USS Lexington ruins found after 76 years

The wreckage of the WWII aircraft carrier was discovered in the Coral Sea.

Wreckage from the USS Lexington, a US aircraft carrier which sank during World War II, has been discovered in the Coral Sea, a search team led by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen announced on Monday.
The wreckage was found on Sunday by the team's research vessel, the R/V Petrel, some 3,000 metres below the surface more than 800km off the eastern coast of Australia.
Remarkably preserved aircraft could be seen on the seabed bearing the five-pointed star insignia of the US Army Air Forces on their wings and fuselage. The search team released pictures and video of parts of the ship, including a name-plate, and anti-aircraft guns covered in decades of slime.
More than 200 members of the crew died in the battle but most were rescued by other US vessels before the Lexington sank.
Admiral Harry Harris, who heads up the US military's Pacific Command (Pacom) - and whose father was one of the sailors evacuated - paid tribute to the successful research effort. "As the son of a survivor of the USS Lexington, I offer my congratulations to Paul Allen and the expedition crew of Research Vessel (R/V) Petrel for locating the 'Lady Lex', sunk nearly 76 years ago at the Battle of Coral Sea," Harris said in a statement. "We honour the valor and sacrifice of the 'Lady Lex's' sailors - and all those Americans who fought in World War II - by continuing to secure the freedoms they won for all of us," he said. 
"Lexington was on our priority list because she was one of the capital ships that was lost during WWII," said Robert Kraft, director of subsea operations for Allen. "Based on geography, time of year and other factors, I work with Paul Allen to determine what missions to pursue. We've been planning to locate the Lexington for about six months and it came together nicely," Kraft said.
Search teams led by Allen have discovered the wreckage of a number of historic warships including the USS Indianapolis, a US heavy cruiser which sank in the Philippine Sea in July 1945 after being torpedoed by a Japanese submarine.