Do you want to hear a ghost story? Well this ghost story is about a ghost aircraft carrier! The USS Lexington was nicknamed the Blue Ghost. This is why:
The first aircraft carrier named the Lexington was sunk in the Coral Sea as I told you in the previous article. It was decided that a newly built carrier would honor the sunk Lexington by also being named the Lexington. It was put out to sea and sent to the area near Japan where WWII was being fought.
The Japanese saw the carrier and its name. They were very confused. Didn’t the Lexington sink? Both the United States and the Japanese would be keeping tabs on which boats were sunk, damaged, or still fighting. This helped them to decide what they would do next in their fight against each other.
The Blue Ghost at sea in 1943
The new Lexington then was damaged in a battle of Kwajalein. A parachute torpedo hit it and did a lot of damage as well as kill seven men and injure others. The Japanese reported the Lexington sunk again.
The Lexington was involved in other battles against Japan and in all was reported by the Japanese as sunk at least 4 times. The Japanese nicknamed the carrier the Blue Ghost because of all the times they thought they had sunk the ship.
This nickname became known to the Americans and it was a source of pride and encouragement during the war.
And that is the story of the Blue Ghost.
You must log in to post a comment. Log in now.