If you find yourself in Corpus Christi, Texas, I highly suggest a visit to the USS Lexington. The curators of this magnificent vessel have done a marvelous job putting together a fantastic museum by Corpus Christi Bay. I hope to return someday to see and photograph several exhibits that I inadvertently missed on my trip to the Lex.

(From the USS Lexington Museum by the Bay Website) USS Lexington
The USS Lexington, CV-16, is a World War II-vintage aircraft carrier. Commissioned in 1943, she served the United States longer and set more records than any other carrier in the history of naval aviation.

The ship was the oldest working carrier in the United States Navy when decommissioned in 1991. Lexington, an Essex-class carrier, was originally named the USS Cabot. During World War II, the final work on it was being completed at Massachusetts' Fore River Shipyard when word was received that the original carrier named Lexington, CV-2, had been sunk in the Coral Sea. A campaign was launched to change the new carrier's name to Lexington, and the rest is history. The USS Lexington, CV-16, was commissioned on February 17, 1943.

After training maneuvers and a shakedown cruise, Lexington joined the Fifth Fleet at Pearl Harbor. During World War II, the carrier participated in nearly every major operation in the Pacific Theater and spent a total of 21 months in combat. Her planes destroyed 372 enemy aircraft in the air and 475 more on the ground. She sank or destroyed 300,000 tons of enemy cargo and damaged an additional 600,000 tons. The ship's guns shot down 15 planes and assisted in downing five more.

The Japanese reported Lexington sunk no less than four times! Yet, each time she returned to fight again, leading the propagandist Tokyo Rose to nickname her "The Blue Ghost." The name is a tribute to the ship and the crew and air groups that served aboard her.