Papers (1944-1945) including correspondence, ship's roster, plans of the day, ship's newsletters, Japanese propaganda leaflets, money and miscellaneous.
Hugh Albert Wingo (August 1918 - January 7, 2015. enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1939, pursuing a military career that spanned WWII and beyond. Wingo's formative years were shaped by early family hardship—his father died when he was nine, and his mother raised him and his younger brother alone in North Carolina, where the family relocated when he was about 13. After trying various jobs and briefly attending school in Cincinnati, Ohio, Wingo initially sought to join the Coast Guard but ultimately enlisted in the Navy, although he was initially refused due to his weight, before completing boot camp in Norfolk, Virginia.
Wingo served as a mess cook before entering the gunnery department and was among the U.S. sailors stationed at Pearl Harbor during the Japanese attack on December 7, 1941. He subsequently participated in several pivotal Pacific engagements, including the Doolittle Raid, the Battle of Midway—during which he rescued some 700 survivors from the sinking USS Yorktown—and combat operations at Guadalcanal.
Wingo survived the war, ending his active service aboard the USS Enterprise at Tokyo Bay, witnessing the formal surrender of Japan. Following his service, he remained in the Navy and retired in 1959 with the rank of Chief Gunner's Mate.
The collection consists of printed matter that includes a roster of gunnery department officers, air strike schedules, and "plans-of-the-day." These daily plans contain schedules, duty officers lists, notes, and standing orders. One plan (11 November 1944) contains reprinted comments from the senior medical officer of the hospital ship USS Solace (AH-5), praising the Lexington crew for their efforts in saving the lives of injured sailors from the Solace.
Of particular interest are the airstrike schedules for an attack on Saipan and Tinian islands in the Marianas (June 1944), and the flight schedule for operations in the South China Sea (January 1945). Several issues of "The Sunrise Press," a newsletter published by and for the Lexington crew, provides further details concerning wartime activities. Considerable detail was given to battles that the Lexington was involved in, specifically the Second Battle of the Philippine Sea (November 1944) and the Third Fleet's direct attacks on Tokyo (July 1945). These accounts mention the ships that were involved, targets, numbers of enemy forces destroyed, U.S. casualties, the surrender of Japan, and the U.S. occupation of Tokyo. General news concerned the European theatre and D-Day battles.
Miscellaneous items include Japanese propaganda pamphlets, Japanese and Chinese money, a Lexington trivia sheet with dates of engagements, and invitations to the Christmas and July Fourth parties aboard the Lexington.
Gift of Mr. Hugh Wingo
Processed by D. Jones, November 1997
Encoded by Apex Data Services
Literary rights to specific documents are retained by the authors or their descendants in accordance with U.S. copyright law.