USS Lexington

Sunk

Type	Aircraft carrier
Class	Lexington
War	Second World War
Main guns	4 × twin 8 in (203 mm) guns

Laid down as a battlecruiser and completed as a carrier under the Washington Treaty, like Saratoga. Her aircraft helped sink Shōhō at the Coral Sea; the next day two torpedoes and two bombs hit her, and petrol vapour from cracked tanks blew her apart hours later. Scuttled by the destroyer Phelps.

The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Lexington (CV-2) leaving San Diego, California (USA), on 14 October 1941. Planes parked on her flight deck include Brewster F2A-1 fighters (parked forward), Douglas SBD scout-bombers (amidships) and Douglas TBD-1 torpedo planes (aft). Note the false bow wave painte Photo: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Armament and specifications

Armament

4 × twin 8 in (203 mm) guns
12 × single 5 in (127 mm) AA guns

Armour

Belt: 5–7 in (127–178 mm)
Deck: 0.75–2 in (19–51 mm)
Gun turrets: 0.75 in (19 mm)
Bulkheads: 5–7 in (127–178 mm)

Builder	Fore River Ship Building Co., Quincy, Massachusetts, US
Laid down	8 January 1921
Launched	3 October 1925
Commissioned	14 December 1927
Displacement	36,000 long tons (37,000 t) (standard) 47,700 long tons (48,500 t) (deep load)
Length	888 ft (270.7 m)
Speed	33.25 knots (61.58 km/h; 38.26 mph)
Complement	2,791 (including aviation personnel) in 1942

As built, from the ship's Wikipedia article. Figures there may cover later refits too.

Career

Launched

3 October 1925

Battle of the Coral Sea

Scuttled

4–8 May 1942

Wrecked by an internal explosion