|
The USS Lexington was one of twenty-four Essex class carriers built for World War II. The ship was commissioned in 1943, serving in the Pacific Theater of the war with a crew of over 1,500. After three separate battles, Japanese radio had announced each time that the Lexington had been sunk – she was never sunk, leading to the nickname of the Blue Ghost. The Lexington helped assure Allied victory at the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the major turning point of the war with Japan.
After the war, the ship was placed in the Naval Reserve. She was re-commissioned in 1955, serving out of San Diego. By 1969, the Lexington had been converted into a training ship stationed at Pensacola, Florida, and conducted training operation throughout the Gulf of Mexico. The ship was decommissioned in 1991, donated to Corpus Christi, and became a floating museum. In 2003, the ship was designated a National Historic Landmark.
There are five self-guided tours aboard the ship. Be forewarned, whatever tour you choose (except the Hangar Deck Tour), you are on a ship designed for the navy. There is a lot of climbing up and down steep ladders. If you’re six feet or taller, you are going to bump your head. Most of the doors were designed to be sealed water-tight, in order to isolate any part of the ship. This necessitates low clearances on the top of the door, and a lip at the bottom of the doors you have to step over. Sailors have to be commended for their uncanny ability to look both up and down at the same time.
Portions of the ship have been restored to their original condition; some portions are closed and have yet to be restored; still other parts of the ship are used as areas for exhibits on World War II history. The history exhibits scattered in rooms throughout the ship detail other navy vessels, the history of aircraft carriers and the battles of the Lexington. Sometimes you’ll be in the middle of a historical exhibit and discover an explanation for a feature of the ship.
The longest tour, the Lower Decks, takes you through the engine room, sick bay, dental clinic, crew’s gallery, a POW exhibit, the chapel, a Kamikaze exhibit, the ship’s huge machine shop, and the engine room, resembling a miniature version of a chemical plant. The everyday features – dental office, infirmary, post office – seem amazingly huge to be located on a ship.
The other tour you don’t want to miss is the Flight Deck Tour. The flight deck is huge, and complete with aircraft. Stairs lead you up to the bridge for a captain’s view of the ship and Corpus Christi, down to the anti-aircraft gun mounts on the side of the ship, and into the captain’s cabin. The system designed to launch the aircraft from the deck, and to ‘catch’ the landing plans, is amazing. Catapults ‘threw’ the planes into the air; arresting gear would ‘catch’ the planes’ landing gear on wires.
After all that climbing, ducking, and lifting of the feet, it’s surprising to see that the boat was equipped with an escalator. It was installed sometime after the war to allow fighter pilots quicker access to the flight deck. You have to walk down it manually now, but the wall is painted with fun facts about the Lex, such as “The USS Lexington has more sleeping space than the largest hotel in the world.”
The other two paths you can follow are the Foc’sle Tour and the Gallery Deck Tour. The Foc’sle Tour goes through the Officers’ Quarters, a Pearl Harbor exhibit, and shows the anchor equipment. There are lots of good views of the Corpus skyline from portholes on this path. The Gallery Deck Tour takes you through combat information, ready rooms and the library.
Everyone basically follows the path of the Hangar Deck Tour – it’s the starting point for the other four explorations of the ship. On the hangar deck are World War II aircraft, modern aircraft, the gift shop, a café, the MEGA Theater, showing IMAX films (none relevant to the Lexington), and a silly ‘flight simulator.’ Don’t waste your money in that flight simulator – you’ll be in a confined space with 15 other people looking at a television set while the simulator moves gently up and down.
|
|