Lexington (CV 16) - Naval Cruise Book

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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

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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

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. . .. 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