Lexington

Armor Model

Overview

As a result of the Washington Naval Conference, the construction of Lexington-class battlecruisers was canceled, but it was allowed to convert two of them into aircraft carriers. Their flight deck and the outer sides of the hangar were designed as part of the hull structure and provided longitudinal strength for the entire ship, which made it possible to make a single-level hangar completely enclosed. The aircraft carrier USS Lexington was built in Quincy, Massachusetts, and served on the West Coast of the United States until 1940. Before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Lexington put to sea to transport U.S. Marine Corps dive bombers to Midway, thus avoiding the attack. In early 1942, the aircraft carrier conducted raids on Japanese territories in the Pacific Ocean. During the Battle of the Coral Sea, Lexington sustained several bomb hits from Japanese carrier-based aircraft, after which a serious fire broke out, and the carrier had to be abandoned. The ship was finished off by torpedoes from the destroyer USS Phelps.