Lexington (CV 16) - Naval Cruise Book

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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

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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.,--.. ,.,,

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' ' 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