Recognition Guide Warships of the Second World War
United States Navy — Aircraft carrier CV-16

USS Lexington (CV-16)

Essex-class aircraft carrier

USS Lexington (CV-16)
U.S. Navy — Official U.S. Navy Photograph CVA-16-2720-(L)-8-58 available on Navsource.org — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons Plate — CV-16 The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Lexington (CVA-16) underway in the Western Pacific, with Carrier Air Group 21 (CVG-21), on 16 August 1958. Just eight days later, on 24 August, Communist Chinese artillery began shelling the Nationalist Chinese islands of Quemoy and Matsu, prompting the Blue Ghost ´s (as Lexington was called) deployment to the Taiwan Straits at various times during the next four

Service

  1. United States Navy as Lexington17 February 1943 — 8 November 1991928 days of the war
Full service history About 1,485 words
Essex-class aircraft carrier Particulars
Name
USS Lexington
Pennant / hull number
CV-16
Namesake
Battle of Lexington
Builder
Fore River Shipyard
Ordered
9 September 1940
Laid down
15 July 1941
Launched
23 September 1942
Commissioned
17 February 1943
Decommissioned
23 April 1947
Recommissioned
15 August 1955
Struck
8 November 1991
Fate
Museum ship
Status
Preserved

Specifications

Displacement, standard
27,100 long tons (27,535 t)
Displacement, full load
36,380 long tons (36,964 t)
Length
265.79 m (872 ft) OA
Beam
28.35 m (93 ft)
Draught
10.36 m (34 ft)
Speed
33 knots (61.1 km/h, 38 mph)
Range
14,100 nmi (26,113 km)
Complement
2,600
Main gun
127 mm (5 in)

Minutemen fought a detachment of British troops at Lexington, Mass., 19 April 1776 opening the Revolutionary War with "the shot heard round the world."

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.

Continue to the full service history About 1,485 words

From the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, compiled by the Naval History and Heritage Command (Lexington V (CV-16)). A work of the United States Government, in the public domain.

Armament and machinery

Armament and machinery
Propulsion
  • 4 × geared steam turbines
  • 4 × screw propellers
Power
  • 8 × Babcock & Wilcox boilers
  • 150000 shp
Armament
  • 12 × 5 in DP guns
  • 32 × 40 mm AA guns
  • 46 × 20 mm AA guns
Armour
  • Waterline belt: 2.5 - 4 in
  • Deck: 1.5 in
  • Hangar deck: 2.5 in
  • Bulkheads: 4 in (102 mm)
Aircraft
  • 36 × Grumman F6F Hellcat
  • 36 × Douglas SBD Dauntless
  • 18 × Grumman TBF Avenger

Sister ships

Sources

  • Facts harvested from USS Lexington (CV-16) on Wikipedia. Figures only — no wording is taken from it.
  • Service history reproduced verbatim from Lexington V (CV-16) , Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships — public domain, a work of the United States Government.
  • Photograph: U.S. Navy — Official U.S. Navy Photograph CVA-16-2720-(L)-8-58 available on Navsource.org — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons