Stay the Rising Sun

Book excerpt: A “well-written, superbly researched” account of a WWII aircraft carrier’s demise in the Pacific—and the legacy left by the “Lady Lex” (CPL Vincent L. Anderson, USMC, Marine Detachment, USS Lexington, survivor of the Battle of the Coral Sea). In May 1942, the United States’ first naval victory against the Japanese in the Coral Sea was marred by the loss of the aircraft carrier USS Lexington. Another carrier was nearly ready for launch when the news arrived, so the navy changed her name to Lexington, confusing the Japanese. The men of the original “Lady Lex” loved their ship and fought hard to protect her. They were also seeking revenge for the losses sustained at Pearl Harbor. Crippling attacks by the Japanese left her on fire and dead in the water. But a remarkable ninety percent of the crew made it off the burning decks before Lexington had to be abandoned. In all the annals of the Second World War, there is hardly a battle story more compelling. The ship’s legacy did not end with her demise, however. Although the battle was deemed a tactical success for the Japanese, it turned out to be a strategic loss: For the first time in the war, a Japanese invasion force was forced to retreat. The lessons learned by losing the Lexington at Coral Sea impacted tactics, air wing operations, damage control, and ship construction. Altogether, they forged a critical, positive turning point in the war. The ship that ushered in a new era in naval warfare might be gone, but fate decreed that her important legacy would live on.