USS Lexington in Corpus Christi, Texas

A short drive up the coast and we arrived at the USS Lexington in Corpus Christi.

Shannon, Bill and I boarded the USS Lexington to explore this Essex-class aircraft carrier and it's history during WWII.

Launched in 1942, it glided into the sea with a non-typical blue coat of paint.  Active during the war, it was often reported missing in action only to show up within a week.  Tokyo Rose nicknamed it the Blue Ghost for it's frequent disappearing act then miraculous reappearance.

Originally scheduled to be named the USS Cabot, the sinking of the 4th USS Lexington in the Battle of the Coral Sea inspired shipyard worker to propose renaming it to pay honor to the lost Lexington and crew.  The proposal was approved and the 5th USS Lexington was born.

You can see in the middle between the two aft guns, the Japanese flag.  This is located on the only kamikaze hit during sea battles.  She also had her rudder damaged  but was able to limp back to Pearl Harbor.

The bridge.

View of the bow end and runway.  The jet on the starboard (right) side is like the one used in Top Gun.

Various jets lining the port side.  During Hurricane Harvey all the jets on this deck were moved to the hanger one deck below.

Top Gun

 Below is a preserved section of the deck in it's original wood material.  The entire flight deck was originally made of wood because it was lighter in weight.  Time and hard use took it's toll and when brought to Corpus Christi it leaked like a sieve.   To preserve the ships structural integrity and future museum use, the decks were asphalted.

Looking aft from flight deck toward bridge.

A-4E Skyhawk .  During WWII, John McCain piloted a jet like this but was shot down.  He endured years as a POW before his release.

What would an aircraft carrier be without a brig.

A functioning city below decks included a surgical hospital.

Hospital ward.

A Barbershop

Dental repairs.

Of course a galley and loads of food for hungry sailors and pilots.

An alternate to hot bunking, hot hamocking.

Sunday services.

A beautiful ship with a courageous history.  She served in the war. Spent 30 years as a training carrier then finally in 1992 she was brought to Corpus Christi and docked to become a museum.

It was a fun and interesting day.  We disembarked and headed home for some well earned r and r.

Thanks for visiting.  Come back.

Susan