USS Lexington (CVA-16)

USS Lexington (CV-16)

USS Lexington underway in the 1960s.
History
United States
Name:	USS Lexington
Namesake:	Battle of Lexington
Ordered:	9 September 1940
Builder:	Fore River Shipyard
Laid down:	15 July 1941
Launched:	23 September 1942
Sponsored by:	Mrs. Theodore Douglas Robinson
Commissioned:	17 February 1943
Decommissioned:	23 April 1947
Recommissioned:	15 August 1955
Decommissioned:	8 November 1991
Reclassified:	CVA-16 October 1952 CVS-16 October 1962 CVT-16 January 1969
Struck:	8 November 1991
Nickname(s):	The Blue Ghost
Honors and awards:	Presidential Unit Citation (PUC)
Status:	Museum Ship at the USS Lexington Museum on the Bay in Corpus Christi, Texas
General characteristics
Class and type:	Essex-class aircraft carrier
Displacement:	As built: 27,100 tons standard 36,380 tons full load 1991: 48,275 tons full load
Length:	As built: 820 feet (250 m) waterline 872 feet (266 m) overall(910 ft)
Beam:	As built: 93 feet (28 m) waterline 147 feet 6 inches (45 m) overall
Draft:	As built: 28 feet 5 inches (8.66 m) light 34 feet 2 inches (10.41 m) full load
Propulsion:	As designed: 8 × boilers 565 psi (3,900 kPa) 850 °F (450 °C) 4 × Westinghouse geared steam turbines 4 × shafts 150,000 shp (110 MW)
Speed:	33 knots (61 km/h) 34.65 kn (64.17 km/h; 39.87 mph) during trials
Range:	20,000 nautical miles (37,000 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h)
Complement:	As built: 2,600 officers and enlisted
Armament:	As built: 4 × twin 5 inch (127 mm) 38 caliber guns 4 × single 5 inch (127 mm) 38 caliber guns 8 × quadruple 40 mm 56 caliber guns 46 × single 20 mm 78 caliber guns; All guns removed by 1967
Armor:	As built: 2.5 to 4 inch (60 to 100 mm) belt 1.5 inch (40 mm) hangar and protectice decks 4 inch (100 mm) bulkheads 1.5 inch (40 mm) STS top and sides of pilot house 2.5 inch (60 mm) top of steering gear
Aircraft carried:	110
USS Lexington
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark
Coordinates	27°48′54″N 97°23′19″W / 27.81500°N 97.38861°W / 27.81500; -97.38861Coordinates: 27°48′54″N 97°23′19″W / 27.81500°N 97.38861°W / 27.81500; -97.38861
Built	1942
NRHP reference #	03001043
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	31 July 2003
Designated NHL	31 July 2003

USS Lexington (CV/CVA/CVS/CVT/AVT-16), nicknamed "The Blue Ghost", is an Essex-class aircraft carrier built during World War II for the United States Navy. Originally intended to be named Cabot, word arrived during construction that USS Lexington (CV-2) had been lost in the Battle of the Coral Sea. The new aircraft carrier was renamed while under construction to commemorate the earlier ship. She was the fifth U.S. Navy ship to bear the name in honor of the Revolutionary War Battle of Lexington.

Since 1992, the ship has been docked in Corpus Christi, Texas, where she operates as a museum.

The ship was laid down as Cabot on 15 July 1941 by Bethlehem Steel Co., Quincy, Massachusetts. In May 1942, USS Lexington (CV-2), which had been built in the same shipyard two decades earlier, was sunk at the Battle of the Coral Sea. In June, workers at the shipyard submitted a request to Navy Secretary Frank Knox to change the name of a carrier currently under construction there to Lexington. Knox agreed to the proposal and Cabot was renamed as the fifth USS Lexington on 16 June 1942. She was launched on 23 September 1942, sponsored by Mrs. Theodore Douglas Robinson. Lexington was commissioned on 17 February 1943, with Captain Felix Stump USN in command.

The Japanese referred to Lexington as a "ghost" ship for her tendency to reappear after reportedly being sunk. This, coupled with the ship's dark blue camouflage scheme, led the crew to refer to her as "The Blue Ghost". Rumors existed during the war that the ship was so badly damaged, it had to be scuttled at one point, but a newly built aircraft carrier was immediately deployed with the same name, in an effort to demoralize the Japanese.