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Photo: Naval History and Heritage Command

HISTORY

Lexington in the original outfit featuring 203 mm caliber cannons in the gun turrets.

First battle of aircraft carriers

Simultaneously with dispatching the invasion fleet to Port Moresby, the Japanese

hit Tulagi in Solomon Islands. This mission

was supported by the light aircraft carrier

Shōhō. The main forces were supported the

veterans of the Pearl Harbor attack-aircraft carriers Shōkaku and Zuikaku. The

stage was being set up for the very first

historic battle of the aircraft carriers. It was

a first naval battle ever in which the opposing

ships did not see each other and attacked

Photo: Naval History and Heritage Command

After the Japanese attacks Lexington was damaged however received her aircraft back on the deck. Picture was taken from the cruiser USS Portland shortly

before the fatal explosions.

Photo: Naval History and Heritage Command

ril 18 however the training was cancelled.

The American and British code breakers

concluded that the Japanese were preparing the landing at Port Moresby on the

south-eastern side of New Guinea. Therefore, on May 1, 1942, Lexington again joined

forces with Yorktown and her formation

TF 17. Together they set sail for the Coral

Sea with the intention to halt the Japanese

plans. For this mission Lexington carried 21

Wildcats, 37 Dauntlesses and 12 Devastators.

each other with carrier-borne aircraft only.

It is necessary to add though that many

mistakes were made on both sides resulting in chaos and the outcome was more-less hap-hazard. Both sides were aware

of the opponent ships presence and tried

hard to find them. Both incorrectly identified the support force as the main one

and launched against them attack groups

of their aircraft. On May 7, 1942, in the

morning, the Japanese scout discovered a

lone tanker Neosho escorted by destroyer Sims. It reported though, incorrectly, an

aircraft carrier and a cruiser. The Japanese

launched 78 aircraft from Shōkaku and Zuikaku against them: 18 Mitsubishi A6M Zero,

36 Aichi D3A Val dive bombers and 24 Nakajima B5N Kate torpedo bombers.

Right after an American scout discovered

the invasion fleet of the cargo ships but

reported two aircraft carriers and four

cruisers. The Americans too launched 93

aircraft from Lexington and Yorktown-18

Wildcats, 53 Dauntlesses and 22 Devastators. Both sides almost instantly realized

their error. Japanese aircraft for some time

fruitlessly searched for some more valuable targets and in the end decided to attack

Lexington under attack of the Japanese aircraft, May 8, 1942. Picture was taken from

the deck of one of the attackers.

December 2022

Ship’s demise was caused by the explosions of the fumes leaking from the damaged

aviation fuel tanks.

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