Lexington (CV 16) - Naval Cruise Book

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' 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.

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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

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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 ..