Nicknamed 'Lady Lex', the battleship, one of the first aircraft carriers, was sunk in the Coral Sea battle in 1942
ADVERTISEMENTThe wreck of the USS Lexington, an American warship sunk in a Pacific naval battle during World War II , has been found by a team working for Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen.
The iconic aircraft carrier was discovered 800 kilometres off Australia's east coast, 3000 metres below sea level.
"There's no commercial value, but there is, obviously a historic and an archaeological value to looking for Lexington. As one of the first aircraft carriers had on board very rare aircraft and there are no surviving examples," explained Robert Kraft, director of Allen's subsea operations unit.
Nicknamed "Lady Lex", the warship was seriously damaged by Japanese fighter planes in May 1942 on the Coral Sea, the first naval battle in history fought by rival ships which never saw each other. To prevent its capture, the US navy scuttled it.