THE U.S.A. LEXINGTONG. A GREAT EXPERIENCE
The U.S.S. Lexington is an aircraft carrier that was built during World War Two. It earned two nicknames, Lady Lex and the Blue Ghost. Visitors to Corpus Christi, Texas, on the Gulf of Mexico, can visit this warship which is now a museum. Jim Tedder tells us more.
The Lexington, not surprisingly, is huge. From the dock, the visitors standing high up on the flight deck look very, very small.
The flight deck is over two hundred and seventy meters long. It could hold more than one thousand parked cars. The ship is as tall as a nineteen-floor building.
Yet the Lexington is small compared to today's aircraft carriers.
Visiting the ship provides a history lesson. The Lexington entered service in nineteen forty-three during World War Two. The ship was part of the Fifth Fleet based at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
The Lexington was involved in twenty-one months of fighting. It took part in almost all major operations in the Pacific Ocean during the war.
Tokyo Rose, the Japanese radio propagandist, called the ship "the Blue Ghost" after its color. Japanese radio reported four times that the Lady Lex had been sunk. But she kept on fighting.
After the war, the Lexington served out of San Francisco, California. Later, it became a training ship until it was retired in nineteen ninety-one.
Visitors can see how crew members lived and worked on an aircraft carrier. The ship is like a city at sea, but a city with low ceilings, narrow halls and steep staircases.
Visitors can explore areas where the crew slept. The narrow beds are stacked one above the other, with little room in between. The ship has dental and medical clinics, a post office and a religious chapel. Visitors can also go through the large galley where crew members got their meals.
The Lexington carried about one thousand five hundred crew members. In nineteen eighty it became the first United States Navy ship to have women among its crew.
The Lexington could carry enough fuel to sail, nonstop, for almost fifty thousand kilometers.
In nineteen ninety-two, the Lady Lex became a museum docked in Corpus Christi Bay. At night, the ship is covered in a deep blue light. The Blue Ghost lives on.
The Lexington, not surprisingly, is huge. From the dock, the visitors standing high up on the flight deck look very, very small.
The flight deck is over two hundred and seventy meters long. It could hold more than one thousand parked cars. The ship is as tall as a nineteen-floor building.
Yet the Lexington is small compared to today's aircraft carriers.
Visiting the ship provides a history lesson. The Lexington entered service in nineteen forty-three during World War Two. The ship was part of the Fifth Fleet based at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
The Lexington was involved in twenty-one months of fighting. It took part in almost all major operations in the Pacific Ocean during the war.
Tokyo Rose, the Japanese radio propagandist, called the ship "the Blue Ghost" after its color. Japanese radio reported four times that the Lady Lex had been sunk. But she kept on fighting.
After the war, the Lexington served out of San Francisco, California. Later, it became a training ship until it was retired in nineteen ninety-one.
Visitors can see how crew members lived and worked on an aircraft carrier. The ship is like a city at sea, but a city with low ceilings, narrow halls and steep staircases.
Visitors can explore areas where the crew slept. The narrow beds are stacked one above the other, with little room in between. The ship has dental and medical clinics, a post office and a religious chapel. Visitors can also go through the large galley where crew members got their meals.
The Lexington carried about one thousand five hundred crew members. In nineteen eighty it became the first United States Navy ship to have women among its crew.
The Lexington could carry enough fuel to sail, nonstop, for almost fifty thousand kilometers.
In nineteen ninety-two, the Lady Lex became a museum docked in Corpus Christi Bay. At night, the ship is covered in a deep blue light. The Blue Ghost lives on.
entrada de yacelin @ 9:29
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