Gun but not forgotten
76 years on, wreck of USS Lexington is found 2 miles under Coral Sea
UNSEEN for 76 years, the guns of a lost aircraft carrier emerge from the gloom two miles down in the ocean.
The USS Lexington, scuttled after a vicious Second War battle, has been discovered by Microsoft billionaire Paul Allen.
A remote-controlled sub from
his research vessel took these photos of the “Lady Lex” 500 miles off the Australian coast.
Allen said: “To pay tribute to the brave men that served on her is an honour.”
The team also found 11 of the 35 aircraft that were on board, complete with “kill marks” showing how many Japanese planes they had downed. The
Lexington was abandoned after sustaining irreparable damage from three Japanese carriers in the Coral Sea on May 8, 1942.
Some 216 sailors died, but 2,770 were evacuated.
Allen added: “It was the first naval engagement in history where opposing ships never came within sight of each other.”