Lexington (CV 16) - Naval Cruise Book

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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 . --

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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'

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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 .