From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Lexington class aircraft carrier
Lexington class aircraft carrier
Speed: 33.25 knots (61.58 km/h; 38.26 mph)
Range: 12,000 nmi (22,000 km; 14,000 mi) at 14 kn
(26 km/h; 16 mph)
Complement: 2,122 (including aviation personnel)
Armament: 4 × 2 - 8-inch (203 mm) guns
12 × 1 - 5-inch (127 mm) anti-aircraft guns
Armor: Belt: 5–7 in (127–178 mm)
Deck: .75–2 in (19–51 mm)
Gun turrets: .75 in (19 mm)
Bulkheads: 5–7 in (127–178 mm)
Aircraft 91
USS Lexington before World War II carried:
Class overview Aviation 1 Aircraft catapult
Name: Lexington class facilities:
Builders: Fore River Shipyard The Lexington class aircraft carriers were the first op-
New York Shipbuilding Corporation
erational aircraft carriers in the United States Navy.
Operators: United States Navy (USS Langley was a strictly developmental ship.) There
were two ships in the class: USS Lexington (CV-2) and
Preceded by: USS Langley (CV-1)
USS Saratoga (CV-3).
Succeeded by: USS Ranger (CV-4) The Lexington-class carriers were constructed on hulls
originally laid down as battlecruisers after World War I.
Cost: about $45,000,000
But under the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922, all U.S.
Built: 1920–27 battleship and battlecruiser construction was cancelled.
In service: 1927–46 However, the Treaty allowed two of the unfinished ships
to be converted to carriers.
In 1927–45 They proved extremely successful as carriers, sup-
commission:
porting wide-scale operations. Experience with the Lex-
Planned: 2 ington class convinced the Navy of the value of large car-
riers. The Lexington class carriers were the largest aircraft
Completed: 2
carriers in the fleet until the Midway-class carriers were
Lost: 1 completed. The class served in World War II, seeing ac-
Retired: 1
tion in many battles. Though Lexington was lost in the
first carrier battle (Coral Sea), Saratoga served to the end
General characteristics (as built) of the war.
Type: Aircraft carrier
Displacement: 36,000 long tons (37,000 t) (standard)
Development
47,700 long tons (48,500 t) (deep load) The Lexington-class were originally designed as battle-
Length: 888 ft (270.7 m) cruisers, with heavy guns, high speed, and moderate ar-
mor protection. The Navy laid down six ships of the class
Beam: 107 ft 6 in (32.8 m) from 1916 to 1919. When the battlecruisers were can-
Draft: 32 ft 6 in (9.9 m) (deep load) celled under the Washington Naval Treaty, two of the un-
finished ships were designated for completion as carri-
Installed 180,000 shp (130,000 kW) ers.
power:
Propulsion: 4 shafts, 4 sets turbo-electric drive
16 water-tube boilers
1
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Lexington class aircraft carrier
Description protection system and their capacity has been quoted as
either 132,264 US gallons (500,670 l; 110,133 imp gal) or
163,000 US gallons (620,000 l; 136,000 imp gal).[3] A fly-
General description wheel-powered aircraft catapult, 155 feet (47.2 m) long,
Their official displacement on commissioning was 33,000 was fitted at the bow; it could launch a 10,000-pound
long tons (34,000 t) (in accordance with the Washington (4,536 kg) aircraft at a speed of 48 knots (89 km/h;
Treaty). In reality both ships were well in excess of that 55 mph). It was removed in 1934 as unnecessary.[2]
and displaced 36,000 long tons (37,000 t) at standard load.
At full load (with fuel, ammunition, aircraft, gasoline, and Propulsion
stores) they displaced 47,700 long tons (48,500 t). Turbo-electric propulsion had been selected for the bat-
Aside from their great size, their most innovative fea- tlecruisers and was retained when they were converted
ture was the "hurricane bow," a configuration of carriers into aircraft carriers because American companies strug-
where the bow was sealed up to the flight deck; this gled to produce the very large geared turbines necessary
turned out to be the most useful of the three possible for such big ships.[3] "It was efficient, rugged and always
configurations for a carrier’s bow (the other two being an reliable. But it was also heavy, intricate, and not easy to
additional flying-off deck and an antiaircraft battery). maintain and keep tuned up."[4] The machinery also re-
quired special ventilation measures to dissipate heat and
Design to keep out any salt air. [5]
The Lexington-class aircraft carriers set the pattern for Each propeller was 14 feet 9 inches (4.50 m) in diame-
future American carrier designs of very large and long ter and each of the four propeller shafts was powered by
ships with topside flight decks, starboard-side islands, two 22,500-shaft-horsepower (16,800 kW) electric motors
and a high-volume hangar decks. The tall funnel directed acting in tandem. These motors were about five times the
smoke well away from the flight deck and avoided size of any earlier electric motor.[4] Four General Elec-
smoke-fouling problems common with other early carri- tric turbo generators powered each propeller shaft and
ers. each was rated at 35,200 kilowatts (47,200 hp), 5000 volts
These ships were given a 866.17-by-105.9-foot (264.0 and 4620 amps of direct current (DC). Each of the four
by 32.3 m) teak flight deck. Their hangar had a clear AC alternators produced 40,000 KVA. Sixteen water-tube
height of 20 feet (6.1 m)[1] and encompassed 33,528 boilers, each in their own individual compartment, pro-
square feet (3,114.9 m2). It was the largest enclosed space vided steam for the generators at a working pressure
afloat, civilian or military, when built.[2] The hangar was of 295 psi (2,034 kPa; 21 kgf/cm2) and a temperature of
424 feet (129.2 m) long and its width varied from 68 to 74 460 °F (238 °C). Two other advantages of the turbo-elec-
feet (20.7 to 22.6 m), constrained by the bulky funnel up- tric drive were that the substitution of flexible electric
takes and boat compartments. The height of the hangar cables for bulky steam-lines meant that the motors could
was not exceeded on an American aircraft carrier until be mounted further to the rear of the ship, which re-
the Forrestal class ships appeared in the mid-1950s. Air- duced both vibration and weight by shortening the pro-
craft repair shops, 108-foot (32.9 m) long, were aft of the peller shafts and that the ship could go astern at full pow-
hangar and below them was a storage space for disassem- er simply by reversing the electrical polarity of the mo-
bled aircraft, 128 feet (39.0 m) long. The hangar was di- tors. The turbo-electric machinery of the Lexington-class
vided by a single fire curtain just forward of the aft air- ships was designed to produce a total of 180,000 shaft
craft elevator.[2] horsepower (130,000 kW) and propel the ships at 33.25
The carriers were fitted with two hydraulically pow- knots (61.58 km/h; 38.26 mph), but each ship reached
ered elevators on their centerline. The forward elevator over 202,000 shp (151,000 kW) and 34.5 knots (63.9 km/
was 30-by-60-foot (9.1 × 18.3 m) and had a capacity of h; 39.7 mph) during sea trials in 1928. Six 750-kilowatt
16,000 pounds (7,257.5 kg). A 20-by-26-foot (6.1 by 7.9 m) (1,010 hp) DC turbo generators were installed in the up-
section of the flight deck adjoining the rear edge of the per levels of the two main turbine compartments.[4]
elevator could split down the centerline to lift aircraft The ships carried a maximum of 6,688 long tons
otherwise too long. Carrying 12,000 pounds (5,400 kg), it (6,795 t) of fuel oil, but only 5,400 long tons (5,500 t) of
moved at a speed of 2 feet per second (0.61 m/s). The that was usable as the rest had to be retained as ballast
aft elevator measured 30-by-36-foot (9.1 by 11.0 m) and in the port fuel tanks to offset the weight of the island
could only lift 6,000 pounds (2,721.6 kg). Munitions were and main guns. They demonstrated a range of 9,910 nau-
delivered from the magazines by two hydraulically pow- tical miles (18,350 km; 11,400 mi) at a speed of 10.7 knots
ered bomb lifts and one torpedo lift. A folding crane with (19.8 km/h; 12.3 mph) with 4,540 long tons (4,610 t) of
a capacity of 10 long tons (10 t) was positioned on the oil.[6]
flight deck forward of the gun turrets.[2] Aviation gaso-
line was stored in eight compartments of the torpedo
2
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Lexington class aircraft carrier
Armament Armor
The waterline belt of the Lexington-class ships tapered
7–5 inches (178–127 mm) in thickness from top to bottom
and angled 11° outwards at the top. This angle increased
the armor’s relative thickness to horizontal, close-range
fire, albeit at the cost of reducing its relative height
which increased the chance of plunging shellfire going
over or under it. It covered the middle 530 feet (161.5 m)
of the ships. Forward, the belt ended in a bulkhead that
also tapered from seven to five inches in thickness. Aft,
it terminated at a seven-inch bulkhead. This belt had a
height of 9 feet 4 inches (2.8 m). The third deck over the
ships’ machinery and magazine was armored with two
layers of Special treatment steel (STS) totaling 2 inch-
es (51 mm) in thickness. The steering gear, however, was
Lexington firing her 8" guns, 1928. protected by two layers of STS that totaled 3 inches
(76 mm) on the flat and 4.5 inches (114 mm) on the
The Navy’s Bureau of Construction and Repair was not slope.[10]
then convinced that aircraft could be an effective and The gun turrets were protected only against splinters
sufficient armament for a warship. Thus the design as with .75 inches (19 mm) of armor. The conning tower was
carriers included a substantial gun battery of eight 8-inch 2–2.25 inches (51–57 mm) of STS, and it had a commu-
55 caliber guns in four twin gun turrets. These turrets nications tube with two-inch sides ran from the conning
were mounted above the flight deck on the starboard tower down to the lower conning position on the third
side, two before the bridge, and two behind the funnel. deck. The torpedo defense system of the Lexington-class
The guns in theory could fire to both sides, but it is prob- ships consisted of three to six medium steel protective
able that if they were fired to port (across the deck) the bulkheads that ranged from .375 to .75 inch (10 to 19 mm)
blast would have damaged the flight deck. The guns in thickness. The spaces between them could be left emp-
could be depressed to –5° and elevated to +41°; they were ty or used as fuel tanks to absorb the detonation of a tor-
loaded at an angle of +9°.[7] They fired 260-pound (118 kg) pedo’s warhead.[10]
projectiles at a muzzle velocity of 2,800 ft/s (850 m/s);
this provided a maximum range of 31,860 yd (29,133 m) at
maximum elevation.[8] A 20-foot (6.1 m) rangefinder was
World War II service
fitted on top of the pilothouse to provide fire control for Lexington and Saratoga were both attached to the Pacific
these guns.[7] Fleet when the war broke out.
Their anti-aircraft armament consisted of twelve Lexington participated in several raids on Japanese
25-caliber 5-inch guns which were mounted on single bases, but was sunk in May 1942 at the Battle of Coral Sea.
mounts, six on each side of the ship. They had a max- Saratoga served in several battles in 1942 through
imum elevation of 85°.[7] They fired 53.85-pound 1944, and was twice torpedoed by Japanese submarines,
(24.43 kg) projectiles at a muzzle velocity of 2,110 ft/s but on each occasion reached port under her own power.
(640 m/s). Their maximum range against surface targets In September 1944, she was relegated to training duties,
was 17,700 yd (16,200 m) at 30° elevation and they had an but she returned to combat duty in 1945. She was dis-
anti-aircraft ceiling of 27,400 yd (25,100 m) at 85° eleva- abled by Japanese bombers in February 1945, and in June
tion.[9] returned to training duties and to transporting returning
The experience of the "Fleet Problem" exercises of troops to the U.S.
the 1930s showed that planes were sufficient and the With the development of jet aircraft after the war,
guns were unnecessary. The guns were removed from Saratoga became obsolete. Her hangar was large enough
both ships just after Pearl Harbor. (The removed guns for jets, but her elevators were too small. In July 1946, she
were used as shore-defense guns in Hawaii.) The 8-inch was used as a target for atomic bomb tests in Operation
gun turrets were to be replaced with dual 5" DP gun Crossroads, and sank at Bikini Atoll.
turrets (the standard mounting on U.S. battleships and
cruisers). On Saratoga, which had been damaged and was
under repair for several months, this was done, but Lex-
Notes
ington was rushed back into action with quad 1.1" [1] Friedman, p. 390
mounts. Lexington was sunk before receiving her intend- [2] ^ Anderson and Baker, p. 310
ed 5" guns. [3] ^ Anderson and Baker, p. 311
3
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Lexington class aircraft carrier
[4] ^ Anderson and Baker, p. 312 • Friedman, Norman (1983). U. S. Aircraft Carriers: An
[5] W. McClelland, quoted in Anderson and Baker, p. Illustrated Design History. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval
327 Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-250-1.
[6] Anderson and Baker, p. 313 • Hone, Trent (2011). "High-Speed Throughbreds: The
[7] ^ Anderson and Baker, p. 300 US Navy’s Lexington class Battlecruiser Designs". In
[8] Campbell, pp. 127–28 Jordan, John. Warship 2011. London: Conway. pp. 8–31.
[9] Campbell, pp. 137–38 ISBN 978-1-84486-133-0.
[10] ^ Anderson and Baker, p. 308 • Stern, Robert C. (1993). The Lexington Class Carriers.
Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press.
References ISBN 1-55750-503-9.
• Anderson, Richard M.; Baker, Arthur D. III (1977).
"CV-2 Lex and CV-3 Sara". Warship International
External links
(Toledo, OH: International Naval Research • War Service Fuel Consumption of U.S. Naval Surface
Organization) XIV (4): 291–328. ISSN 0043-0374. Vessels FTP 218
• Campbell, John (1985). Naval Weapons of World War II. • DANFS page on Lexington
Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. • DANFS page on Saratoga
ISBN 0-87021-459-4.
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Categories:
• Aircraft carrier classes
• Lexington class aircraft carriers
• World War II aircraft carriers of the United States
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