Originally designated Cabot, her name was changed to commemorate the recently-lost USS Lexington (CV-2) – sunk at the Battle of the Coral Sea in May 1942. CV-16 was the fifth ship to bear the ...
the USS Lexington (CV-2) and USS Saratoga (CV-3). The USS Lexington was sunk in battle in 1942, but the USS Saratoga would go on to survive the war despite being heavily torpedoed twice.