Lexington Goes Down, The [Paperback]

A. A. Hoehling (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Stackpole Books (February 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811725502
• ISBN-13: 978-0811725507
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,913,155 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Readable Collection of First-Hand Accounts, December 20, 2000

By 

Philip M. Lindquist (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lexington Goes Down, The (Paperback)

This is an easily read collection of first hand remembrances of the loss of the first carrier Lexington, CV2. The author has gathered a large number of accounts from both crew members of the Lexington and from those on the escorting vessels. The book is divided into two parts - the first focusing on the attack on the carrier when there was hope she would survive and the second focusing on the events leading to her loss. An enjoyable book that gives an insight into what it was like to serve on a carrier in the early days of WWII.

3.0 out of 5 stars The Lexington and her crew finally get their day in the sun, April 17, 2008

By 

Marvin D. Pipher (Houston, Texas USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Lexington Goes Down : A Fighting Carrier's Last Hours in the Coral Sea (Paperback)

One of my earliest childhood recollections of World War II is the sinking of the Lexington as pictured on pages 162-163 of this book. That picture appeared on the front page of our local newspaper one day in May, 1942, and has been indelibly imprinted on my memory ever since. But, before I encountered this book, I never knew exactly what happened to the Lexington nor did I know how it happened. Other carriers, the Yorktown, Hornet and Enterprise, among others, have been featured many times over the years and much has been written about them, but I have never seen anything written about the Lexington nor have I ever seen anything about her in the written or filmed chronicles of any engagements. With her sinking, it seemed, that the Lexington simply slipped into history.

This book, however, finally brings the Lexington and her crew back to life and tells the story of their gallant efforts, first in battle and later as they struggled to save their ship. It is long over due.

Unfortunately, although it sheds a lot of light on the action which crippled and ultimately led to the sinking of the Lexington and on the heroic actions of her crew, it is not reader friendly. Most critically: actions and events are not systematically presented in chronological order making it difficult to follow the storyline, and, to make matters worse, the reader is constantly shuttled from one part of the ship to another to pick up another personal recollection related to a particular individual and to his work station. This makes for a difficult read, even for one who served aboard two WWII vintage aircraft carriers.

I finally concluded that the author, rather than being the amateur for which I took him, was in reality attempting to get as many verbatim quotes from the surviving crewmen into the book as possible. That is certainly a worthwhile tribute to those brave men and to their fellows. But, from a readers perspective, the author would have been better served if he had merged their recollections into a coherent story having a higher degree of continuity, rather than fragmenting his account by attempting to tell each man's individual story. .