7058 USS Lexington CV-2 Under Construction in 1927 US Navy WWII WW2 Photo USN

Description

USS Lexington CV-2
This is a nice reproduction of an original WW2  photograph showing the USS Lexington under construction in 1927.
Size is about 4" x 6".
USS
Lexington
(CV-2)
, nicknamed "Lady Lex",
[1]
was an early
aircraft carrier
built for the
United States Navy
. She was the
lead ship
of the
Lexington
class
; her only
sister ship
,
Saratoga
, was commissioned a month earlier. Originally designed as a
battlecruiser
, she was converted into one of the Navy's first aircraft carriers during construction to comply with the terms of the
Washington Naval Treaty
of 1922, which essentially terminated all new
battleship
and battlecruiser construction. The ship entered service in 1928 and was assigned to the
Pacific Fleet
for her entire career.
Lexington
and
Saratoga
were used to develop and refine carrier tactics in a series of annual exercises before
World War II
. On more than one occasion these included successfully staged surprise attacks on
Pearl Harbor
, Hawaii. The ship's
turbo-electric
propulsion system allowed her to supplement the electrical supply of
Tacoma, Washington
, during a drought in late 1929 to early 1930. She also delivered medical personnel and relief supplies to
Managua
, Nicaragua, after an earthquake in 1931.
Lexington
was at sea when the
Pacific War
began on 7 December 1941, ferrying fighter aircraft to
Midway Island
. Her mission was cancelled and she returned to Pearl Harbor a week later. After a few days, she was sent to create a diversion from the force en route to relieve the
besieged Wake Island
garrison by attacking Japanese installations in the
Marshall Islands
. The island was forced to surrender before the relief force got close enough, and the mission was cancelled. A planned attack on Wake Island in January 1942 had to be cancelled when a submarine sank the
oiler
required to supply the fuel for the return trip.
Lexington
was sent to the
Coral Sea
the following month to block any Japanese advances into the area. The ship was spotted by Japanese search aircraft while approaching
Rabaul
, New Britain, and her aircraft shot down most of the Japanese bombers that attacked her. Together with the carrier
Yorktown
, she successfully attacked Japanese shipping off the east coast of
New Guinea
in early March.
Lexington
was briefly refitted in Pearl Harbor at the end of the month and rendezvoused with
Yorktown
in the Coral Sea in early May. A few days later the Japanese began
Operation
Mo
, the invasion of
Port Moresby
, Papua New Guinea, and the two American carriers attempted to stop the invasion forces. They sank the
light aircraft carrier
Shōhō
on 7 May during the
Battle of the Coral Sea
, but did not encounter the main Japanese force of the carriers
Shōkaku
and
Zuikaku
until the next day. Aircraft from
Lexington
and
Yorktown
succeeded in badly damaging
Shōkaku
, but the Japanese aircraft crippled
Lexington
. Vapors from leaking
aviation gasoline
tanks sparked a series of explosions and fires that could not be controlled, and
Lexington
had to be
scuttled
by an American
destroyer
during the evening of 8 May to prevent her capture.
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7058