02/02/2024
Compartments with Forgotten History!!!
These compartments on the 4th & 5th decks are among my favorite on the entire ship. They are located in between frames 67 through 79. A LOT has happened in these spaces since 1943. From being a training room to nuclear warhead components, crew berthing, and 5" gun magazines! Here's a rundown of what these spaces were starting with WWII in 1943;
(List will move from port forward to starboard aft. Blueprints have been provided in the photos below.)
World War II (1943-1947):
5th Deck: Small Arms Magazine, 5" Handling & Projectile Stowage, Small Arms Magazine, Air Conditioning Unit, Bomb Fuze Magazine, 5" Powder Magazine.
The massive space with the blackboard hanging was split into three compartments with different access doors. In the center would've been a vertical ladder trunk with FIVE (insane) doors! In the photos, you can see where once a door was; this would've let you go from the trunk into the bomb fuze magazine, which would be the center compartment. The starboard compartment was a 5" powder magazine accessed via a door from the 5" handling room. These 5" magazines and handling spaces were used for the two twin 5"/38 turrets forward of the island. Unfortunately, today, there are no remnants of the magazine or the hoists. The port side compartment was an extended Small Arms magazine. If not much of this made sense, thankfully, I could find blueprints of the layout of the compartment, lol.
4th Deck: This space would've been a MASSIVE berthing area. Unfortunately, I'm not sure what division used this berthing. There would be an incline ladder near where the current one is today. The vertical ladder that accessed the 5th and 6th deck compartments ran through this compartment and deck and went up to the 2nd deck.
Recommissioning Lexington's Nuclear Age
(1955-1962) Based on findings, this space may have been kept as it was up until 1964.
5th deck: Shop "MACD," Escape Trunk, Dumbwaiter, Bomb Elevator, Up Incline Ladder (Vertical trunk that was walled off; this accessed from the 3rd deck into the 6th & and 7th decks to DC Central, Central Plot, IC, more bomb Stowage, etc.)
This would've been a TOP security space. Only those in the W Division would be allowed into this space. At all times, a Marine would have guarded the entrance into these spaces on the 3rd deck. The Marine even had his shack just to the inside of the entryway on the 3rd deck. Unfortunately, there are no known photos of this space taken from this period due to security reasons. The only way we could piece together what the layout would've been like would be based on signage inside, the rails, and blueprints. I could only imagine what this space would've looked like with bombs filled.
4th Deck: Shop "N," Shop "I"/Alt Shop "M," SWU Office, Special Aircraft Service Storeroom, Bomb Elevator, Shop "B," Special Aircraft Service Storeroom, Ammunition Hoist (no access into this deck), Escape Trunk, Dumbwaiter, Access trunk (no access into this deck), Incline Ladder, Special Aircraft Storeroom.
Unfortunately, I'm not too familiar with what all the abbreviations stand for other than these spaces would be used for diagnostic, testing, and constructing weapons. There were three separate special aircraft storerooms, with the two larger ones being separated by a larger door. I'm not 100% sure what was precisely stored in these storerooms.
Training Years (1962-1991)
5th Deck:
"I" Division Training Room, Bomb Elevator, ADCA Office, Passageway, Incline Ladder, Access Trunk (no access into this deck), Dumbwaiter (Deactivated), Escape Trunk, Air Conditioner, Ammunition Hoist (no access from these spaces, and deactivated), Engineering Training Room.
It went from one massive storeroom into three separate compartments. As Lexington was a training carrier, it was fitting to turn what was no longer needed for her prior strike mission to fit better her new mission of educating sailors. Tucked away into the forward starboard side of the I Division Training room sits a safe back from the mid-1950s, the lone piece of equipment left from W Division, from that era of Lexington. It's honestly wild how the Navy never removed this from the ship. I'd imagine that there would've been several more of these safes located down here. I find that super, super awesome.
4th Deck:
2nd Division Office, Deck Department Office, 2nd Division Office, Deck Department Office, Passageway, Spray Paint Storeroom, Unassigned?, Escape Trunk, Dumbwaiter (Deactivated), Incline Ladder, Deck Department Office, 1st Lieutenant Office?
There were a ton of exciting things in these spaces. A TON of sailor art dotted throughout the space. From Popeye to a leisure craft! I also found many paper documents left over, including the decommissioning crew roster, compartment close-out lists, counselor appointment slips, behavior correction notices, calendars, and a couple of random notes. Each of these individual compartments was office space for each deck division. We found the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th division offices.
If anyone happend to serve in any of these compartments, please comment or message me! I'd love to hear any stories or if I got anything wrong about the spaces please correct me! With no photos of these spaces when the ship was still commissioned, every one of your stories and accounts is about all we will have left.
Thank you to those who took the time to read! As always, thank you to all those who formally sailed on the Blue Ghost and everything you've done!
Also be sure to check out the OFFICAL USS Lexington Museum On the Bay page:
USS Lexington Museum
