The plan was halted when Japanese submarine I-71 sank the USS Neches (AO-5), the only tanker available for refueling. Hitting Formosa again in late January, Mitscher then attacked Okinawa. On October 1, the carrier was redesignated as an anti-submarine warfare carrier (CVS-16) though this, and its relief of Antietam, was delayed until later in the month due to the Cuban Missile Crisis. The next day, its pilots contributed to the destruction of the light carrier Chitose and received sole credit for sinking the fleet carrier Zuikaku. Despite being ready for the raid, the element of surprise was lost when unknown aircraft were spotted just 35 miles from Lexington. It reached Puget Sound Navy Yard on December 22. Rather than continue with the mission to transport the SB2U’s, Lexington and the task force were charged with trying to cut off Japan’s striking force and rendezvous with the ships of Vice Admiral Wilson Brown just off of Niihau Island, Hawaii. Midway is about 1,100 miles. There it received both SCB-27C and SCB-125 modernizations. The intention was to distract Japan long enough so Saratoga could provide relief and aid to Wake Island. Required fields are marked *. Even worse, the carriers were able to do it undetected. Taking over the training role on December 29, Lexington began routine operations out of Pensacola, FL. When was the first surprise attack by carrier aircraft on the US naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii? USS Lexington (CV-16) is prepared for launching at Quincy, MA, September 1942. When Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, the USS Lexington was far out at sea. USS Lexington (CV-2) and USS Saratoga (CV-3). But what about February 7th, 1932? Its frequent reappearance in combat coupled with its blue camouflage scheme earned Lexington the nickname "The Blue Ghost.". On June 16, 1942, Cabot's name was changed to Lexington to honor the carrier of the same name (CV-2) which had been lost the previous month at the Battle of the Coral Sea. Saratoga, about 420 nautical miles (780 km; 480 mi) southwest of Pearl Harbor on 11 January 1942, was heading towards a rendezvous with USS Enterprise when she was hit by a torpedo fired by the I-6. Rejoining the fleet on May 22, Lexington formed part of Rear Admiral Thomas L. Sprague's task force off Leyte. Following a raid on Truk on April 28, the Japanese again believed the carrier to have been sunk. The USS California was officially ordered on the 28th December 1915 and laid down on the 25th October 1916. Navy Mess Attendant 3rd Class Isaac … With the beginning of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, Lexington's aircraft aided in sinking the battleship Musashi on October 24. Not because the ship is incredibly impressive, but because she fired the first shots of WWII in the Pacific. On 7 December 1941, the year-old seaplane tender Curtiss was tied up to mooring bouys at the mouth of Pearl Harbor's Middle Loch, across the channel from Ford Island. The resulting design was wider and longer as well as included a deck-edge elevator. Two Grumman JF Duck amphibians and a Vought O2U Corsair were the ship’s observation and rescue planes. . Pearl Harbor was clearly not safe from an enemy attack and, as military officials would find later in the exercise, neither was San Francisco. USS Lexington (CV-16) at sea in the 1960s. (U.S. Navy) Vice Adm. William Halsey, Jr., was a tough and direct man. Curtiss F6C fighters on the flight deck of USS Lexington (CV-2), 1929. On June 16, 1942, Navy Secretary Frank Knox approved the renaming of the carrier, making her the fifth Lexington to sail in the US Navy. We hope to see you soon. The ship was built in the Mare Island naval shipyard in Vallejo, California. Like Japan had done at Pearl Harbor, the task force was to approach the harbor at Rabaul without being detected. The American Carriers At the beginning of 1941, the United States operated four aircraft carriers in the Pacific; USS Lexington, USS Saratoga, USS Enterprise and USS Yorktown. Both were at sea and on identical missions, ferrying aircraft to island outposts. Lexington commemoration event 99-year-old Bob Batterson was honored during Monday's ceremonies. Needed for combat operations, workers pushed to complete the ship and it entered commission on February 17, 1943, with Captain Felix Stump in command. Passing through the Panama Canal, it arrived at Pearl Harbor on August 9. Following its commission in 1943, the USS Lexington was a combat aircraft carrier with the 5th Fleet at Pearl Harbor during World War II. 71 YEARS AGO. With tensions rising with Japan two years later, Lexington and the US Pacific Fleet were ordered to remain in Hawaiian waters after exercises in 1940. USS Lexington (CV-2), nicknamed "Lady Lex", was an early aircraft carrier built for the United States Navy. The Lexington was critically damaged by Japanese forces during the Battle of the Coral Sea on May 8, 1942, and the U.S. Navy was forced to scuttle it. Her crew scrambled to put out fires, but as the day wore on, the flames proved uncontrollable. During the early years of her career at sea, the USS Lexington, along with her sister ship the USS Saratoga (CV-3), spent much of her time taking part in naval exercises. On December 5, 1941, Admiral Husband E. Kimmel, the commander of the US Pacific Fleet, ordered Lexington and the cruisers and destroyers of Task Force 12 to transport Marine Corps Vought SB2U Vindicators to the US base on Midway Island. Over the next year, the carrier's hull took shape as the US entered World War II following the attack on Pearl Harbor. LEXINGTON — Four years after the decision was made to disinter the unidentified remains of those who perished on the USS Oklahoma at Pearl Harbor, 242 have been identified, but a Lexington sailor is still among the unknown. 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