Aircraft Carrier

CV 16 / CVA 16 / CVS 16  -  USS Lexington

 

 

cva cvs 16 uss lexington insignia crest patch badge essex class aircraft carrier us navy

cva cvs 16 uss lexington essex class aircraft carrier us navy bethlehem shipbuilding fore river quincy massachusetts training

Type, Class:

 

Aircraft Carrier; Essex - class

planned as USS Cabot; renamed Lexington while under construction

in service as CV 16, CVA 16, CVS 16, CVT 16 and finally AVT 16

Builder:

 

Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp., Fore River Shipyard, Quincy, Massachusetts, USA

STATUS:

 

Awarded: September 9, 1940

Laid down: July 15, 1941

Launched: September 23, 1942

Commissioned: February 17, 1943 (as CV 16)

Decommissioned: April 23, 1947

redesignated CVA 16 on October 1, 1952

SCB-27C & SCB-125 modification: September 1953 - August 1955

Recommissioned: August 15, 1955

redesignated CVS 16 on October 1, 1962

redesignated CVT 16 on January 1, 1969

redesignated AVT 16 on July 1, 1978

Decommissioned: November 8, 1991

Fate: museum ship in Corpus Christi, Texas

Homeport:

 

-

Namesake:

 

Battle of Lexington, American Revolutionary War - April 19, 1775

Ship’s Motto:

 

 

Technical Data:

(Measures, Propulsion,

Armament, Aviation, etc.)

 

see: INFO > Essex class Aircraft Carrier

History:

 

! for ship history go to the bottom of this page !

 

Deployments:

 

May 1956 - December 1956 with Air Task Group 1 (ATG-1) - Western Pacific

April 1957 - October 1957 with Carrier Air Group 12 (CVG-12) - Western Pacific

July 1958 - December 1958 with Carrier Air Group 21 (CVG-21) - Western Pacific

April 1959 - December 1959 with Carrier Air Group 21 (CVG-21) - Western Pacific

October 1960 - June 1961 with Carrier Air Group 21 (CVG-21) - Western Pacific

November 1961 - May 1962 with Carrier Air Group 14 (CVG-14) - Western Pacific

July 1962 - September 1962 with Carrier Air Group 5 (CVG-5) - West to East Coast via Cape Horn

October 1962 - November 1962 with Carrier Air Group 3 (CVG-3) - Caribbean Sea

> redesignated CVT-16 (training aircraft carrier) on January 1, 1969

> redesignated AVT-16 (auxilary aircraft landing training ship) on July 1, 1978

 

ship images

 

cv-16 uss lexington essex class aircraft carrier museum corpus christi texas

museum ship - Corpus Christi, Texas

 

cv-16 uss lexington

1992

 

cva cvs 16 uss lexington

1992

 

1991

 

1989

 

1989

 

AVT 16 - 1989

 

1987

 

1987

 

1987

 

cva cvs cvt 16 uss lexington

undated

 

1985

 

Pensacola, Florida - 1982

 

1982

 

1981

 

1981

 

circa 1980

 

1980

 

Pensacola, Florida - 1978

 

Pensacola, Florida - 1978

 

cva cvt 16 uss lexington essex class aircraft carrier pensacola florida

Pensacola, Florida - 1978

 

circa 1978

 

circa 1975

 

1975

 

1973

 

1970

 

1970

 

circa 1970

 

circa 1970

 

undated (after 1968)

 

1968

 

cva cvs 16 uss lexington 1965

1965

 

circa 1965

 

circa 1965

 

1963

 

1963

 

circa 1963

 

cva-16 uss lexington aircraft carrier

1960’s

 

cva 16 uss lexington carrier air group cvg-14

with CVG-14 embarked - 1962

 

cva-16 uss lexington carrier air group cvg-21

with CVG-21 embarked - 1961

 

with CVG-21 embarked - 1961

 

cva-16 uss lexington cvg-21

with CVG-21 embarked - 1961

 

with CVG-21 embarked - 1961

 

with CVG-21 embarked - 1961

 

cva-16 uss lexington cvg-21 1960

with CVG-21 embarked - 1960

 

with CVG-21 embarked - 1960

 

with CVG-21 embarked - 1958

 

with CVG-21 embarked - 1958

 

circa 1958

 

cva-16 uss lexington carrier air group cvg-12 1957

with CVG-12 embarked - 1957

 

cva-16 uss lexington

with CVG-12 embarked - 1957

 

with CVG-12 embarked - 1957

 

with CVG-12 embarked - 1957

 

cva-16 uss lexington air task group atg-1

with ATG-1 embarked - 1956

 

with ATG-1 embarked - 1956

 

1956

 

1956

 

1956

 

1956

 

1956

 

1955

 

cva-16 uss lexington

1955

 

1955

 

1955

 

1955

 

1955

 

1955

 

1955

 

cva-16 uss lexington after scb-27 scb-125 conversion modification 1955

after SCB-27/SCB-125 conversion - 1955

 

 

cva-16 uss lexington antenna arrangement

1955

 

1955

 

1955

 

1955

 

1955

 

 

1953

 

1953

 

1953

 

1953

 

1953

 

1953

 

undated

 

cv-16 uss lexington essex class aircraft carrier 1945

1945

 

1945

 

1944

 

 

1943

 

 

cv-16 uss lexington essex class aircraft carrier 1943

1943

 

photos: US National Naval Aviation Museum, US Naval History & Heritage Command, US National Archive

 

 

USS Lexington (CV 16 / CVA 16 / CVS 16 / CVT 16 / AVT 16):

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 the USS Lexington (CV-2) had been lost in the Battle of the Coral Sea. She was renamed while under construction to commemorate the earlier ship. She was the fifth US Navy ship to bear the name in honor of the Revolutionary War Battle of Lexington.

Lexington was commissioned in February 1943 and saw extensive service through the Pacific War. For much of her service, she acted as the flagship for Admiral Marc Mitscher, and led the Fast Carrier Task Force through their battles across the Pacific. She was the recipient of 11 battle stars and the Presidential Unit Citation. Following the war, Lexington was decommissioned, but was modernized and reactivated in the early 1950s, being reclassified as an attack carrier (CVA). Later, she was reclassified as an anti-submarine carrier (CVS). In her second career, she operated both in the Atlantic/Mediterranean and the Pacific, but spent most of her time, nearly 30 years, on the east coast as a training carrier (CVT).

Lexington was decommissioned in 1991, with an active service life longer than any other Essex-class ship. Following her decommissioning, she was donated for use as a museum ship in Corpus Christi, Texas. In 2003, Lexington was designated a National Historic Landmark. Though her surviving sister ships Yorktown, Intrepid, and Hornet carry lower hull numbers, Lexington was laid down and commissioned earlier, making Lexington the oldest remaining aircraft carrier in the world.


History:

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 Blue Ghost"

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". There were rumors 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.


World War II

After a shakedown cruise in the Caribbean, Lexington sailed via the Panama Canal to join the Pacific fleet.

One of the carrier's first casualties was 1939 Heisman Trophy winner Nile Kinnick. During the ship's initial voyage (to the Caribbean)in 1943, Kinnick and other naval fliers were conducting training flights off her deck. The F4F Wildcat flown by Kinnick developed a serious oil leak while airborne. The mechanical problem was so severe that Kinnick was unable to make it back to the Lexington and crashed into the sea four miles from the ship. Neither Kinnick nor his plane was ever recovered.

She arrived at Pearl Harbor on 9 August 1943. She participated in a raid on the air bases on Tarawa in late September, followed by a Wake Island raid in October, then returned to Pearl Harbor to prepare for the Gilbert Islands operation. From 19–24 November, she made searches and flew sorties in the Marshalls, covering the landings in the Gilberts. Her aviators downed 29 enemy aircraft on 23 and 24 November.


Kwajalein raid

Lexington sailed to raid Kwajalein on 4 December. Her morning strike destroyed the SS Kembu Maru, damaged two cruisers, and accounted for 30 enemy aircraft. Her gunners splashed two of the enemy torpedo planes that attacked at midday, but were ordered not to open fire at night as Admiral Charles Pownall then in command believed it would give their position away (he was later replaced).

At 19:20 that night, a major air attack began while the task force was under way off Kwajalein. At 23:22, parachute flares from Japanese planes silhouetted the carrier, and 10 minutes later she was hit by a torpedo on the starboard side, knocking out her steering gear. Nine people were killed, two on the fantail and seven in the Chief Petty Officers mess room, which was a repair party station during general quarters. Four members of the affected repair party survived because they were sitting on a couch that apparently absorbed the shock of the explosion. Settling 5 feet (2 m) by the stern, the carrier began circling to port amidst dense clouds of smoke pouring from ruptured tanks aft. To maintain water tight integrity, damage control crews were ordered to seal the damaged compartments and welded them shut applying heavy steel plates where needed. An emergency hand-operated steering unit was quickly devised, and Lexington made Pearl Harbor for emergency repairs, arriving on 9 December. She reached Bremerton, Washington on December 22 for full repairs, completed on February 20, 1944. The error in judgment concerning opening fire at night was never repeated, as thereafter gun crews were ordered to open fire anytime the ship came under attack. Following this attack, the ship was reported sunk by Japan's Tokyo Rose, the first of several such assertions.


Battle of the Philippine Sea

Lexington returned to Majuro in time to be present when Rear Admiral Marc Mitscher took command of the newly formed Task Force 58 (TF 58) on 8 March. Mitscher took Lexington as his flagship, and after a warm-up strike against Mille, the Fast Carrier Task Force began a series of operations against the Japanese positions in the Central Pacific. She supported Army landings at Hollandia (currently known as Jayapura) on 13 April, and then raided the strongpoint of Truk on 28 April. Heavy counterattacks left Lexington untouched, her planes splashing 17 enemy fighters; but, for the second time, Japanese propaganda announced her sunk.

A surprise fighter strike on Saipan on 11 June virtually eliminated all air opposition over the island, then battered it from the air for the next five days. On 16 June, Lexington fought off a fierce attack by Japanese torpedo planes based on Guam, once again emerging unhurt but 'sunk' a third time by propaganda pronouncements. As Japanese opposition to the Marianas operation provoked the Battle of the Philippine Sea on 19–20 June, Lexington played a major role in TF 58's great victory in what was later called the "Great Marianas Turkey Shoot". With over 300 enemy aircraft destroyed the first day, and a carrier, a tanker, and a destroyer sunk the second day, American aviators virtually knocked Japanese naval aviation out of the war; for with the planes went the trained and experienced pilots without whom Japan could not continue air warfare at sea.

Using Eniwetok as her base, Lexington sent aircraft on sorties over Guam and against the Palaus and Bonins into August. She arrived in the Carolinas on 7 September for three days of strikes against Yap and Ulithi, then began attacks on Mindanao, the Visayas, the Manila area, and shipping along the west coast of Luzon, preparing for the coming assault on Leyte. Her task force then blasted Okinawa on 10 October and Formosa two days later to destroy bases from which opposition to the Philippines campaign might be launched. She was again unscathed through the air battle fought after the Formosa assault.


Battle of Leyte Gulf

Now covering the Leyte landings, Lexington‍ '​s planes scored importantly in the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the climactic American naval victory over Japan. While the carrier came under constant enemy attack in the engagement, her planes joined in sinking Musashi and scored hits on three cruisers on 24 October. Next day, with Essex aircraft, they sank Chitose, and alone sank Zuikaku. Later in the day, they aided in sinking Zuihō. As the retiring Japanese were pursued, her planes sank Nachi with four torpedo hits on 5 November off Luzon.

Later that day, Lexington was introduced to the kamikaze as a flaming Japanese plane crashed near her island, destroying most of the island structure and spraying fire in all directions. Within 20 minutes, major blazes were under control, and she was able to continue normal flight actions,as well as shooting down a kamikaze heading for Ticonderoga. On 9 November, Lexington arrived in Ulithi to repair battle damage while hearing that Tokyo once again claimed her sunk. Casualties were considered light despite the island structure's destruction.

Chosen as the flagship for Task Group 58.2 (TG 58.2) on 11 December, she struck at the airfields of Luzon and Formosa during the first nine days of January 1945, encountering little enemy opposition. The task force then entered the South China Sea to strike enemy shipping and air installations. Strikes were flown against Saipan, Camranh Bay in then Indochina, Hong Kong, the Pescadores, and Formosa. Task force planes sank four merchant ships and four escorts in one convoy and destroyed at least 12 in another, at Camranh Bay on 12 January. Leaving the China Sea on 20 January, Lexington sailed north to strike Formosa again on 21 January and Okinawa again on 22 January.

After replenishing at Ulithi, TG 58.2 sailed on 10 February to hit airfields near Tokyo on 16 February 1945, and on 17 February to minimize opposition to the Iwo Jima landings on 19 February. Lexington flew close support for the assaulting troops from 19–22 February, then sailed for further strikes against the Japanese home islands and the Nansei Shoto before heading for overhaul at Puget Sound.


Rear Admiral Sprague's Task Force

Lexington was combat bound again on 22 May, sailing via Alameda and Pearl Harbor for San Pedro Bay, Leyte where she joined Rear Admiral Thomas L. Sprague's task force for the final round of air strikes which battered the Japanese home islands from July-15 August, when the last strike was ordered to jettison its bombs and return to Lexington on receiving word of Japanese surrender. During this period she had launched attacks on Honshū and Hokkaidō airfields, and Yokosuka and Kure naval bases to destroy the remnants of the Japanese fleet. She had also flown bombing attacks on industrial targets in the Tokyo area.

After hostilities ended, her aircraft continued to fly air patrols over Japan, and dropped supplies to prisoner of war camps on Honshū. In December, she was used to ferry home servicemen in what was known as Operation Magic Carpet, arriving in San Francisco on 16 December.


Post-war

Lexington was decommissioned at Bremerton, Washington on 23 April 1947 and entered the National Defense Reserve Fleet. While in reserve, she was designated attack carrier CVA-16 on 1 October 1952. In September 1953, Lexington entered the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. She received the Essex-class SCB-27C and SCB-125 conversions in one refit, being then able to operate the most modern jet aircraft. The most visible distinguishing features were an angled flight deck, steam catapults, a new island, and the hurricane bow.

Lexington was recommissioned on 15 August 1955, Captain A. S. Heyward, Jr., in command. Assigned San Diego as her home port, she operated off California until May 1956, sailing then for a six-month deployment with the 7th Fleet. She based on Yokosuka for exercises, maneuvers, and search and rescue missions off the coast of China, and called at major Far Eastern ports until returning San Diego on 20 December. She next trained Air Group 12, which deployed with her on the next 7th Fleet deployment. Arriving Yokosuka on 1 June 1957, Lexington embarked Rear Admiral H. D. Riley, Commander Carrier Division 1, and sailed as his flagship until returning San Diego on 17 October.


1958 Taiwan Strait crisis

Following overhaul at Bremerton, her refresher training was interrupted by the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis; on 14 July 1958, she was ordered to embark Air Group 21 at San Francisco and sail to reinforce the 7th Fleet off Taiwan, arriving on station on 7 August and returning San Diego on 19 December. Now the first carrier whose planes were armed with AGM-12 Bullpup guided missile, Lexington left San Francisco on 26 April 1959 for another tour of duty with the 7th Fleet. She was on standby alert during the Laotian crisis of late August and September. Following this, she exercised with British naval forces before returning to San Diego, arriving on 2 December. In early 1960, she underwent an overhaul at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard.


Far East

Lexington‍ '​s next Far Eastern tour began late in 1960, and was extended well into 1961 by renewed tension in Laos. Returning to west coast operations, she was ordered in January 1962 to prepare to relieve Antietam as aviation training carrier in the Gulf of Mexico, and she was redesignated CVS-16 on 1 October 1962. However, during the Cuban missile crisis, she resumed duty as an attack carrier, and it was not until 29 December 1962 that she relieved Antietam at Pensacola, Florida.


Training carrier

Into 1969, Lexington operated out of her home port, Pensacola, as well as Corpus Christi and New Orleans, qualifying student aviators and maintaining the high state of training of both active duty and reserve naval aviators. Her work became of increasing significance as she prepared the men vital to the Navy and Marine Corps operations over Vietnam, where naval aviation played a major role. Lexington marked her 200,000th arrested landing on 17 October 1967, and was redesignated CVT-16 on 1 January 1969. She continued as a training carrier for the next 22 years until decommissioned and struck on 8 November 1991.

In 1980, the USS Lexington became the first aircraft carrier in US Naval history to have women stationed aboard as crew members (18 Aug. 1980).

On 29 October 1989, a student Naval Aviator lost control of his T-2 training aircraft after an aborted attempt to land on Lexington‍ '​s flight deck. The aircraft impacted the island with its right wing, killing five crew members (including the pilot of the plane), and another 15 were injured. The island suffered no major damage, and fires from the burning fuel were extinguished within 15 minutes.

Lexington was the final Essex-class carrier in commission, after Oriskany had been decommissioned in 1976.

 

source: wikipedia

 

- - -

 

another history:

 

The fifth Lexington (CV-16) was laid down as Cabot 15 July 1941 by Bethlehem Steel Co., Quincy, Mass.; renamed Lexington 16June 1942; launched 26 September 1942; sponsored by Mrs. Theodore D. Robinson; and commissioned 17 February 1943, Capt. Felix B. Stump in command.

After Caribbean shakedown and yard work at Boston, Lexington sailed for Pacific action via the Panama Canal, arriving Pearl Harbor 9 August 1943. She raided Tarawa in late September and Wake in October, then returned Pearl Harbor to prepare for the Gilbert Islands operation. From 19 to 24 November she made searches and flew sorties in the Marshalls, covering the landings in the Gilberts. Her aviators downed 29 enemy aircraft on 23 and 24 November.

Lexington sailed to raid Kwajalein 4 December. Her morning strike destroyed a cargo ship, damaged two cruisers, and accounted for 30 enemy aircraft. Her gunners splashed two of the enemy torpedo planes that attacked at midday, and opened fire again at 1925 that night when a major air attack began. At 2322 parachute flares silhouetted the carrier, and 10 minutes later she was hit by a torpedo to starboard, knocking out her steering gear. Settling 5 feet by the stern, the carrier began circling to port amidst dense clouds of smoke pouring from ruptured tanks aft. An emergency hand-operated steering unit was quickly devised, and Lexington made Pearl Harbor for emergency repairs, arriving 9 December. She reached Bremerton, Wash., 22 December for full repairs completed 20 February 1944.

Lexington sailed via Alameda, Calif., and Pearl Harbor for Majuro, where Rear Adm. Marc Mitscher commanding TF 58 broke his flag in her 8 March. After a warmup strike against Mille, TF 58 operated against the major centers of resistance in Japan-s outer empire, supporting the Army landing at Hollandia 13 April, and hitting supposedly invulnerable Truk 28 April. Heavy counterattack left Lexington untouched, her planes splashing 17 enemy fighters; but, for the second time, Japanese propaganda announced her sunk.

A surprise fighter strike on Saipan 11 June virtually eliminated all air opposition over the island, then battered from the air for the next 5 days. On 15 June Lexington fought off a fierce attack by Japanese torpedo planes based on Guam, once again to emerge unhurt, but sunk a third time by propaganda pronouncements. As Japanese opposition to the Mariannas operation provoked the Battle of the Philippine Sea 19 and 20 June, Lexington played a major role in TF 58-s great victory. With over 300 enemy aircraft destroyed the first day, and a carrier, a tanker, and a destroyer sunk the second day, American aviators virtually knocked Japanese naval aviation out of the war; for with the planes went the trained and experienced pilots without whom Japan could not continue air warfare at sea.

Using Eniwetok as her base, Lexington flew sorties over Guam and against the Palaus and Bonins into August. She arrived in the Carolinas 6 September for 3 days of strikes against Yap and Ulithi, then began attacks on Mindanao, the Visayas, the Manila area, and shipping along the west coast of Luzon, preparing for the coming assault on Leyte. Her task force then blasted Okinawa 10 October and Formosa 2 days later to destroy bases from which opposition to the Philippines campaign might be launched. She was again unscathed through the air battle fought after the Formosa assault.

Now covering the Leyte landings, Lexington-s planes scored importantly in the Battle for Leyte Gulf, the climactic American naval victory over Japan. While the carrier came under constant enemy attack in the engagement in which Princeton was sunk, her planes joined in sinking Japan-s superbattleship Musashi and scored hits on three cruisers 24 October. Next day, with Essex aircraft, they sank carrier Chitose, and alone sank Zuikako. Later in the day, they aided in sinking a third carrier, Zuiho. As the retiring Japanese were pursued, her planes sank heavy cruiser Nachi with four torpedo hits 5 November off Luzon.

But in the same action, she was introduced to the kamikaze as a flaming Japanese plane crashed near her island, destroying most of the island structure and spraying flre in all directions. Within 20 minutes major blazes were under control, and she was able to continue normal flight actions, her guns knocking down a would-be kamikaze heading for carrier Ticonderoga as well. On 9 November Lexington arrived Ulithi to repair battle damage and learn that Tokyo once again claimed her destroyed.

Chosen flagship for TG 58.2 on 11 December, she struck at the airfields of Luzon and Formosa during the first 9 days of January 1945, encountering little enemy opposition. The task force then entered the China Sea to strike enemy shipping and air installations. Strikes were flown against Saipan, Camranh Bay in then Indochina, Hong Kong, the Pescadores, and Formosa. Task force planes sank four merchant ships and four escorts in one convoy, and destroyed at least 12 in another, at Camranh Bay 12 January. Leaving the China Sea 20 January, Lexington sailed north to strike Formosa again 21 January and Okinawa again 22 January.

After replenishing at Ulithi, TG 58.2 sailed 10 February to hit airfields near Tokyo 16 and 17 February to minimize opposition to the Iwo Jima landings 19 February. Lexington flew close support for the assaulting troops 19 to 22 February, then sailed for further strikes against the Japanese home islands and the Nansei Shoto before heading for overhaul at Puget Sound.

Lexington was combat bound again 22 May, sailing via Alameda and Pearl Harbor for San Pedro Bay, Leyte, where she joined Rear Adm. T. L. Sprague-s task force for the final round of airstrikes which battered the Japanese home islands through July until 15 August, when the last strike was ordered to jettison its bombs and return to Lexington on receiving word of Japanese surrender. During this period she had launched attacks on Honshu and Hokkaido airfields, and Yokosuka and Kure naval bases to destroy the remnants of the Japanese fleet. She had also flown bombing attacks on industrial targets in the Tokyo area.

After hostilities ended, she continued to fly precautionary patrols over Japan, and dropped supplies to prisoner of war camps on Honshu. She supported the occupation of Japan until leaving Tokyo Bay 3 December with homeward bound veterans for transportation to San Francisco, where she arrived 15 December.

After west coast operations, Lexington decommissioned at Bremerton, Wash., 23 April 1947 and entered the Reserve Fleet there. Designated attack carrier CVA-16 on 1 October 1952, she began conversion and modernization in Puget Sound Naval Shipyard 1 September 1953, receiving the new angled flight deck.

Lexington recommissioned 15 August 1955, Capt. A. S. Heyward, Jr., in command. Assigned San Diego as her home port, she operated off California until May 1956, sailing then for a 6-month deployment with the 7th Fleet. She based on Yokosuka for exercises, maneuvers, and search and rescue missions off the coast of China, and called at major Far Eastern ports until returning San Diego 20 December. She next trained Air Group 12, which deployed with her on the next 7th Fleet deployment. Arriving Yokosuka 1 June 1957, Lexington embarked Rear Adm. H. D. Riley, Commander Carrier Division 1, and sailed as his flagship until returning San Diego 17 October.

Following overhaul at Bremerton, her refresher training was interrupted by the Lebanon crisis; on 14 July 1958 she was ordered to embark Air Group 21 at San Francisco and sail to reinforce the 7th Fleet off Taiwan, arriving on station 7 August. With another peacekeeping mission of the U.S. Navy successfully accomplished, she returned San Diego 19 December. Now the first carrier whose planes were armed with air-to-surface Bullpup guided missile, Lexington left San Francisco 26 April 1959 for another tour of duty with the 7th Fleet. She was on standby alert during the Laotian crisis of late August and September, then exercised with British forces before sailing from Yokosuka 16 November for San Diego, arriving 2 December. Through early 1960 she overhauled at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard.

Lexington’s next Far Eastern tour began late in 1960 and was extended well into 1961 by renewed tension in Laos. Returning to west coast operations, she was ordered in January 1962 to prepare to relieve Antietam (CVS-36) as aviation training carrier in the Gulf of Mexico, and she was redesignated CVS-16 on 1 October 1962. However, during the Cuban missile crisis, she resumed duty as an attack carrier, and it was not until 29 December 1963 that she relieved Antietam at Pensacola.

Into 1969, Lexington has operated out of her home port, Pensacola, as well as Corpus Christi and New Orleans, qualifying student aviators and maintaining the high state of training of both active duty and reserve naval aviators. Her work has been of increasing significance as she has prepared the men vital to the continuing Navy and Marine Corps operations over Vietnam, where naval aviation has played a major role in defending the cause of freedom. Lexington marked her 200,000th arrested landing 17 October 1967, and was redesignated CVT-16 on 1 January 1969.

Lexington received the Presidential Unit Citation and 11 battle stars for World War II service.


source: US Naval History & Heritage Command

 

Battle of Lexington 1775:

 

The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War. They were fought on April 19, 1775, in Middlesex County, Province of Massachusetts Bay, within the towns of Lexington, Concord, Lincoln, Menotomy (present-day Arlington), and Cambridge, near Boston. The battles marked the outbreak of open armed conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen of its colonies on the mainland of British America.

In late 1774 the Suffolk Resolves were adopted to resist the enforcement of the alterations made to the Massachusetts colonial government by the British parliament following the Boston Tea Party. An illegal Patriot shadow government known as the Massachusetts Provincial Congress was subsequently formed and called for local militias to begin training for possible hostilities. The rebel government exercised effective control of the colony outside of British-controlled Boston. In response, the British government in February 1775 declared Massachusetts to be in a state of rebellion. About 700 British Army regulars in Boston, under Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith, were given secret orders to capture and destroy rebel military supplies that were reportedly stored by the Massachusetts militia at Concord. Through effective intelligence gathering, Patriot colonials had received word weeks before the expedition that their supplies might be at risk and had moved most of them to other locations. They also received details about British plans on the night before the battle and were able to rapidly notify the area militias of the British expedition.

The first shots were fired just as the sun was rising at Lexington. The militia were outnumbered and fell back, and the regulars proceeded on to Concord, where they searched for the supplies. At the North Bridge in Concord, approximately 500 militiamen engaged three companies of the King's troops at about an hour before Noon, resulting in casualties on both sides. The outnumbered regulars fell back from the bridge and rejoined the main body of British forces in Concord.

Having completed their search for military supplies, the British forces began their return march to Boston. More militiamen continued to arrive from neighboring towns, and not long after, gunfire erupted again between the two sides and continued throughout the day as the regulars marched back towards Boston. Upon returning to Lexington, Lt. Col. Smith's expedition was rescued by reinforcements under Brigadier General Hugh Percy a future duke (of Northumberland, known as Earl Percy). The combined force, now of about 1,700 men, marched back to Boston under heavy fire in a tactical withdrawal and eventually reached the safety of Charlestown. The accumulated militias blockaded the narrow land accesses to Charlestown and Boston, starting the Siege of Boston.

 

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