Two weeks agao I was on vaction and my wife and I wanted to do something, so Since Corpus Christi, TX is only 2 hours north of me we thought we would take our son to see the big aquaium they have there. Well then I got to thinking, you know the Lexington is there. So I talk to the wife and said “You know I am building this model for your dad, and you know I could really use some reference photos of an Essex class carrier, and the Lexington is right next to the aquaium.”
Well she got my hint, and see was like “yeah that sounds like a great idea to me too.” So we went and I got lots of photos. Plus all three of us (My son, my wife and I) had a great time. So anyways here is a link to all the photos.
http://photos.kitmaker.net/showgallery.php/cat/15875
Looks good, thanks for sharing. My father was on the Lex from 56 to 58 and doesn’t think he will ever get down to see her, so I forwarded these photos to him. I get to Houston a lot but never have the time to get down to CC.
Have they repaired the damage to the flag bridge and island due to a fire a few years ago?
Scott
to be honest with you I don’t know. There was no signs or anything that suggeted that there was any kind of fire damage. So my guess would be yes they did repair the damage, but like I am not a 100% sure.
Thanks for the link, I wasn’t able to view them though. I was stationed on the Lex from 1975-76. I was in Navigation Division and got to drive the old boat. I am very proud to have been able to serve on this great ship and be a part of her proud history.
AMAZING!! I was on the Antietam. We sailed out of Pensacola in 1963 heading for decommissioning in Philly, and the Lex, old even then, relieved us. It’s like a time warp to see her still active. My assumption is that she’s training NavCads out of Corpus Christie NAS. We did that with the Antietam periodically. I think these Essex class carriers (I served in CarDiv 242 with Essex) were built essentially on battleship bottoms. She looks good! Thanks for the memories!
Best,
Ron
Ron, I hate to let you down, but the Lex is decommissioned and a museum now at Corpus Cristi, Texas. She was deactivated in 1991 or 92 to the best of my knowledge. Still was in great shape for being 50 years old at the time. She was commissioned in 1943.
Yup, the ol’ lead barge, which what Dad called her, was stricken from the Navy in 1991. I got to go aboard her in 1978 with my dad and got the full enchilada of a tour and again in 1987. Both times, he felt like going into a time warp since much of the equipment in his ET shop was still there, even the stools and Simpson volt meters were the same ones he used when they re-commissioned in 1956.
The Lex had two recent major fires, one in 1987 right after I visited her, and again in 2000 when paint fumes ignited and burned up the flag bridge. There was some good articles about the second fire in both the Hook and Naval History.
Scott
The flag bridge was used as Navigation Department’s work center since no flag officers sailed on her after becoming a training carrier. There was a brass historical plaque on the overhead that read: “On this spot, on June 19, 1944, during the battle of the Phillippine Sea, Admiral Marc Mischer gave the order to ‘Turn on the lights’”. The Lexington was his flagship during this battle (I think there were around 15 CVs in this task force) and, after a day of merrily wiping out the remainder of Japan’s naval air force, the aviators were coming home in the dark. The order to turn on the lights of the task force in order for the flyers to find their way home flew in the face of submarine evading tactics and was a pretty ballsy thing to do. It was effective though, and most of the planes made it back, even though many had to ditch and be rescued by plane guard DDs. This battle became known as the Great Mariana Islands Turkey Shoot.
Also, the lame movie "Midway"was filmed on board the Lexington and much of the footage showing Glenn Ford and Charleton Heston conversing was shot on the flagbridge. We, the crew, got an exclusive viewing of the movie prior to its release. It was in “Sensurround” sound and was actually a good movie to see in a theater that was equipped with this system.
Woops! My bad. She does look good, though.
Thanks,
Rpn
