USS Lexington
USS Lexington (CV-16) was the fifth vessel to be named after one of the opening battles of the American Revolutionary War. The first two served in the 1700’s and early 1800’s and the third was active during the Civil War. The fourth was built in 1927 and lost during the Battle of the Coral Sea in 1942. The CV-16 was commissioned in 1943 as an Essex-class aircraft carrier. She was nicknamed the “Blue Ghost” because of her steel blue color and the fact that she was the only ship in the fleet not to wear camouflage.
She entered the Pacific campaign in August 1943 and began action by raiding Tarawa and Wake Islands in the fall of that year. She then covered for the landings in the Gilbert Islands and her pilots downed 29 enemy planes in two days in late November.
During the night of December 4, during a battle off Kwajalein, the Lexington was hit when enemy flares revealed the carrier and she was struck by a torpedo, which damaged her steering gear. The blow killed many crewmembers that were resting in their bunks at the time of the attack. The Japanese propagandist Tokyo Rose reported her sunk, but this was obviously untrue. After repairs in Washington, she returned to the Pacific battles and was successful in downing many enemy aircraft for the next few months. Two more times, she was pronounced sunk by Japanese radio after battles off Guam and in the Philippine Sea, but she was untouched both times. Those battles nearly eliminated the carrier threat of the Japanese Navy because of their heavy losses.
At the end of the Battle for Leyte, she was struck and damaged by a Kamikaze plane. The resulting fires were extinguished within twenty minutes or so and the Lexington resumed the battle. While the damage was being repaired the crew heard yet another radio report that the Lexington had been sunk. The “Blue Ghost” turned out to be an apt nickname.
The Lexington accompanied other US forces across the Pacific all the way to the Japanese home islands and was successful in each campaign. In August of 1945, her pilots were ordered to jettison their bombs and return to the Lexington upon hearing of the Japanese surrender. The Lexington was awarded 11 battle stars for service during the Second World War as well as the Presidential Unit Citation for heroism.
She was decommissioned in 1937, only to be called back into service in 1955. She was refitted with a new angled flight deck and sailed to various ports in the Far East until 1962. She was used extensively to train pilots and marines who were headed to the Vietnam War, a theatre where naval aviation was vital. She served as a training vessel for 22 years until 1991 when she was decommissioned and made a museum ship in Corpus Christi, Texas.
The Lexington had a long and valuable life as a Navy ship. Sadly, some of her crew was put at risk by a hazard they were not aware of. Like most ships of her time, she was constructed with asbestos materials as a major insulator of pipes and other systems. We now realize that sailors who worked around this material are vulnerable to a variety of lung ailments including mesothelioma. Anyone who suspects he may have been exposed to asbestos should speak with a specialist about their specific exposure risk.
Last modified: April 29 2008.
