Lexington

13.3

Lexington

Aircraft Carrier | U.S.A. | Tier VIII

Tech Tree Position

stock

 top

General

Research price161000 exp

Purchase price11,500,000

Hit Points54,300

Secondary Armament #1

127 mm/38 Mk.12 on a Mk.24 mount8 х 1 pcs.

Firing Range4.5 km.

Rate of Fire10 shots/min.

Reload Time6 sec.

HE Shell127 mm HE Mk32

Maximum HE Shell Damage1,800

Initial HE Shell Velocity792 m./s.

Chance of Fire on Target Caused by HE Shell5 %

Secondary Armament #2

127 mm/38 Mk.12 on a Mk.32 mount4 х 2 pcs.

Firing Range4.5 km.

Rate of Fire10 shots/min.

Reload Time6 sec.

HE Shell127 mm HE Mk32

Maximum HE Shell Damage1,800

Initial HE Shell Velocity792 m./s.

Chance of Fire on Target Caused by HE Shell5 %

AA Defense

127 mm/38 Mk.12 on a Mk.24 mount8 х 1 pcs.

. . . Average Damage per Second64

. . . Firing Range5.01 km.

127 mm/38 Mk.12 on a Mk.32 mount4 х 2 pcs.

. . . Average Damage per Second60.4

. . . Firing Range5.01 km.

20 mm Oerlikon on a Mk.4 mount52 х 1 pcs.

. . . Average Damage per Second187.2

. . . Firing Range2.01 km.

40 mm/56 Bofors on a Mk.2 mount9 х 4 pcs.

. . . Average Damage per Second143.1

. . . Firing Range3.51 km.

Maneuverability

Maximum Speed33 knot

Turning Circle Radius1 180 m.

Rudder Shift Time21.9 sec.

Concealment

Surface Detectability Range14.51 km.

Air Detectability Range10.02 km.

Battle Levels

12345678910

13.3

Lexington

Aircraft Carrier | U.S.A. | Tier VIII

Tech Tree Position

stock

 top

General

Research price161000 exp

Purchase price11,500,000

Hit Points57,300

Secondary Armament #1

127 mm/38 Mk.12 on a Mk.24 mount8 х 1 pcs.

Firing Range4.5 km.

Rate of Fire10 shots/min.

Reload Time6 sec.

HE Shell127 mm HE Mk32

Maximum HE Shell Damage1,800

Initial HE Shell Velocity792 m./s.

Chance of Fire on Target Caused by HE Shell5 %

Secondary Armament #2

127 mm/38 Mk.12 on a Mk.32 mount4 х 2 pcs.

Firing Range4.5 km.

Rate of Fire10 shots/min.

Reload Time6 sec.

HE Shell127 mm HE Mk32

Maximum HE Shell Damage1,800

Initial HE Shell Velocity792 m./s.

Chance of Fire on Target Caused by HE Shell5 %

AA Defense

127 mm/38 Mk.12 on a Mk.24 mount8 х 1 pcs.

. . . Average Damage per Second64

. . . Firing Range5.01 km.

127 mm/38 Mk.12 on a Mk.32 mount4 х 2 pcs.

. . . Average Damage per Second60.4

. . . Firing Range5.01 km.

40 mm/56 Bofors on a Mk.2 mount23 х 4 pcs.

. . . Average Damage per Second365.7

. . . Firing Range3.51 km.

20 mm Oerlikon on a Mk.4 mount16 х 1 pcs.

. . . Average Damage per Second57.6

. . . Firing Range2.01 km.

40 mm/56 Bofors on a Mk.1 mount2 х 2 pcs.

. . . Average Damage per Second22.6

. . . Firing Range3.51 km.

Maneuverability

Maximum Speed33 knot

Turning Circle Radius1 180 m.

Rudder Shift Time15.6 sec.

Concealment

Surface Detectability Range14.51 km.

Air Detectability Range10.02 km.

Battle Levels

12345678910

VIII

11,500,000

Lexington — American Tier VIII aircraft сarrier.

When commissioned, Lexington was one of the largest aircraft carriers in existence. She was converted from an unfinished battlecruiser. The ship had good armor and advanced torpedo protection. Owing to her dimensions, the aircraft carrier was equipped with a very spacious hangar and was armed with numerous AA and dual-purpose artillery. The ship's powerful propulsion created very high speeds.

Modules

	Hit Points (HP)	Armor (mm)	Armor (mm)	Main Turrets (pcs.)	Secondary Gun Turrets (pcs.)	AA Mounts (pcs.)	Torpedo Tubes (pcs.)	Hangar Capacity (pcs.)		Research price (exp)	Purchase price ()
Lexington (A)	54,300	6	178		8/4	52/9/8/4				0	1,200,000
Lexington (B)	57,300	6	178		8/4	16/2/23/8/4				27,000	3,000,000

	Speed (knot)	IDS_SHIP_PARAM_SQUADRON_MED_DAMAGE (HP/min)	IDS_SHIP_PARAM_SQUADRON_AMMO_AMOUNT	Hit Points (HP)		Research price (exp)	Purchase price ()
F6F Hellcat	160			1,400		0	600,000
F4U-1D Corsair Tiny Tim	169			1,460		18,000	1,500,000
F4U-1D Corsair HVAR 127 mm	169			1,460		18,000	1,500,000

	Maximum Torpedo Damage (HP)	Speed (knot)	Hit Points (HP)		Research price (exp)	Purchase price ()
TBF Avenger	6,467	120	1,800		0	600,000
SB2C Helldiver	6,467	125	1,880		18,000	1,500,000

	Maximum Bomb Damage (HP)	Speed (knot)	Hit Points (HP)		Research price (exp)	Purchase price ()
SBD Dauntless		122	1,890		0	600,000
SB2C Helldiver		125	1,980		18,000	1,500,000

	Maximum Speed (knot)		Research price (exp)	Purchase price ()
Propulsion: 180,000 hp	33		0	500,000

Compatible Upgrades

Slot 1
Slot 2
Slot 3
Slot 4
Slot 5

Player Opinion

Performance

Overall, Lexington is a strong Tier VIII aircraft carrier. She is fast — 33.6 knots — but she turns like a brick, and her huge size advertises her presence for miles around. Although she has a strong wing of aircraft, careful usage of her bomber aircraft is vital as the anti-aircraft power of most Tier VIII ships and above that she will encounter begins to be very competitive (even without assistance from friendly fighters) and the "bigger but fewer squadrons" that is the national flavor of American aircraft carriers becomes more of a liability (as it is easier to focus fire on key strike aircraft, such as torpedo bombers).

• Stock (1-1-2): Starting with the Lexington as of 0.6.14 you're able to equip HE or AP bombs by upgrading the Douglas SBD-5 planes to one of the two Curtiss SB2C options - similar to how the Flight Control upgrades used to work. The "maximum" damage for HE is 10,800 and AP is 8,000 - the discrepancy being that you are more likely to citadel with AP. The other difference is the bomb dispersion area of the AP bombs is considerably smaller than for the HE bombs (51 m X 240 m as compared to 142 m X 355 m).

Happily, Lexington need not worry about saving her fighters to defend herself. Her anti-aircraft suite is brutally punishing to enemy bombers, particularly since she can equip the Defensive AA Fire  consumable. She has a huge detection radius and is likely to be spotted eventually, but heads-up positioning and judicious use of her copious speed will help avoid being sunk too early in a game to make her presence felt on the battlefield.

Interestingly — perhaps in a nod to her battlecruiser origins — Lexington has a greater amount of armor than would be expected of a carrier, even retaining almost a proper armor belt on the port side (opposite the island). Captains should be advised, though, that while her armor may bounce the odd destroyer shell, it also means cruiser and battleship armor-piercing rounds have a greater chance of causing full penetration or citadels damage that would overpenetrate on softer targets.

Pros:

• Excellent anti-aircraft suite.
• Strong fighters.
• Matches the same speeds as cruisers of her tier.
• Strike planes will demolish most ships with a well-placed strike.
• Finally gets 1000-pound bombs, providing a boost to dive bombers' capabilities.

Cons:

• Very easy to detect at 17.5 km.
• Strike planes can be quickly wrecked by enemy anti-aircraft fire at high tiers, particularly cruiser AA.
• Bad rudder shift time and turning circle radius.
• Armor is just thick enough to let incoming armor piercing shells from an enemy battleship land as regular penetrations (or citadel hits) rather than over-penetrate.
• Secondaries are unreliable since she will be shot at way before the secondaries can even fire.
• Dive bombers have somewhat questionable accuracy due to randomness of bomb drops (even when dropped manually).

Research

1. Upgrade to Vought F4U-1 (fighter).
2. Upgrade to Hull (B) to increase anti-aircraft protection.
3. Upgrade to Grumman TBM-3 (torpedo bomber).
4. Upgrade to Curtiss SB2C (dive bomber AP or HE).

Optimal Configuration

Upgrades

The recommended upgrades for Lexington are as follows:

• Slot 1: Air Groups Modification 1
• Slot 2: Damage Control System Modification 1 
• Slot 3: Air Groups Modification 2
• Slot 4: Propulsion Modification 1 ()
• Slot 5: Concealment System Modification 1 

Upgrade Slot 5 offers players Concealment System Modification 1 , which stacks with Concealment Expert and Camouflage to bring Lexington`s surface detection down to a decent range of 12.8km.

Commander Skills

Recommended Commander Skills
Cost (points)	Endurance		Attack		Support		Versatility
1	Priority Target Situational Awareness indicator will show the number of opponents currently aiming at you with main battery guns. ★	Preventative Maintenance -30% to the risk of incapacitation of main turrets, torpedo tubes, steering gear, engines.	Expert Loader -50% to reload time when shell type is switched.	Air Supremacy -5% aircraft restoration time. ★★★	Direction Center for Fighters +1 fighter to carrier fighter squadrons or catapult fighters.	Improved Engine Boost +10% Aircraft engine boost time.	Incoming Fire Alert Indicator of long-range enemy artillery fire.	Last Gasp Completely restores the engine boost for the last attack flight of the carrier's planes.
2	High Alert -10% to reload time of Damage Control Party consumable. ★	Jack of All Trades -5% to reload time of all consumables.	Expert Marksman +2.5 deg/sec to traverse speed of guns with a caliber up to 139mm. +0.7 deg/sec to traverse speed of guns with a caliber above 139mm.	Torpedo Acceleration +5 knots to torpedo speed. -20% to torpedo range. ★★★	Smoke Screen Expert +20% to the radius of the smoke screen.	Improved Engines +2.5% Squadron speed.	Adrenaline Rush -0.2% to reload times of all types of armament for each 1% of total health lost. +0.2% squadron speed for each 1% of total health lost.	Last Stand The ship remains able to move and maneuver while the engine or steering gears are incapacitated.
3	Basics of Survivability -15% to time of repair, fire extinguishing, and recovery from flooding. ★	Survivability Expert +350 ship HP for each ship tier. +15 aircraft HP for each ship tier.	Torpedo Armament Expertise -10% to reload time of torpedo tubes. ★★★	Aircraft Armor Reduces continuous damage to aircraft in all AA defense zones. -10% continuous damage.	Basic Firing Training -10% to reload time of main battery guns with a caliber up to and including 139mm and all secondary battery guns. +10% to continuous damage from AA guns. ★	Superintendent +1 additional charge to all consumables mounted on a ship.	Demolition Expert +2% chance of HE shells causing a fire on target. +1% chance of rockets causing a fire on target. +5% chance of HE bombs causing a fire on target.	Vigilance +25% to detection range of enemy torpedoes.
4	Manual Fire Control for Secondary Armament Tightens dispersion of shells from secondary batteries. -15% for Tier I-VI ships. -60% for Tier VII-X ships. Manually selected target only.	Fire Prevention -10% to the risk of fire. The maximum number of fires on a ship is reduced to three.	Inertia Fuse for HE Shells +30% to the armor penetration capacity of HE shells. -1% chance of fire on target caused by shells <=139mm. -3% chance of fire on target caused by shells >139mm.	Sight Stabilization Speeds up the aiming of a carrier's aircraft. +5% attack aircraft aiming speed. +5% torpedo bomber aiming speed. +10% dive bomber aiming speed.	Advanced Firing Training +20% to firing range of main battery guns with a caliber up to 139mm and all secondary battery guns. +15% damage/sec. within the explosion radius of shells fired from long-range AA defenses.	Massive AA Fire Instantaneous Damage +100%. Priority AA sector cooldown +50%.	Radio Position Finding Shows the direction to the nearest enemy ship. The enemy is alerted that a bearing has been taken.	Concealment Expert -10% to the detection radius of all ships and aircraft. ★★
Key: ★★★ - Extremely Useful       ★★ - Frequently Useful       ★ - Occasionally Useful      No stars - Meh     Χ - Not recommended

Consumables

Lexington has access to the following consumables:

• Slot 1: Damage Control Party 
• Slot 2: Defensive AA Fire 

Premium Defensive AA Fire II () is recommended to counter any enemy carrier's attempts to "snipe" the player (that is, by having all bombers bypass allied ships undetected and attempting to sink the player in one hit). Damage Control Party II () is not recommended as it is typically needed only in dire moments, or when the player is the last one alive.

Camouflage

Type 1, 2, or 5 camouflage can be equipped for credits; Types 1 or 5 are recommended at a minimum to reduce detectibility range.

Players who wish to spend doubloons can equip Lexington with Type 18 camouflage that lowers her detection radius, reduces the accuracy of incoming shells, reduces her repair costs, and increases the amount of experience she earns.

Lexington also has an alternate premium camouflage called "Nobelium", in which she appears as she does during the Halloween scenario "A Sunray Through the Dark".

Signals

As a carrier, Lexington can only mount at most four signals at a time and has no risk of detonating. Players should mount Equal Speed Charlie London (🚫), Zulu Hotel (🚫), November Echo Setteseven (), and Juliet Whiskey Unaone (). Players can also choose to equip the Dragon Flag (🚫) for faster commander (re)training.

Victor Lima () and India X-Ray () are not recommended; with only four flag slots, Lexington’s flags are better invested elsewhere.

Recommended Signal Flags
Combat
Juliet Charlie -100% to the risk of magazine detonation.	Juliet Yankee Bissotwo -20% to flooding duration.	India Yankee -20% to fire duration.	Hotel Yankee -20% to damage received when ramming the enemy. +50% to damage dealt when ramming the enemy.	Victor Lima +1% chance for HE bombs and shells with a caliber above 160mm causing a fire. +0.5% chance for bombs and smaller shells causing a fire. +4% chance of torpedoes causing flooding.	India X-Ray +1% chance for HE bombs and shells with a caliber above 160mm causing a fire. +0.5% chance for bombs and smaller shells causing a fire. +5% to the risk of your ship's magazine detonating.
Juliet Whiskey Unaone +15% chance of causing flooding. +5% to the risk of your ship's magazine detonating. ★★★	Mike Yankee Soxisix +5% to secondary battery maximum firing range. -5% to maximum dispersion of secondary battery shells. -5% to secondary battery loading time.	November Echo Setteseven +5% continuous AA damage at all ranges. +5% damage from flak bursts. ★★★	Sierra Mike +5% to the ship's maximum speed. ★	November Foxtrot -5% reload time on all consumables.	India Delta +20% to the amount of HP recovered when Repair Party  is used.
X-Ray Papa Unaone +10% action time of a Smoke Generator .	Sierra Bravo +10% action time of Hydroacoustic Search  -10% reload time of Defensive AA Fire .

Note: Use of the Juliet Charlie signal makes detonation impossible.

Gallery

• 

  Lexington with Type 1 camouflage.

• 

  Lexington with Type 2 camouflage.

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  Lexington with Type 5 camouflage.

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  Lexington with Type 6 camouflage.

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  Lexington with Type 18 permanent camouflage.

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  Model of Lexington as originally built. This hull module was omitted in favor of the 1942 configuration, which replaced the 203 mm gun turrets with 127 mm dual-purpose gun turrets.

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Historical Info

The Lexington-class aircraft carriers were a pair of aircraft carriers built for the United States Navy (USN) during the 1920s. The ships were built on hulls originally laid down as battlecruisers after World War I, but under the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922, all U.S. battleship and battlecruiser construction was cancelled. The Treaty, however, allowed two of the unfinished ships to be converted to carriers. They were the first operational aircraft carriers in the USN and were used to develop carrier aviation tactics and procedures before World War II in a series of annual exercises.

They proved extremely successful as carriers and experience with the Lexington class convinced the Navy of the value of large carriers. They were the largest aircraft carriers in the USN until the Midway-class aircraft carriers were completed beginning in 1945. The ships served in World War II, seeing action in many battles. Although Lexington was sunk in the first carrier battle in history (the Battle of the Coral Sea) in 1942, Saratoga served throughout the war — despite being torpedoed twice — notably participating in the Battle of the Eastern Solomons in mid-1942 where her aircraft sank the Japanese light carrier Ryujo. She supported Allied operations in the Indian Ocean and South West Pacific Areas until she became a training ship at the end of 1943. Saratoga returned to combat to protect American forces during the Battle of Iwo Jima in early 1945, but was badly damaged by kamikazes. The continued growth in the size and weight of carrier aircraft made her obsolete by the end of the war. In mid-1946, the ship was sunk during nuclear weapon tests in Operation Crossroads.

Historical Inaccuracies

• The Lexington depicted in the game is actually Saratoga (CV-3). USS Lexington (CV-2) was sunk in May 1942 and never carried any of the aircraft or upgraded armaments depicted in-game.
• Several of the Lexington’s historical aircraft — including but not limited to the Grumman F4F "Wildcat" and Vought SB2U "Vindicator" — are missing. Saratoga carried 11 F4F-3 "Wildcats", 43 Douglas SBD "Dauntlesses" and 11 Douglas TBD-1 "Devastators" on 7 December 1941. In the failed attempt to relieve Wake Island, Saratoga embarked 14 Brewster F2A-3 "Buffalo" fighters which were delievered to Midway on 25 December.
• Numerous secondary armament configurations are also missing. USS Lexington (CV-2), in particular, had twelve (12) five-inch guns, twelve (12) quadruple 1.1-inch AA guns, twenty-two (22) Oerlikons and at least two dozen (12) .50-caliber machine guns in May 1942, during the Battle of the Coral Sea. Hull (A) appears to represent an early war refit of Saratoga after which the 1.1-inch and .50 caliber guns were replaced due to their ineffectiveness.

Historical Gallery

• 

  Rear Admiral David W. Taylor (left), Chief of the Bureau of Construction and Repair, and Rear Admiral John K. Robison (right), Chief of the Bureau of Engineering, hold a model of the battlecruiser above a model of the proposed conversion to an aircraft carrier at the Navy Department on 8 March 1922.

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  Lexington firing her 8-inch guns, 1928.

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  Lexington and Saratoga alongside the smaller Langley at Puget Sound Navy Yard in 1929.

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  Side by side comparisons: two fleet carriers from the outbreak of the war, USS Saratoga and USS Enterprise, moored near the Essex class USS Hornet. Beyond Hornet is moored USS San Jacinto.

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  Lexington (top) compared with other aircraft carriers constructed during the same time period.

Ships of U.S.A.

Aircraft Carriers