One of America’s first aircraft carriers, the U.S.S. Lexington CV-2 was named after the Battle of Lexington, which was the first real skirmish between the colonists and the British in the Revolutionary War. Launched in 1925, the Lexington served in the U.S. Navy’s Pacific Fleet for the duration of her career. She was sent to the Coral Sea in 1942 to prevent the Japanese from invading Papua New Guinea. The Battle of the Coral Sea lasted from May 4-8 and is notable as one of the first air-sea battles in which aircraft carriers faced each other without engaging directly, relying mainly on their aircraft to inflict damage. On May 8, the Lexington was hit by two torpedoes and two bombs, which caused a series of explosions. Out of the nearly 3,000 crew members on board, 216 were killed in action before the ship was abandoned and then deliberately sunk in order to prevent its capture by the Japanese, making it the first American aircraft carrier to be lost in World War II. This is a remnant of the flag that flew over the aircraft carrier during the battle and it was a gift from the surviving officers and men of the U.S.S. Lexington to Cary Library.