USS Lexington (CV/CVA/CVS/CVT/AVT-16), known as "The Blue Ghost", is one of 24 Essex-class aircraft carriers built during World War II for the United States Navy. The ship, the fifth US Navy ship to bear the name, is named in honor of the Revolutionary War Battle of Lexington. She was originally to have been named Cabot, but she was renamed while under construction to commemorate USS Lexington (CV-2), lost in the Battle of the Coral Sea in May 1942. Lexington was commissioned in February 1943, and served in several campaigns in the Pacific Theater of Operations, receiving the Presidential Unit Citation and 11 battle stars for World War II service. Like many of her sister ships, Lexington was decommissioned shortly after the end of the war, but was modernized and reactivated in the early 1950s, being reclassified as an attack carrier (CVA), and then an antisubmarine carrier (CVS). In her second career, she operated both in the Atlantic/Mediterranean and the Pacific, but spent most of her time, nearly 30 years, on the east coast as a training carrier (CVT). She was decommissioned in 1991, remaining active longer than any other Essex-class ship, and was donated for use as a museum ship in Corpus Christi. Lexington was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2003. Though her surviving sisterships Yorktown, Intrepid, and Hornet carry lower hull numbers, Lexington was laid down and commissioned earlier, making Lexington the oldest remaining aircraft carrier in the world. In 1943 the ship was hit by a Japanese torpedo killing many men aboard, then in 1944 the ship experienced a kamikaze attack killing more brave men. Over the years more than 300 men have perished aboard the USS Lexington.
Because of the large amount of death this ship witnessed, over the years there have been an incredible amount of hauntings. In the years since the ship has been in Corpus Christi volunteers and visitors alike have heard voices, footsteps, and seen shadow people, as well as people walking through doors and walls. Many visitors report seeing a man in the engine room with blue eyes and blonde hair giving people tours. When they tell Lex staff about the wonderful tour guide in the navy uniform in the engine room, they have to explain there are no tour guides and no one on the ship in navy dress.
Investigation conducted with Mission City Paranormal ...present were Russell, Bobby, Vanessa, Mike, Angelka, Beatrice, Beefcake, Keith, Erica, Felicia, Marty, Jason, Jeannie, Raul, Gonzo. After touring the ship with Bill and Rick we decided where to place our wireles infrared cameras. We settled on the hallway near the commanders state room where a naval officer has been seen walking through the wall, in the infirmary, and down a long corridor below deck. The sheer size of the ship presented the most issues. With cameras running we split into five teams to rotate throughout the ship. The main areas of focus were the engine room, the captain's quarters, sick bay, and the snake pit near where the torpedo hit the ship in 1944. There are so many reports of hauntings on the ship it's really impossible to isolate the area of investigation. That being said, many of us investigated on our own with cameras to cover as much ground as possible. Our first encounter happened right as we were splitting into groups, a member of our team was using the men's restroom below deck and heard a conversation on the other side of the restroom...two men talking about a lieutenant. Noises and voices were really easy to come by on this investigation. The ship constantly makes noises from settling, and some floors are bubbled up from age that make quite a noise when stepped on. After spending some time on the ship however, you get to know the noises and can tell the difference from the ship's noises and anything that could be paranormal. Several times throughout the night voices followed us, almost a whispering sound - and not just one voice...but many. Almost as if there were a group fighting over talking to us. Keith and Erica were hearing footsteps, voices, and bangs in sick bay a place that just doesn't feel right. An extremely heavy energy is present there. Mike and Beatrice were in the captain's quarters where not a ton of activity has been reported, but across the hall in the admirals quarters, voices kept starting and stopping. As soon as you'd get close...they'd stop. Go away for a while...they'd come back just as loud as before. Russell reported at one point when he was on his own the noises in the captain's quarters were so loud, he thought another group was in the room trying to scare him. When he jumped out to get a head up on them...there was no one there. Late into the evening as a group was investigating the bridge and the primary flight tower, loud footsteps were heard on the metal walkway. The group waited for a while...and no one ever appeared. Marty and Felicia were getting responses on K2 in an area of the ship that was used to triage the injured in times of disaster. We also caught a strange light anomaly on the flight deck. We've been studying the image and cannot honestly explain it. Even at air bases here in San Antonio there are stories of a ghost plane...since the USS Lexington was an aircraft carrier...could this possibly be an explanation?