USS Lexington (AVT-16)

USS Lexington (CV-16)

USS Lexington underway in the 1960s.
History
United States
Name:	USS Lexington
Namesake:	Battle of Lexington
Ordered:	09 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 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 antisubmarine 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 fleet carrier in the world.