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 months, along with other units of the U.S. Seventh Fleet.Lexington in her original configuration, November 1943F6F HELLCAT USS Lexington 1944The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Lexington (CVA-16) steams out of the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Washington (USA), circa in September 1955, headed for her initial sea trials after SCB-27C & -125 conversions. USS Franklin D. Roosevelt (CVA-42), in the background, is well into her SCB-110 modernization. USS Midway (CVA-41), in the middle distance, is in the very early stages of (or being prepared for) her own SCB-110. Another Essex-class carrier is visible on the right, either USS Essex (CVA-9) or USS Yorktown (CVA-10) during their SCB-125 conversions.USS Lexington — The-Blue-Ghost’ — Corpus Christi Bay – Commissioned in 1943, she set more records than any other Essex Class carrier in the history of naval aviation. The Japanese referred to Lexington as a “ghost” ship for her tendency to reappear after reportedly being sunk. This, coupled with the ship’s dark blue camouflage scheme, led the crew to refer to her as “The Blue Ghost” This ship is a National Historic Landmark
Originally intended to be named Cabot, the new aircraft carrier was renamed while under construction to commemorate the recently lost USS Lexington (CV-2), becoming the sixth U.S. Navy ship to bear the name in honor of the 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, in Pensacola, Florida, 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 her the oldest remaining fleet carrier in the world.
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