Lardas, Mark/Tooby, Adam (Illustr.) Lexington-Class Aircraft Carriers 1927–46

The US Navy's first fleet carriers

The Lexington-class ships were originally two of six battlecruisers ordered for the U.S. Navy in 1916. Their keels were laid in 1920/21. Had they not been the most powerful battlecruisers ever built, due to the Washington Naval Treaty, which prevented the scrapping of the world's most modern capital ships, they would have been intended for that purpose. However, because a limited number of ships were permitted to be converted into aircraft carriers, the Lexington and Saratoga were exempted for this conversion. Naval historian Mark Lardas explains why the resulting design was unprecedented. At the time of their completion, they were the largest aircraft carriers of their erathe U.S. Navy would not receive larger carriers until 1945 with the Midway class. They were fast, capable of carrying larger groups of aircraft than any other carrier of their time, and pioneered a flight deck design that became the standard for all future aircraft carriers. In the 1930s, they played a central role in the fleet exercises that shaped US carrier doctrine. Illustrated with archival photographs of the ships throughout their service, this book also sheds light on their wartime experiences. The Lexington participated in the carrier attacks of early 1942 before being scuttled in the Coral Sea, while the Saratoga fought in many of the major Pacific campaigns and developed nighttime carrier operations in 1944 and 1945 before being sunk as a target for an atomic bomb during Operation Crossroads.