mirror landing system. A425 Y 'l ,1 ati si J ,, 3 'i i 5 1 We S04 WZ SW 5 'L 2 Z1 ' Z , 49? 2 QQ? E if '1 1: .f X -2551 ' EN E 'SW wil 2021 4. f I f C , Q K , I .WEEE www-nf T1-gn, Left, it takes constant maintenance ana' ckecking to insure the proper operation of tke aircraft and tke equipment that keeps the aircraft flying. The sensitive electronic equipment rnust be constantbz ckeckeaf the jet starting units Qleft, belowj must be kept in top skape ana' tke jet aircraj? tkernsetves must be rnain- tained. 5l3Z3?:id:.1:'- 53354-ici-i:EQEli: '..'x...'3'1::::1::::2iii:::r - ..... -'-'--- . - ::::::---:.1:::::1::.,::g:1:g::. 1.-:gag-:54g.135:1giqngg.g. .zzz:L....:.4L:i1::5ggg,,.5.:.h.::f,:,,:.g......,..:.:..-..:,aLn:g41:.:..,,.........,... . 4......v....:.......-..-:..,.. . A - ,v '- , 5vgaaiizfeagz-522111111421--151111:r'.:L..:2L1:g5aE2ff. '-:'.2.'2?EE:f.lfffaei-4----Ei?H Qgw-+4-a? :. ,, -'-as :.-- ..:--H 'F msg:-1-ns:-:ff-212 24 ' , -'L-------- V W- --A --1144.175 -:---- 1L--- f- A-ff Y Y :-- , Q..-g....,...,,17,Y Mg.....:,f, .......,.....-rvzgiz -I ,kil t T V f 'W'X' QV' Q Ar! 'vvviwlflf' 'mi' H' 'fiwfm ::'vi'P:v:fvm7i1W:::f:1iiEJ ' ,. ' ' m ' +---v , , S Operations Department Responsibility for the pla-nning, coordinating and scheduling of the operations ofCVS-16 and the aircraft which qualify aboard her, including logistic services relating thereto, is borne by the Operations Department. It is also responsible for the collection, evaluation and dissemination of combat and operational information andintel- ligence, as well as for the maintenance and repair of electronic equipment not specifically assigned to the other departments. Operations is divided into five basic sections, each with its own division. Carrier Air Traffic Control Center, referred to as CATCC, is responsible for close Electronic Control of departure, enroute and arrival of air- craft. They prepare schedules for the ship's Air Operations, coordinating with the requirements of the Training Command ashore, and insure that communications are established with land based planes are coming out to qualify, and that they have received pertinent flight information. During 'cFleet Weekn CATCC is responsible for briefing pilots with Air Operations functions, and is also responsible for Carrier Control Approach CCCA Electronics Material is responsible for the main- tenance and repair of all electronic equipment aboard, preparing and supervising the vital Electronics Preventive Maintenance Program for all equipment under their cognizance. They ar- range for a regular schedule of inspections and insure the operational readiness of electronics equipment by means of Operational Tests and established maintenance procedures. 107 F7 f Q 1 1 1 I 1 11 11 1, 1 1 1 1 1 1 11 1 1 1E 1 1 ! 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 is gi 2 2 1 11 3 . 41 11 4 1 eg ,L , np 1 , 2' , ' 1 4 93 2 , G f 1 , 1 '6 A 1 3, , X ! X 4' 1 : 1 1 1 1 1 W 115 N2 4 1 me 1 Wei' 1 gigs Z1 ,., A551 1 X . 1112111 111111 11, V11 3 151 1 ,,1 -gf 108 4- MII .:,::..,...'.,,,.,,,3.:4,g..5g,-...,:4:.-.L..... '.4.,D:,.q.,.. V' --- .- . . ... , A ., , , . .. , , - ,fm fy -frrf - F -....,f-',N:,!,w,:::::1:r- - rv ,-:fmzmb-,-:mfg :mf-f::, Li25, 1+2?l5.-Q..'Q.1,-,QQQQU-..:1.a-1Q-img, f -777747 7 4 7-, :L ,U-,.....,,.,ey-+--as-Q,:11.1-.414.x... ..1...-....,,..h. ..,,. - ,, V . 1 A 1 42 A is c in ,:J. Z L il Left, a member of OE Division aafusts a radar repeater in CIC. Below, an aircraj? status board in Lexington's Car- rier Air Traffic Control Center. V 'ff' ff 'lv '1vi ' f rm '1'm--mfgrv-1,-inf 753, ,, .jx -1 . 3.-1 . xrnnvnnmuuuxxngpqrngcq Combat Information Center QCICJ is the largest of the five sections. According to Navy Manuals, CIC is responsible for the collection display, evaluation and dissemination of tactical and combat information required by various ship's stations for the operation and navigation 9 of the ship. Personnel assigned are responsible for Radar Search, ECM, air-intercept control- ling, anti-submarine Warfare training, air and surface plotting, voice radio procedure, intra- ship phone communication procedures, sum- mary plotting, status board keeping and use of maneuvering board. A combination of such skills enables CIC to guide Lex out of a fog- bound harbor, direct a man-overboard rescue, or assist in innumerable other operations. Another section is Air IntelligencefPhotogra- phy. Air Intelligence is responsible for the up- keep of an Intelligence Library and for keeping the Captain, Executive Officer and Operations Officer informed on current intelligence matters affecting the ship and her Contingency Plans. Photo's personnel man stations during Flight Quarters to obtain motion picture coverage of all landings and take-off's, as Well of still shots of accidents or 'Lunusualw landings. In addi- tion, they operate closely with the Public Infor- mation Office and are responsible for much of the photography in this volume. Aerology, smallest section of the Department, is responsible for the analysis of Weather data and the preparation of daily weather forecasts. Regular and accurate Weather forecasts are of prime concern to navigation and all ship's op- erations, including Flight Ops and weapons exercises. 109 Z X fn W QW Z 5 2 .7 7 MQW f S Z f f f f 'fnf , f f ff y f' ,, ff W Z W1 MMQ 7 ,, , VW wb ?ZfW, 2,2 1 ff, f' ,M WM, 'I f wwf! 1 5 , X f f ' 'fwffff ' 4 fi f .X xx NXXXXX- YXXX X XX XX . XY X X XXXX XXXXX N 'XXXXXXXXX - X NX XX 3 rXXXXXXX X X X X X X XXX X X X 1 x At left, a photographeris mate aahusts his enlarger to mal-fe a color print in the ship 's photo lab. The ship iswell-trained and highbi slfilledphotographeris mates tool: most of the photographs that are in this volume. Their diversigz, excel- lence, and shill are largeb responsible for the excellent photographic record that is Lexingtonls. Operationalbz, the photographic demands are many and varied At right, photographeris mates take underwater pictures ofthe ships propellers via a closed-circuit television system. Below, a photographer shoots a T28 is arrested landing. -i f ' - ' -l f me -1-W -' 'fr - ,-1.-sgwwy v - Y- -- ---55- '--' -- A- W... . .. .,-,,,, Communications Department Functioning as the Mears and voice of Lexington, the Communications Department plays a vital role in all operations required of the carrier-whether a run of several hours to qualify student aviators, or a cruise of longer duration to points elsewhere in the Gulf of Mexico.- Two Divisions comprise this Department- CR and 'LCSW-responsible for radio and visual signaling respectively. Together they form a network of communications with person- nel trained to meet any operating condition or emergency. Messages received from other nerve centers aboard the ship are converted into electronic pulses in Radio Central for one of several auxili- ary radio rooms aboardj and relayed as appro- priate. This section of the Department handles a considerable volume of message traffic on any given day, especially on those rare occasions when Lex joins up with other fleet units. There are a number of radio circuits to be maintained by the radio.men,1but their responsi- bilities do not stop there. In addition, radio tele- phone, radio teletype and radio telegraph facili- ties must be manned, as well as cryptographic equipment, antennas, transmitters and receivers By providing facilities for the crew s emergency ship to shore calls, and obtaining radio news copy for the ship s newspaper and broadcasting facilities when on cruises, CR contributes sig nificantly to morale CS men are qualified on flag ho1sts,flash1ng light and semaphore, such skills must be main tained at a high level, for in times of emergency, these could be the onbz means of communications Personnel of both Divisions are required to stand watches, both in port and underway,Where their often lonely posts would be the vital spots for transmitting or receiving an important mes sage or relaying a critical signal to other units All CR and CS men are justly proud of their functions and the1r contribution to maintain mg CVS 16 s top fhght communications reputa tion Lexington communzeates zn a number 0 ways At left, a radzoman copzes a CW message Right, above, messages are transmzttea' by flashzng hgh! from the Szgna! Bndge At right, szgnal men send up aflag hozst . . . . . 7 - 1 . . . . . L6 79 . . 1 CC an . . , ' . . I 44 -77 CC 37 , I N ' 7 - . . 112 J E4 5 l 1 1 I 4 I l s 1 R 5 +1 E w R r i I f x I 4 ,I- ik ., 5?i?9ET 1 114 I .. ,L I The modern carrier is a maze of elec- tronic equipment. Much ofthe shzp's communication system depends on elec- tronics. T he transmitters and patch panels linh Lexington with other units ofthe fleet and also tie her to higher commands and the nationis entire de- fense system. 1 l Weapons Department The primary responsibility of the Weapons Department is that of the uclose-in protection of the ship against air and surface attack. Weap- ons Department personnel, however, perform many other duties of a widely diverse nature. To accomplish these assignments, the Weapons Department is divided into two groups, Deck and Grdnance. Each group is further organized into divisions. The Deck divisions maintain all topside areas plus a number of below-deck spaces. Due to the large number of personnel living in close quart- ers aboard ship, it is mandatory that spaces be 116 maintained in a neat and orderly condition. These divisions are also responsible for a vast array of other equipment including anchors, anchor windlasses, ship's boats, boat booms, and accommodation ladders. Underway, the men of the Deck divisions are on duty throughout the ship, standing life-boat watches and performing assignments as phone talkers and lookouts. The tasks of refueling 'cliady Lex and her escorts is accomplished, in most part, by Deck division personnel. They also rig and man highline and replenishment stations. 1 l i l 1 w 2 is When the ship gets underway, moors or an- chors, the Deck divisions make up the nucleus of the Special Sea and Anchor Detail. In port they serve on boat crews, stand deck and sentry watches, and comprise the Hunsung hero side cleaning detail. The Ordnance divisions maintain and operate the ship's 5,738 gun mounts, MK 37 and MK 56 directors, MK 6 Target Designation System, and Fire Control radar. They are responsible for the stowage, assembly and loading of all bombs, rockets, depth bombs, and torpedoes used by embarked air groups. They also main- Replenishrnent at sea greathz reduces the shz,b's dependence on bases ashore. Hundreds of tons of supplies -from electronic tubes to groceries - are trans- ferred underway. Ainrnunition is trans- ferred in a sirnilar manner. Fueb oz'l and aviation fuels are transferred under- way, usz'ng flexible hoses between ships. Lexington frequenthz refuels her escort- ing destroyers. Here, two dolbhins cavort just ahead of the destroyer Hawkins as she comes alongside Lexing- ton to refuel tain the shipls armory, magazines, bomb eleva- tors and related ordnance equipment. In order to maintain their high degree of proficiency, Ordnance divisions perform loading drills and varied ordnance evolutions, as well as firing exercises against air and surface targets. During General Quarters, the men of the Weap- ons Department man gun mounts, magazines, ammunition handling rooms and repair parties, provide weapons for aircraft and perform other associated duties. Each man becomes an integral part of the Navy's most powerful weapon-the aircraft carrier. 117 f-.wir-,r-:weg.:.g.. ...., .. ...... ....,.... ......... ,n.,..g. . .,,.. ... . , , . . W.. The men of the Weapons Department are specialists in dech seamanshzp. They also form the nucleus ofthe shzp 's Land- ing Panjz. Left, below, the shzpis Com- manding Ojjtcefg Captain Q. C. Crom- melin, inspects the Landing Pargz on the flight deck. IV 119 Above, the Boatswainis Mate ofthe Watch pipes the word over the shzQo's general. announcing system. At left, LeX,s rnotor whaleboat is swung out. Right page, men ofthe landing party practice firing and clean their weapons. 1 W -v-1111-qv-js-:ruffmy-fm-1-1-. - , . nm v ' Wu,1.A n ff A M 6 A - 3.-, - , , . 4 .. , A 1.-.m....-A rms... X- ' x i 'il ' 'I . I 1. i ... .xl i lil , 5 .., 515: W ii I -fi .Af .521 W ..:, r .EE J gg 1 iff 'I I ii? i.? ..2.' 1:23 TE- QI fn- E5 ' fi E55 Q H5551 555551 I-5-af EEF' -.a:: 3:35 ,h,...auv- 121 H- V- Y-,--- - - - - V -'-----' V ---f-- -via:-L:::.if--'- W H :zzz C-- ifiiiiiiiiiii ...WW iasgzggzq 3!5fiz!a5!fzx1 r. 1: I! ,..,..T.. 52255 EZ M. 5335 ::....: rift? 'JQ- f ... . s. Engineering Department Lexington is largest but least visible department is Engineering-providing the carrierls greatest asset, mobility. An important additional advan- tage, of course, is endurance, to which Engineer- ing contributes by furnishing self-sufficiency in electrical power, internal communications, steam, water and other necessary services. Mobility is provided by four steam turbine engines, each developing 37,500 shaft horse- power, which drive a quartet of 15-ton propellors to provide the ship's 31-plus knot speed capa- bility. , Eight massive boilers fa pair in each of four fireroomsj form the nucleus of the vessel's pro- pulsion and services plant. The 'csnipes, as Navy engineers are called, must maintain their equipment at peak readiness constantly to ensure maximum efficiency. This requires skillful op- eration of the plant, as Well as adherence to regular schedules of cleaning, testing, lubricating, and performing routine preventatives main- tenance. The superheated -steam produced in the fire- rooms flows throughthe arterial systems of steam lines throughout the ship. In addition to the main turbine engines, steam gives 'clife to turbo-generators, evaporators, fire, fuel and bilge pumps: water and ventilation heaters, and mis- cellaneous other pieces of auxiliary equipment such as Lexis two sonorous whistles and her screaming siren. Rating high priority for steam, of course, are the carrieras twin catapults, each powerful enough to blast an automobile 6,000 feet straight up into the air. A separate uevaporator gangw is responsible for making the great quantities of fresh water re- quired daily, this is necessary not only to feed the boilers, but also for the laundry, galley, and crew 7s personal uses. 5E-ss::::, :auf At left, one of the shzlbiv boifers is lit- ojw by a man in B Division. The steam hom B Divz'sion's boilers turn M Division 'S turbines. 123 There is a machinery repair shop aboard, where engineering personnel skilled in the use of their machine tools are able to fabricate parts for equipment belonging to all Lex Departments. A separate Repair Division contains damage con- trolmen and shipfitters fmetalsmiths and pipefit- tersj who are capable of construction as well as repair of the hull and its fixtures. This group also makes up the nucleus of the carrier's Repair Parties and Emergency ,Bill Teams, and the men involved possess a profound knowledge of fire, damage and flood control, as well as ABC War- fare procedures. H The electricians in- Engineering are responsible for the power distribution from the main genera- tors, as well as the battery shop, the vast amount of electrical circuits and fixtures aboard, electric motors and machinery utilized by all Divisions, electric fans and other appliances, etc. The inter- communications electricians QIC-menj maintain the public address system, all telephones includ- ing sound-powered ones, motion picture equip- ment, mirror landing system, gyro compasses, pit log and assorted other navigational equip- ment on the bridge, the mast and in the IC Room. Specialists in this Department are responsible for the vessel's refrigeration and air conditioning equipment, steam heat generation and storage of nitrogen and liquid oxygen, and the repair and maintenance of hydraulic systems, diesel engines and a vast array of other auxiliary machinery. Included are boat engines, pumps, emergency diesel generators, aircraft elevators, anchor wind- lasses and Winches. The special schooling re- quired of these men in their specialties is under- standable, for the variety of gear with which they mu st be familiar is indeed impressive. Left, the generator and a'z'strz'l2utton of the slzzpis electrical power z's controlled by E .Division Right page, the shzpk Damage Control personnel ana' slzzpflt- ters have complete shzp facilities at their disposal. ',,.....m -was fr- - kiwi.: a2:::sze.1:.r..-..1sgg1zga511g5,g,3g1gggigEgg53cg:L:55m::.L:z...::m:m:-:If.-1-::T:,,,,V-.,,.:11:32, -:,,::u.:..,...,.......-..,., A , ,,..,,,, , ,,, , ,- ,551dm::,::mm,J,EEi,5 .,,,e,,,5.,,.,,,.d5.l .Mm ,,,, ,W ,, ,A,, GMM l.,,,.ll,.,......- ..... , A,,,, , . f .V .V Y, . .M,....-,..A--.c,.....,....,... The IC electricians maintain the interior cornrnunication system for the shzlo, which not onbz includes ooiceinforrna- tion but the transmission of other Qzpes ofinformatton, including gyro compass readings. Bottom, right, Damage Con- trol Central is the nerve center ofthe shzp is repa-ir parties when the shzlo is at battle stations. , ff 2 x :Y ..:::.... -gzfsgnlgwf5-tfiefin -,- -ug?-V, -lv J?-.ua -Yngzgfqm,,,,'g.gg:,Q,,g,,..99g4-i,,.g.,.u4.y.,.z:g:.....a:r.z.: '' u:.........L4rf:-::--- '- ' '-'-----'--- ----'- ------ - - ---- ---r--W - V Supply Department 4'Sales and Servicef, ' That has to be the by- word of Supply Department, for every aspect of personal services available for ship's company, as well as anything the crew can purchase with their own money or orders for their particular Division, must originate through this large De- partment. Their official motto, of course, is: c'You Canlt Fly Without Supply. Paydays are provided through the courtesy of Supply, whose disbursing personnel not only hand over money Cfll5120,000j every couple of weeks, but also maintain everyone's complex pay records. The latter job includes accounting for such items as flight pay, pay deductions for insurance premiums or government bond pur- chases, and travel pay for men and their de- pendents. ' A ' Immediately after a man leaves the payline he may travel to the Smoke Shop or one of the other ship's stores, where members of Supply will ac- cept his money for gifts and luxury items, ge- dunk, seabag items, personal effects, or other merchandise. Day and evening hours are main- tained for the crew's convenience. Two unique Lexington establishments are an Officers' and Chiefs' Uniform Shop and a recently-opened Record Store, which also carries record players, tape recorders and accessories. Receipts from several stores and the ship 's vending machines are channeled into the Welfare and Recreation Fund. Service organizations maintained by this De- partment include the ,round-the-clock operating laundry, two barber shops, a tailor shop and a cobbler shop - all manned by skilled specialists. This is truly city lifef' for some members of ship's company come from towns not featuring such a diversity of facilities. There is a ufull-line hardware store aboard CVS-16 which carries the tremendous stock of materials and spare parts necessary to maintain the ship's operations. Providing both aviation 128 and general supplies, the Department handles consumables Qlube oil, brightwork polish, etc.j, miscellaneous spare parts Qaviation, ordnance, engineering, electronicj, certain items of new gear and Minsurance stock to cover equipment fail- ures. The bookkeeping and accounting for the annual budget of Supply's Stores Division alone is S380,000, althoughlit carries 33,000 line items Qvalue-3B810,000j aboard, and must order some additional 3,000 non-stock items yearly. T he Suppbz Department is responsible hr everything horn seeing the right spare parts are aboard and avaz'lable to insuring that each rnan aboard gets three full meals a day. The Sappbz services also include the well-stocked Ship is Store. A 2 X , 1 g E 1 R I 1 s . - a 1 i K ? s 1 w 1 I , 1 4 6 , V N 1 l I 5 1 3 E I k K: 2 5, E 2 Ei 1 N J N. li A T' f I iw S L Q, E 1 I Q 1 iii if Y r f I. . 1 re'---' It takes a great cleal of careful paper- work to keep proper track ofSuppQ1i9 actz'vz'ttes. Other skills are callecl upon each ana' every clay, tnclua'z'ngprovta'ing such services as keeping a proper mili- tary haircut. L I 5 1 1 a n-an 'f :li-Avnnm-1412455- av-: ' 'm1H mg1e J'3sr' ' U ' ' -'-- '-1-'T' Its 0 en said that the Navy moves on black ozl and coffee Here some 0 the sugar or that co fee is checked in one 0 the Suppb storeroorns. The ship ,s stew- ards are in charge ofthe ojjicers' state- rooms. They are also in charge of pre- paring and serving the OJWCGVS, food Another old Navy saying has it that a well-fed offcer z's a happy officer and a happy officer signs Special Liberty chits. Right page, above, rnen of S-4 Division chech over pay records. 132 The Army is supposed to travel on its stomach, but the Navy has long enjoyed the reputation for the best chow in the service. Lex certainly does its part to maintain such a reputation, for the cooks, bakers and stewards who prepare food for enlisted and officer personnel take a great pride in their work. The bakery, butcher shop, main galley and commissary office produce the nutritious menus of tasty chow for the crew,while the hard-working and smiling stewards cook and serve for the Wardroom, in addition to main- taining Officers' Country. Special problems facing the latter group is the berthing of the 80-120 SecNav guests aboard almost daily during ship's operations or two dozen overnight guests accompanying CVS-16 on her monthly cruises to Corpus Christi. Spe- cial circumstances, such as the 500 high school bandsmen aboard during Lexis 1964 Mardi Gras cruise, test facilities and patience even more, of course, although visitors never fail to depart praising their hosts' care and consideration. To maintain readiness capabilities, Lexington holds periodic refueling and replenishment exer- cises at sea-operations in which this Depart- ment plays the major role. Of a more routine nature, the carrier refuels its escort destroyer every Fleet Week, and similarly engages in the highline transfer of movies or other vital necessities with such vessels. 133 1-fm-rue'-:rssfwaxxf--1-115111: .1-:1m1uzn-fmmmuf-v..b:m:e-,egnnmiggmsfnnvrm:wear-1:9-a-QF ''11 W.:L , W ' A---W .- The Administrative Department? re- sponsibilities include the library, below, which stocks a complete range ofhoohs hom fast-reading mysteries to complex technical volumes. The aim is to have hooks on hand for the reading tastes of all hands. Above, right, the Chaplain talhs over some Administrative Depart- ment worh with one ofthe men ofX Di- vision. Right, below, men of X Divi- si'on worhing on part ofthefilm library in the shzpis Educational and Training Office. Administrative Department The name MAdministrative Department is not really encompassing enough, because the person- nel assigned also have a great range of other ac- tivities in which 'they engage, contributing to wel- fare and recreation or other crew benefits. The post office, for instance, is assigned to this Department. Besides speedily dispatching mail and packages to shipls company when Lex is at sea for extended periods, this facility also sells stamps, money orders, etc., and provides the standard services' of shore-based post offices. The Print Shop is most helpful to all Depart- ments, turning out high quality work. The ship as magazine is an important morale factor, as are the special booklets about ports visited, such items, of course, do not represent the printing volume of other literature, forms and Depart- mental material necessary to the ship's overall smooth internal operations. All of the carrierls offices are manned by per- sonnel from the Administrative Department, and the individuals assigned become specialists in the demanding procedures and terminology charac- teristic of each. The Legal Office is one good ex- ample, while the Captain's Office, the Personnel Office, Chaplainas Office, and of course the Ad- ministrative Office itself are also staffed by Ad- min men. The Public lnformation Office lets the world land each man's home townj know what Lexington and her personnel are up tog its staff also writes the ship's newspaper and edits news broadcasts. The Education and Training Office assists personnel in their general learning and rate advancement needs by ordering courses and tests, administering exams, etc. Other important facilities under the cognizance of this Department include a fine library of over 3,500 volumes, and the Athletic Gear Locker, from which ship's company may draw all matter of sports equipment. The Master-at-Arms Force, CVS-16's police department, is likewise assigned to Admin. w t mln! EW ff- x. .,, ,f?g!g1f'5e1:5+f1'9-1Lwuf?f:fjwHm+ Yi -wen wi T he men of X Division handle duties all over the shzp. Lexington's own police force is headed by the Chief Mas- ter At Arms. Below, a ditlo sheet is run of in the Personnel Ojjfee. Right, top, Admin offce work. 136 . ..,.i1.f..ii . i..5.1 f f , , H: Q. . -PI -- H ' ' ' '- - 1' ' 1 'f ': 'N-' 4 gqvrw- -M-V-V-1 V .- .VH-.V.....--. ..... .,-..,..,. ..-N . . . An .m.u'..mzf...a.:mxmr 4xum.snw91-2214-gr -' 34,5-,. g-.:4.- -A-V'-t -'31'BgA'-I-L 4-remain-1311.39 :Ti ,N l 1Z1ETF m':?' ' T1 71 ff' W, ff, ,WI ff, W 5 , , , in 1 W , 1 K2 ff W1 VFW, W M 1 6 ' ? yy 'L x 7 yn f f 41 ffm? xy K W If V ' C . mfifsff vffwu, , f ff f X 0 XZSQMZQWQJZQA-.Zw-W ff if - f. , V -1 1 ,rf W-VJ f 24 Z ff' ,Z 4.4, Vfhm gay, gush. f f x fv ww V ? I W w ., i Y 1 331 5 1 2 65 fa 59. I 4 iii 3 m, 1 Vi! , Ei? e ' 1 m 1, H Q 3 'L U pp FY: ag Right, below, Career Information is provz'ded by a well-z'nformed Counselor j?'0m X Divz'sion. In many ways, in- formation is X Divisionis business Mail is handled in the Post Ojjice. Whenever possible at sea, 'rnail runs are made to the beach to drop ofjfout- going mail and pick up mail forLexing- ton and any ships that are operating with her. Mail is always an important morale factor in any military unit Below, men of the Public Information Office work on material that will be presented to shzpis visitors. Much of the material that PIO prepares is print- ed in the shzpis own Print Shop. Left, the Print Shop turns out millions of impressions - f9'0m simple forms to the ship K Minuteman. Left, below, X Divi- sion business z's discussed in one ofthe Division is many 0.19966 spaces. wr ltfiilit faiefiisahrfgfffrffse,5e+5:ai-avfgeelfifafgaswa-iifsini3,mfi.Za-,1ffi,iei41g5413511ii3,L gin-1 ' f tgyg d.. ! !- g:- fl g:.::-.1142-::.L:a ,.,,, ------ ----H I I Above, the Navigator lays out acourse. Below, the Quartermaster on the helm. At right, another Quartermaster shoots the sun, a claihz routine when weather permits. Navigation Division person- nel fix the ship is position, using a combination of traa'itional methods ancl the latest i'n electronic ai als to navigation. Navigation Department Utilizing everything from sextants to sight the stars and sun above, to modern navigational equipment such as the Dead Reckoning Tracer QDRTQ, the fathometer, radar and loran equip- ment, the Navigator and his staff insure Lexing- ton knows where she is, where she has been and where she is going. The quartermasters ofthe Navigation Depart- ment have many duties to perform, including the charting ofthe carrier's course, manning the spe- cial sea detail stations in the pilot house and in after steering, and maintaining an impressive list of Departmental publications. The latter-light lists, fathometer log, Loran log, Navigator's Work Book, navigational charts,Magnetic Com- pass Record, etc., must be unquestionably accu- rate, and the attention they require is time-con- suming. In addition, the Quartermaster-of-the Watch records every course and speed change made by CVS-16, thus maintaining a complete history of the vessells movement. The personnel of this Department pride them- selves on their knowledge of rules ofthe nautical road, correct procedures on the bridge, and the many honors and ceremonies appropriate for visiting dignitaries. They are an important part of Lexingtonis watch team, whether at sea or in port, and can always be depended upon to pro- vide complete and accurate information concern- ing these subjects. f WVQLJW WS K f wifi, fi N 4 NJC f f14?sfMf,. M A f, gy, 4 A, MM, W K 'S ,fyf .:::- , EEE 1 1' - -'-:?. :L....::Ja:r5g f-.....-:E':1?',E.1'.....' ga W Medical Department The Medical Department aboard USS Lexing- ton, in addition to its routine responsibility of caring for the health needs of the ship s own per- sonnel, must continually be on the alert for acci- dents and emergencies In case of hurricane, flood or other natural catastrophe there may be a call for Lexington to get underway and pro- of Mexico or the Caribbean The carrier may also be summoned to the assistance of a ship in trouble or a pilot downed at sea A crash on her own flight deck by an aviator during his car- rier qualifications is, of course, always a possi- bility A All these things can happen, and when they do it will be the doctors and corpsmen aboard, re- Medical men are on the Job at all times-not just when there is an injured or sick shipmate to be cared for Preventive medicine in the form of mass immunizations and careful inspections of the ship s living quarters and food preparation areas help to avoid threatened epidemics aboard Many of the ship s personnel are treated daily specialized clinic or a surgical operation is indi- cated while in port, these men are sent to the nearest naval hospital, if the ship is operating close enough to shore, air evacuation is used When the ship is underway, however, the fact that qualified doctors and corpsmen aboard can perform major medical work is truly reassuring for all hands 7 . . n 7 vide medical disaster relief anywhere in the Gulf at sick call on an out-patient basis. Whenever a sponding as skilled professionals to meet the challenge. Fortunately, safety programs keep emergencies and accidents to a minimum. Medical duties aboard are sometimes less than glamorous. CVS-16's officers and crew are treated daily for minor cuts, bruises and burns or seen for colds, headaches and belly aches. More serious accidents and diseases, of course, are bound to occur among an active body of men the size of this carrierls complement, no mat- ter how much is done to prevent it. The Medical Department has excellent facilities at its disposal, including a sickbay comparable to a 63-bed hospital, a modern surgical oper- ating room, a pharmacy, a laboratory and a 100 milliamp X-Ray machine. A fully-equipped eye, ear, nose and throat room is available for specialized treatment of this nature. The men of the Medical Department require and receive intensive training. The ship's pro- gram calls for each man to rotate within the De- partment in order to learn something about all medical duties. Thus if the vessel is faced with an emergency situation which might ordinarily overwhelm a small group of specialists, CVS-16 is ready. Lexington's Medz'cal Department han- dles the day-in and day-out health needs of shzp's company personnel and any other personnel aboard Although space is at a premium, the facilities areamong the most modern z'n the world and are staykd by hzghbz skilled projhssionals. Dental Department g'Welcome to the best Dental facility in the Navyf' are the Words that greet the many visi- tors and crewmen coming aboard Lexington. With this goal in mind, the Dental Officers and technicians perform their Work. Aboard is the very latest in dental equipment. Techniques employed are also as modern as possible, and each man, treated as an individual patient, soon realizes the value of this important oral service. V All phases of dentistry are practiced aboard. In any given day the ship,s Dentists may per- form oral surgery, prosthetics, Cdentures, crowns and bridgesj, periodentia Qdiseases of gum and bonej, endodontia Qremoval of nerve tissuej, and restorative operative dentistry. There is al- so an active, vigorous program promoting oral hygiene and preventive dentistry. Dental spaces consist of three operatories, X-Ray facilities, a dark room, an administrative office and a prosthetics laboratory for the con- venience ofthe men aboard. The cordiality of the Dental Department is best expressed in their- ownuwords, MDrop in for a treat or a treatmentfwe are always glad to see youf' 'M AU.. , 1 , .. K ,M 2 I yea The Dental Department emphasizes a carefhtl program of oral hygiene. It is completebz equipped to handle anything from a small filling to a complete den- ture. Wrtualbz every man who is serv- iced in the U S. Navy leaves the service with his teeth in better condition than when he entered ,... -s -r- 114 - -- --vm Fir M'- W'-'WW-'W TH -' A fm Executive Officer Commander Robert M. Bollenbacher Commanding Officer Captain Gordon A. Snyder 147 F The Men of Lexzvzgton ff WY W' V' 47' MY' W! ,WX ff f Yffyff -1--Q-.' .-' wr: k '4':z::..L. .z..z.:,...:.:L.:..:.::g.4..,L.1,,,,,,,A,,,,,,m .LL H.. ... . . ,, ,, I Y ,, 4' ... .,., ...,., .,.,,., ,... ,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,A, - -,g,,A, -, ,AAA,., ,rqrl h W ,M , . , ,, , Y Y rLz. ' 1 r :ir -sz.-..,- 5 -:s- Qk, ,G i .4 fl L.- 'N'f1f-1 . m e -....:.. W , f f f' ,QGJYQA .W , E iw fl! U, X w ll' ,. 1, if ,J ,,, W, ai! YV' ,, AX ,E N 'E M L 1 X A M Lg 3 Km A . .. . N. is H, L51 Si I4 '38- f ' Z 1 S Q f 1 We K? , Q ga S iw -f 5 my ,mg-Q-2, mi .z,.? A M -gag Q SP4 ii: Ii E::: EEE E3 525 if B25 EE! Es I'-Ti an C3 rf: ELSE fi? Q.. E7 'ZST1 E IF: IL-L ssz 5555 EEE as E522 'Se' li ,fu E222 iss? E-IEE IEEE iii? FF: E::: Ei as F7-5 EE? ESE? EEE ESE CSI: E555 EEE: Ctr. 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'3 - ' 4... ..'.r:L.':1:'-.:'.:r ...TL :1'1:..,. -.. ' .f : : . - -- -- ' V ---- - w- ----- - -- ------ --. Y- x... 5 i M ,,Zz.ev,,L W min. af ff: lgerffiiflffym-1 11 1:2 f-:Q F-M113-an 5 , N 1 E 2 4 3 3 5 3 2 1 5 fx '47 x H. D Btbliggraphy Vito, jr., Cdr. A. H. 'Zone Carrier Fact or Fancy P in U. S. Naval Institute Proceed- Periodicals Magazines and Newspapers ings April 1962, Boston Sunday Advertzser September 20 1942 September 27 1942 Boston Arnerzcan September 26 1942 Boston Sunday Herald September 27 1942 Carney Admiral Robert B The Prznczples 0 Sea Power in U S Naval Institute Pro ceedings August 1953 11 Cdr Paul W and Teel Cdr Richard A A Brzghter Future or Garner Avzatzon in U S Naval Institute Proceedings No vember 1953 Lzk Magazine july 27 1942 May 1 1944 May 8 1944 October 23 1944 July 17 1944 November 6 1944 November 13 1944 August 20 1945 March 5 1945 September 17 1945 May 15 1950 TheNatzonal Observer June 22 1964 Nimitz Fleet Admiral Chester W Your Navy as Peace Insurance in The National Geo graph1cMagaz1ne june 1946 The Phzladelvhza Inguzrer May 28 1942 June 13 1942 june 14 1942 june 16 1942 une 17 1942 une 22 1942 july 28 1942 August 11 1942 e Phzladehohzaj Evenzng Bulletzn Iune 13 1942 June 14 1942 June 15 1942 june 16 1942 june 17 1942 june 18 1942 june 19 1942 june 20 1942 Shaw Cdr james C Fast Carrzer Operatzons 1943 1945 published as Introduction to Volume VII of History of United States Naval Operations 1n World War II by Samual El1ot Monson 1951 U S NavalAvzatzon at War 1nFly1ngMaga zine February 1943 Books Allen Gardner W A Naval Hzstory o the Arnerzcan Revolution Vol I 1962 Avzatzon zn the Unzted States Navy Naval His tory Division Washington D C 1961 Bryan III I AzrcratCarrzer 1954 Bryan III and Reed Phihp Mzsszon Beyond Darkness Ca1d1n Martin Golden Wzngs 1960 Catton Bruce GrantMoves South 1960 Coggins ack Arms andEguzprnentzn theCzvzl War 1962 Dzctzonary o Amerzcan Naval Eghtzng Shzps Navy Department 1959 Eliot George Fielding Victory Wzthout War 19581961 1958 Grrffith Brig General SamuelB II The Battle or Guadalcanal 1963 Howard john L Our Modern Navy 1961 Introductzon to Naval Avzatzon U S Navy NavAer 80R19 1946 johnson Ludwell H Red Rzver Campazgn 1958 jones V1rg1lC The Czvzl War at Sea Vol II The Rzver War 1961 Karig Captain Walter Battle Report Vzctory zn the Paczjhc 1945 1960 King Fleet Admiral Ernest U S Navy at War 1941 1945 U S Navy Department 1946 Knox Commodore Dudley W A Hzstory 0 the Unzted States Navy 1948 MCIHHIS Edgar The War Szxth Year 1946 F Mitchell, Donald W. History ofthe Modern AmericanNavy 1946. Morison Samuel Eliot. History ofthe -United States Naval Operations in World War II Volumes III IV V VII VIII XII XIII and XI V Monson Samuel Eliot The Two Ocean War 1963 Naval Avzatzon 1911 1961 Naval Aviation News 1961 Potter E B and N1m1tz Fleet Admiral Chester W The Great Sea War 1960 Pratt Fletcher The Navy 1941 Puleston W D The In uence ofSea Power zn World War II 1947 Roscoe Theodore Unzted States Destroyer Op eratzons zn World War II 1953 Roscoe Theodore Unzted States Submarzne Operatzons zn World War II 1953 Sunderman Major James F World War II zn the Azr The Paczhc 1962 Tarawa to Tokyo By olhcers and men of USS Lexzngton, 1946 Teluja Thaddeus V Clzrnax atMzdway 1960 Clifford L Hzstory o Unzted States Naval Avzatzon, 1949 Warner Oliver Great Sea Battles 1963 West jr Richard S Mr LzncolnsNavy 1957 Credzts Production Supervlsor Theodore Thomte Book design by Theodore Thomte and Elaine Fisher If , 1 J , , , 1 ' ' 1 1 1 1, 1 1 1 1 - ' D . 7 . 7 ' - , . cc . . ' ' ' ' - ' ' , I f , . , . . 1 H I - . l V ' 5 - 3 ' . , , I . . . , . , . u, i , I I . . , . G'l , . . , - ' . 1 1 ' I f 1 1 ' - 1 ' rr . f . . . j 11 , , J. , ' ' . ' ' , I , . . . l - . . , - . , . I jf! . , u V . . , . D A Y. , . , . ' . -I 1 1 1 , ' ' g ' ' 5 ' Q - 1 I 1 1 7-I ' 5 ' I 1 1 1 ' 7 ' 1 1 1 f , ' 1 1 ' 7 ' , 7 1 ' . . , ' , . . i . . , . - . . , . . . . gg - ' 1 - ' ' ' jj u s s 1 n ' , - , I Q, 0 7 . . , 7 l f . . , . . . , ' The Pensacola journal December 28, 1962. Hailey, Foster. Paczfc Battle Line, 1944. Turnbull, C3-Ptaill Archibald D- and L0fd, Lfidf- . ' . ' 1 1 7 ' 1 1 l ' 1 f . 1 1 1 l , . ' ' ' 1 I 1 ' I 1 1 I 1 1 1 ' ' 1 - 9 I ' 5 ' , . . - - 1 1 1 - 1 - , 1 -1 - - 2 ' Th K 1 - . . . , . I 1 1 1 1 1 - . - I . 1 - ' 9 1 ' 1 l 1 - 7 1 7 ' - 3 I 7 ' . , . I . . , . . . , , i . ' 1 l I Q , I . . I I ' , . . 7 . . , ' 3 . . f . ff . . ,U . . , . . - j I 1 1 - ' , . - ' , . 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