"The Blue Ghost" USS Lexington

[DaPOPO]

I took a day trip down to Corpus Christi and visited "The Blue Ghost" USS Lexington. The original CV USS Lexington was sunk at the battle of the Coral Sea during WWII.

A new carrier was under construction at the time at was to be named the Cabot. Out of respect for the ship and crew the Cabot was changed to the Lexington.

The "Lex" decommissioned in 1991 and docked in Corpus Christi is called the blue ghost because it was put into service on an expedited basis and was left in it's original Navy blue/gray paint and not repainted the new camouflage paint as planned.

As painted it is virtually invisible at night and the Japanese reported to commanders the ship was seen during the day and would slide under the waves at night....

This is a little pic heavy. Because of the ropes around the exhibits and the large number of people there I couldn't take a lot of wide pictures, so I took pics of closer things I liked. Hope you guys enjoy. If you are ever in Corpus Christi and would like to see some interesting history check out The Blue Ghost....
1

2

3

The Japanese flags shows where a Kamikaze pilot struck during WWII.

4

Can you hear the three tone whistle from the movies "Now here this Short low, long high, short low..????""

5

Classic military humor!!!!!

6

7

8

9

Look at his face... I think someone might be dreaming big dreams!!!!

10

11

12

 

[tirediron]

Nice set!

 

[Jeff15]

Very good detailed images.....

 

[zulu42]

Neat set. Really interesting. I'm fascinated by the Kamikaze damage. Thanks for sharing these!

 

[smoke665]

Great set. The thing that always amazed me is how HUGE these ships are in person. You just don't get the same sense of size from a picture.

 

[DaPOPO]

Great set. The thing that always amazed me is how HUGE these ships are in person. You just don't get the same sense of size from a picture.

Yes, when you stand in the hanger and see it basically runs from bow to stern, is almost as wide as the ship and 4 stories high it's amazing to pull in..

 

[DaPOPO]

Great set. The thing that always amazed me is how HUGE these ships are in person. You just don't get the same sense of size from a picture.

My guide told me it is too small for current planes to use and when you see the planes on static display from WWII and see the F-14 and F-18 on board the size difference is obvious..