USS Lexington has been found

[Nick]

A deep sea search team has found the wreck of the USS Lexington 76 years after she sank. Billionaire Paul Allen announced she was found in the Coral Sea some 500 miles east of Australia at a depth of nearly 2 miles below the surface.

Lady Lex has broken into 3 parts with the bow and stern one mile away from the centre section. There is a group of 11 Wildcat, Devastator and Dauntless aircraft which are very well preserved.

It's rather ghostly to watch this stuff but at least they were able to evacuate the vast majority of her crew before scuttling. RIP to the 216 lost that day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-K-V_ah6IIs&app=desktop
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-43296489

[Captain Canada]

Wow.

[NARSES2]

I presume she will be designated a war grave and left to lie in peace ? Hopefully anyway

[Old Wombat]

I presume she will be designated a war grave and left to lie in peace ? Hopefully anyway

Says that that's the case on another site with an article on this, can't remember where.

Hopefully she's deep enough to keep so-called "souvenir hunters" away, too.

[NARSES2]

Hopefully she's deep enough to keep so-called "souvenir hunters" away, too.

Absolutely mate

[zenrat]

Hopefully she's deep enough to keep so-called "souvenir hunters" away, too.

Absolutely mate

3km down.  That should be deep enough.

[Rheged]

I presume she will be designated a war grave and left to lie in peace ? Hopefully anyway

Says that that's the case on another site with an article on this, can't remember where.

Hopefully she's deep enough to keep so-called "souvenir hunters" away, too.

War grave comment was here:-http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-43296489

[TheChronicOne]

Duplicate from another thread, but here's the gorgeous pictures:










Source: https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2018/03/paul-allens-rv-petrel-finds-sunken-uss-lexington-2-miles-down-in-coral-sea/



Amazing stuff, if you ask me.  I can't wait for the mother lode picture release.

[strobez]

Is there any indication of why they couldn't find it before now?  I mean, I know it's a bit ocean and 3km down is pretty deep... but since it was scuttled, one would assume that someone would have been writing down the coordinates, no?

Was the wreck found a remarkable distance away from those coordinates? or was it simply that they knew more or less where it was but no one's bothered to pop down to take a look before now?

[Rheged]

Is there any indication of why they couldn't find it before now?  I mean, I know it's a bit ocean and 3km down is pretty deep... but since it was scuttled, one would assume that someone would have been writing down the coordinates, no?

Was the wreck found a remarkable distance away from those coordinates? or was it simply that they knew more or less where it was but no one's bothered to pop down to take a look before now?

I suspect
A)coordinates taken in a hurry in a war zone are not always as accurate as one might prefer.
B) even if they were accurate, would Lex have gone down vertically or would sub surface currents have moved her about on the way?
C) would Lex have remained intact or broken up in the way down......multiple search targets?
D)probably no one had the time/cash/equipment to do a serious search before
and
E) it would be nice to think that no-one up to the present wanted to risk disturbing a war grave

[zenrat]

She broke up.  IIRC from a report I read the bow and stern were a mile (must have been a British or American report) or so from the mid section.

Is that last pic a Wildcat?  Make a great diorama but would open up a completely new can of worms when the nit pickers started arguing about how depth and pressure would affect colour...

[scooter]

Is that last pic a Wildcat? 

It is

[zenrat]

Thank you Scoot.

[PR19_Kit]

Is that last pic a Wildcat?  Make a great diorama but would open up a completely new can of worms when the nit pickers started arguing about how depth and pressure would affect colour...

You can bet some JMN would protest that you'd modelled the wrong breed of mollusc though........ 

[NARSES2]

Great photos, I'm amazed at how well the colours on the national markings have been preserved in that environment.