PS002 U.S. NAVY AIRCRAFT CARRIER U.S.S. LEXINGTON (CV-2)

USS Lexington (CV-2) was an American aircraft carrier laid down in 1921, launched in October 1925, and commissioned with the US Navy in December 1927. The ship was 270.7 m long, 32.3 m wide, and her displacement was 48,500 tons. The top speed of the USS Lexington aircraft carrier oscillated around 32-33 knots, and its main armament consisted of 78 on-board planes. Originally, the USS Lexington, like another American carrier, the USS Saratoga, was built as a battlecruiser. However, due to the disarmament obligations imposed on the US Navy by the Washington Treaty, it was decided to finish the ship as an aircraft carrier. A specific remnant of the originally planned USS Lexington function was the strong on-board armament consisting of, among others: 8 203 mm guns. The new aircraft carrier - also known as "Lady Lex" - turned out to be the first major aircraft carrier in the history of the US Navy. In the interwar period, the aircraft carrier served primarily in the Pacific Fleet, playing a major role in improving the tactics of the use of aircraft by the US Navy. However, it also participated in more peaceful missions - for example, in 1931 an aircraft carrier transported medical personnel and supplies to Nicaragua, which was then hit by an earthquake. At the outbreak of World War II, the USS Lexington was near the Pearl Harbor base, but was fortunate enough to conduct aerial exercises and the Japanese attack turned out not to be dangerous for it. In January 1942, he was to take part in a diversionary attack on Wake Island, but the plan did not go into effect, and USS Lexington was transferred to the South Pacific, to the Coral Sea basin. He returned to this reservoir in May 1942, where he took part in the Battle of the Coral Sea - in the course of this battle, he was sunk by the Japanese on-board aviation.