The Lexington

This post is actually written by Matt. I’m a bit behind on my blog posts, so I asked him to do an update!

I went down to Texas for a week to visit Mom, Dad, Grandma, and Grandpa. They’ve been going to Texas for a few years now and I’ve always been jealous that they get to go to the good weather while I’m stuck here in Iowa. I’m 25 years old and this is the first spring break, or even plane trip that I’ve been on. I had a ton of pictures, and posted most of them on my Facebook page, but one thing that I didn’t post was the trip to the U.S.S. Lexington. Mom was busy working and wanted me to post some of the things that she didn’t get to see.

The ship is in Corpus Christi Bay. I was told that it was brought in and the lower levels were filled with water as to sink it and secure it’s place permanently in the bay. The ship was originally commissioned on February 17th, 1943. It was originally titled the Cabot, but was renamed to the U.S.S. Lexington after the first Lexington(CV-2) was sunk during the previous year in the Battle of the Coral Sea. While there was much to see, I will post just a few pictures that I thought were interesting.

The ships helm was left relatively intact. It was interesting to sit there and think about the people that have stood at that spot over the years and how much their lives have impacted ours now.

Part of the ship was actually used in a scene of Pearl Harbor. They left the area as-is after the shooting of the movie to show how it was set up.

After I got to reading about the Lexington I found out that Nile Kinnick (Heisman Trophy winner, Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City is named after him) was actually one of the first casualty’s of the ship.

He was flying a training mission and developed an oil leak while airborne. He was unable to make it back to the ship. Kinnick and his plane were never recovered.

Also interesting was that the guns that are currently on the deck of the ship are off of the decommissioned USS Des Moines. They were recovered and were used in the restoration of the Lexington.

Grandpa had mentioned that they actually have Boy Scout camp outs on the ship. It is kind of cool to think about camping on top of a Naval Carrier rather than out in the woods. This is a picture from the deck of the carrier overlooking the bay and an incoming Oil Tanker.

Other than that . . . We saw some other boats.

And ships.

And even some oil platforms being worked on.

Aaannnd I had my first raw oysters.

I think I saw about as much as I could see in five days of being there and still be able to relax a little bit. I had a blast and would for sure go back again, but for now I am just glad to come home and sleep in a real bed. My parents will be there for the rest of the month and I am sure they will be excited to come home to celebrate my Dad’s 50th Birthday!

Thanks Matt for writing the post, I’m glad to came to visit us! and I just had to add this pic to show how much fun you had on the ship!

Love ya!