Lexington was the name of two United States Navy aircraft carriers. USS Lexington (CV-2) was launched in 1927 and sunk in 1942. USS Lexington (CV-16) replaced the earlier ship in 1943. USS stands for United States Ship. CV is the Navy’s designation for an aircraft carrier. Both ships took part in major combat during World War II (1939-1945). The ships were named after the Battle of Lexington, Massachusetts, the opening battle of the American Revolution (1775-1783).
USS Lexington (CV-2), sometimes called “Lady Lex,” was the Navy’s second aircraft carrier. The ship was at sea when the Japanese attacked the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on Dec. 7, 1941. In May 1942, Lexington and USS Yorktown (CV-5) stopped the Japanese advance at the Battle of the Coral Sea, northeast of Australia. Lexington, however, suffered serious damage from several torpedo and bomb hits during the battle. The ship was abandoned and sank on May 8.
In 1943, USS Lexington (CV-16) raided Japanese positions in the Gilbert and Marshall island groups in the central Pacific Ocean. In June 1944, Lexington’s planes took part in a lopsided victory over the Japanese in the Battle of the Philippine Sea. The battle became known as the ”Great Marianas Turkey Shoot.”
In October 1944, Lexington joined the Battle of Leyte Gulf in the Philippines. The naval battle was the largest in history, and the United States won a major victory over the Japanese. In 1945, Lexington supported the invasion of Iwo Jima (now Iwo To), and its aircraft hit targets on the Japanese home islands. On Sept. 2, 1945, Japan signed an official statement of surrender, and World War II ended.
After the war, Lexington returned to the United States. The Navy decommissioned (retired) the ship in April 1947. In 1955, Lexington was modernized and reactivated. In 1962, it began serving as the Navy’s training carrier in Pensacola, Florida. Lexington was again decommissioned in 1991. The ship then became a floating museum and memorial in Corpus Christi, Texas. It was designated a national historic landmark in 2003.
In Lexington‘s more than 40 years of active service, the ship launched and recovered more aircraft than any other carrier in history. In World War II, Lexington earned 11 battle stars and the Presidential Unit Citation for the crew’s heroism in combat. A battle star is awarded for a ship’s participation in a major battle.
See also Aircraft carrier ; World War II (The war in Asia and the Pacific) .
