USS Lexington, nicknamed Lady Lex, is an aircraft carrier that served in World War II in the Pacific, and is now berthed in Corpus Christi and serves as a military museum. She is a massive ship, 880' at the waterline, 910' on the flight deck, which is 52' above the water. Her beam (width) is 196' and has a draft (depth) of 30'. The Japanese had nicknamed her The Blue Ghost, since she was reported sunk multiple times, but yet she kept re-appearing.
I took the self-guided tour, everything is labeled and explained, with signs pointing the way to the next exhibit. As you can imagine from the specifications above, the ship is gigantic and has multiple levels. One level to another is by way of steep open stairways, like you'd see in old war movies. The tour took me about 3 hours and I didn't stop to read all the exhibits, there wouldn't have been time in one day to do that.
Working areas were set up as they were when the ship was in service, with mannequins in appropriate areas, such as the work shop that held large lathes, drill presses and other equipment. The dental area was set up with the dentist, and his unhappy-looking patient in the chair with his mouth wide open. There was even a surgeon in full surgical garb standing in the operating room waiting for his patient to be brought in.
On the flight deck were many vintage war planes, as well as large gun mounts. One of the gun mounts was open and you could go inside to see how the servicemen operated these weapons. They had very cramped working conditions, and it would have been hot in there also. I have made a slide show of the planes on deck, which can be seen at http://youtu.be/Z3SvjCm-ug4
If you're ever in the Corpus Christi area of Texas, this is definitely worth a visit. Plan to spend a good part of the day there.
Very nice article. Sounds like you enjoyed your tour.
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