On a recent trip to San Antonio, my wife remarked that we were only two hours away from Corpus Christi and asked if I’d like to go. A Texas native, she had a lot of fond memories of the city and had wanted to take me for some time but this was our first chance in over a decade of living in Texas together that I could go. I agreed, and after a relaxing morning breakfast at the most authentic Parisian French bistro outside of Paris itself (Paris, France; not Paris, Texas), we made the drive down to the coast. As we approached the city, we discussed what to do with our afternoon and evening. The choice was between the Texas State Aquarium and touring the USS Lexington. Since I’d been to aquariums before and have watched a lot of documentaries but had never seen an aircraft carrier in person, I opted for the USS Lexington.
*The oldest one still remaining, anyway.
It was a remarkable sight; the entire aircraft carrier has been converted into a floating museum. After parking and paying your admission, the whole ship practically is yours to explore: from the bridge, to the deck, all the way to the bowels of engineering, if you’ve ever wondered what it was like to see a real military vessel without enlisting you’ll get your chance.
The ship functions today as a tourist destination and floating history museum, with a banquet hall for dinners, a Halloween-themed haunted ship attraction, and even the ability to book rooms on the ship overnight via their Live Aboard program (something we’ll likely do next time we visit Corpus Christi). The ship herself receives no taxpayer funding or support, so like many museums it’s entirely dependent on admission and sales to stay afloat (that’s the only pun in here, I promise, but I couldn’t resist). Aboard there are a number of attractions including flight simulators, a movie theater, gift shop (of course), and a food court.
For those who haven’t heard much or anything of the USS Lexington, a quick history: the ship in this diary is the fifth such vessel to bear the name Lexington. Its predecessor, the USS Lexington (CV-2), was irreparably damaged and then subsequently scuttled and sunk during the Battle of the Coral Sea. A new aircraft carrier currently under construction was renamed Lexington in an effort to demoralize the Japanese Navy. The fifth and final Lexington saw service until 1947, when she was decommissioned before re-entering service again in 1955, then turned over to the city of Corpus Christi in 1991. In addition to her long years of service as a combat and training vessel, she’s become a minor movie star: she’s been used for filming in the miniseries War and Remembrance and the movies Midway & Pearl Harbor.
It’s really hard to do the ship justice with words alone. It’s not just the size of it, though that certainly is impressive enough:
But what also is impressive is the realization (which begins here on deck and grows as you move through the ship) of how every last inch of space is squeezed out for use. The first such indicator was the gun mount. From the outside, it was little more than a rough cylinder no bigger in diameter than a small bedroom would be, with massive gun barrels protruding from it. Inside, though:
Cramped quarters for a couple people to work in there for certain. The tour has a sign outside advising no more than four people enter at a time. Which makes sense, this tiny little space isn’t meant for four people, after all...it’s actually meant for 11 people.
This should have been my first clue that the tour was going to be a tedious one for a tall, fat guy such as myself. I’m sure the navy veterans among us are having a good chuckle picturing me lumbering about; if not go ahead: I’m sure I was exactly as funny to watch as you’d expect.
A plethora of decommissioned aircraft are on the deck, with informational plaques for each one, along with information about the catapult system. The ship also boasts some signs bragging about its impressive resume from the Pacific Theater:
Obviously, next stop is the bridge! Who doesn’t want to pretend to steer the big ship, right?
Well, once I figure out where I’m supposed to stand and what baffling array of devices I’m supposed to pretend to hold to correctly imitate “steering” it, I’ll be sure and get right to it. Who’d have thought an aircraft carrier could be so complicated, right? I ended up with dozens of extra pictures just from the bridge alone: I didn’t want to leave out anything important, and by the time we left the bridge I realized that (as obvious as this sounds) there’s really not anything UNIMPORTANT on a ship like this and I was going to have to be a lot more discriminating in my pictures.
The Lexington has a number of anti-aircraft and other guns installed, and they are a pretty incredible sight to see. Even better, the warning signs specify that you CAN play on these guns. Most of the ship is “Look but don’t touch”, but some of the guns are a glorious exception to that rule. Mind your fingers around the pinchy bits, though.
The tour is self-guided, but there’s an order that goes roughly from top to bottom, and from front to back fore to aft. Heading all the way forward you reach the Pearl Harbor exhibit, which includes debris from the Arizona, license plates from survivors, the portion of the ship remodeled by Disney for the movie Pearl Harbor, and a small educational display recounting the battle.
Much of the rest of the ship is a mix of showing what life aboard an aircraft carrier is like for your average sailor and historical exhibits and displays about naval military history in general (including naval aviation history). What IS life like aboard an aircraft carrier? Well, in a word: Cramped. Really, really damned cramped. Don’t think that’s just my griping as a fat guy, by the way, take it from the pros:
If you’re like me (someone who never served in the Navy and has never been aboard one of their ships before), you might be wondering just how cramped could it be? Cramped. REALLY cramped. The picture at right is a shot of one those “coffin lockers”, and the name really is well earned.
I couldn’t find a picture of the “stairs” to do them justice, but suffice to say that “stairs” is a pretty damned generous description for the metallic structure that you use to travel between decks on this thing. “Slightly angled ladders” might be a better descriptor. They’re steep AND narrow; I had to turn my feet sideways to climb up or down, the rungs steps were barely wide enough for any part of my feet to get any purchase at all. How do sailors climb up and down these things quickly? I nearly fell down them several times at a laughably slow pace.
But aside from the ludicrously cramped quarters and the mountain-goat accessible stairways, life aboard an aircraft carrier isn’t as far off from life on land as one might think: the Lexington includes exhibits showing off all the amenities of modern life: a fully functional kitchen and cafeteria line that looks astonishingly similar to what I’ve worked with in my career as a chef, dentists, doctor’s offices, workshops, even a post office. They’ve even got a space for you too, ladies:
I didn’t get a shot of the women’s restrooms aboard the ship (for obvious reasons), but my wife assures me it’s decorated in World War 2 propaganda posters of all stripes: Rosie the Riveter and the WAVES both make their appearances. Sounds fun, but she didn’t think to take pictures at the time. Honestly, who doesn’t think of that while in the bathroom? On a serious note, the Lexington is apparently the first ship to have women aboard serve in combat roles. #Feminism.
Of course it isn’t all whimsical posters and spaces that make you wonder if the Navy has a maximum height for new recruits; the ship’s exhibits also cover a number of more somber aspects. The memorial plaque above is in a part of the ship where a somber voice names each and every one of the casualties from the Battle of the Coral Sea, along with other sobering reminders of the human cost paid by our nation’s enlisted throughout the years.
As we made our way through the last exhibits, there was one final one that was particularly poignant: a very newly installed one in memory of the late Senator John McCain.
My only regret is that we didn’t arrive about four or five hours earlier. You could easily spend a whole day aboard seeing and reading and doing everything there is to see, read, and do. We had to hurry through our last exhibit as the museum had closed while we were still making our way through. Definitely a worthwhile trip if you’re a fan of World War 2 history, naval history, or climbing ridiculously steep stairs for a few hours.