USS LEXINGTON

The USS Lexington is a name carried by several distinguished ships in the United States Navy, most famously by the aircraft carrier CV-2. Commissioned in 1927, this "Lady Lex" played a pivotal role in the early Pacific campaigns of World War II, including the Battle of the Coral Sea in May 1942. During that battle, she was heavily damaged by enemy aircraft and ultimately sunk, marking the first aircraft carrier lost by the United States in the war. Despite her loss, the USS Lexington’s crew and air group contributed significantly to halting Japanese expansion, and her name was later passed on to the Essex-class carrier CV-16, which served throughout the remainder of the war and beyond.