USS Lexington (CV-2) Sinks Killing 216 Crewmen

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USS Lexington

USS Lexington (CV-2), nicknamed “Lady Lex”, was a Lexington-class early aircraft carrier built in the 1920s.  She was the lead ship among two of her kind ever built.  USS Lexington (CV-2) was sunk on 8th May 1942 by torpedoes and bombs from the Japanese Navy.

Lexington sustained first two torpedo hits.  Soon afterwards, 19 Aichi D3A Japanese dive-bombers attacked Lexington.  Though Lexington took down two aircraft, she was hit by two bombs.  Within an hour, the leaking aviation fuel tank caused a massive explosion and two hours later another explosion occurred.

216 crewmen of Lexington were killed and 2,735 were rescued.  And finally, American destroyer USS Phelps was ordered to fire 5 torpedoes to scuttle the critically damaged USS Lexington.

Source: Wikipedia