Welcome To Lexington Ships! This site is dedicated to the combatant ships named Lexington. Here you can learn more about their history.
USS Lexington (1776)
Years in Service: 1776-1777
The first USS Lexington of the Thirteen Colonies was a brigantine purchased in 1776. The Lexington was an 86-foot two-mast wartime sailing ship for the fledgling Continental Navy of the Colonists during the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783).
USS Lexington (1825)
Years in Service: 1825-1855
The second USS Lexington was a sloop in the United States Navy built at the New York Navy Yard in Brooklyn, New York, in 1825; and commissioned on 11 June 1826, Master Commandant William B. Shubrick in command.
USS Lexington (1861)
Years in Service: 1861-1865
The third USS Lexington was a timberclad gunboat in the United States Navy during the American Civil War. She was a 448-ton side-wheel steamer, built in 1860 at Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania, for commercial use. She was acquired for the Army’s Western Gunboat Flotilla in June 1861 and converted to a “timberclad” river gunboat, with officers to be provided by the Navy.
USS Lexington (CV-2)
Years in Service: 1925-1942
USS Lexington (CV-2), nicknamed “Lady Lex”, was an early aircraft carrier built for the United States Navy. She was the lead ship of the Lexington class; her only sister ship, Saratoga, was commissioned a month earlier. Originally designed as a battlecruiser, she was converted into one of the Navy’s first aircraft carriers during construction to comply with the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922, which essentially terminated all new battleship and battlecruiser construction.
USS Lexington (CV-16)
Years in Service: 1942-1991
USS Lexington (CV/CVA/CVS/CVT/AVT-16), nicknamed “The Blue Ghost”, is an Essex-class aircraft carrier built during World War II for the United States Navy. Originally intended to be named Cabot, word arrived during construction that USS Lexington (CV-2) had been lost in the Battle of the Coral Sea. The new aircraft carrier was renamed while under construction to commemorate the earlier ship. She was the fifth U.S. Navy ship to bear the name in honor of the Revolutionary War Battle of Lexington. Since 1992, the ship has been docked in Corpus Christi, Texas, where she operates as a museum.
Lexington Ships 