Lexington (CV 16) - Naval Cruise Book

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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 ..

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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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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