U S S LEXINGTON AIR CRAFT CARRIER, WW II

U. S. S. LEXINGTON

The sunken wreck of the USS Lexington Air Craft Carrier, which was lost in early WW II, was found in Coral Sea this past March. Paul Allen, of Microsoft led the search

team which found the wreck under two mile deep water 500 miles off the northeastern

coast of Australia.

The Lexington had been badly damaged by the Japanese in the Battle of Coral Sea , May

the 4^th to the 8^th, 1942, but had remained afloat and was on its way to repairs when a gas

explosion rocked the vessel she was scuttled to prevent her from falling into Japanese

hands..

The U. S. S. Lexington had earned two battle stars for it's WW II service.

The bodies of 216 sailors. Killed during the coral Sea Battle, were aboard so the Navy

considers the wreck a war grave and she cannot be salvaged nor retrieved.

Allen's team also had discovered another WW II ship, the USS Indianapolis, last year.

SOURCE: “ Now Hear This”, May 2018 VFW Magazine, Harrison H. for

www.iinni.blogspoet.com