• ​NAME SAKE:  The Battle of Lexington
• ​BUILDER:  Fore River Shipping, Quincy MA
  
• LAID DOWN:  15 July 1941
  
• ​LAUNCHED:  13 September 1942
  
• SPONSORED BY:  Mrs. Theodore Douglass Robinson
  
• COMMISSIONED:  17 February 1943
  
• DECOMMISSIONED:  23 April 1947
  
• RECLASSIFIED CV 16 to CVA 16:  16 October 1952
  
• ​RECOMMISSIONED:  15 August 1955
  
• RECLASSIFIED:
  
  • CVA 16 to CVS 16:  16 October 1962
    
  • CVS 16 to CVT 16:  1 January 1969
    
  • CVT 16 to AVT 16:  1 July 1978​
    
• STRUCK:  8 November 1991
  
• NICKNAME:  The Blue Ghost
  
• Last Essex Class carrier in commission and last on the Naval Vessel Register
  
• CURRENTLY:  Museum on the Bay, Corpus Christi TX   

​