Papers (1944-1945) including correspondence, ship's roster, plans of the day, ship's newsletters, Japanese propaganda leaflets, money and miscellaneous.
Chief gunner's mate Hugh Wingo was stationed on the aircraft carrier USS Lexington (CV-16) in the South Pacific during World War II (1944-1945).
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.