USS Lexington

Museum ship

Type	Aircraft carrier
Class	Essex
War	Second World War
Main guns	12 × 5″ guns

Renamed while building in honour of the Lexington lost at the Coral Sea. Admiral Marc Mitscher's flagship at the Philippine Sea, where he ordered the fleet to turn on its lights to bring his aircraft home in the dark. Her aircraft sank Zuikaku at Cape Engaño. A museum ship at Corpus Christi, Texas.

The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Lexington (CVA-16) underway in the Western Pacific, with Carrier Air Group 21 (CVG-21), on 16 August 1958. Just eight days later, on 24 August, Communist Chinese artillery began shelling the Nationalist Chinese islands of Quemoy and Matsu, prompting the Blue Ghost´ Photo: U.S. Navy, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Armament and specifications

Armament

12 × 5 in (127 mm) DP guns
32 × 40 mm (1.6 in) AA guns
46 × 20 mm (0.8 in) AA guns

Armour

Waterline belt: 2.5–4 in (64–102 mm)
Deck: 1.5 in (38 mm)
Hangar deck: 2.5 in (64 mm)
Bulkheads: 4 in (102 mm)

Builder	Fore River Shipyard
Laid down	15 July 1941
Launched	23 September 1942
Commissioned	17 February 1943
Displacement	27,100 long tons (27,500 t) (standard) 36,380 long tons (36,960 t) (full load)
Length	820 feet (249.9 m) (wl) 872 feet (265.8 m) (o/a)
Speed	33 knots (61 km/h; 38 mph)
Complement	2,600 officers and enlisted men

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

Career

Launched

23 September 1942

Battle of the Philippine Sea

Survived

19–20 June 1944

Mitscher's flagship

Battle of the Sibuyan Sea

Survived

24 October 1944

Battle off Cape Engaño

Survived

25–26 October 1944

Mitscher's flagship