Aviation fuel exposes a carrier survivability problem

Lexington was destroyed as much by internal vulnerability as by the external attack that started the damage. Leaking aviation fuel produced vapors that successive sparks and explosions turned into uncontrollable fires. This raises the question of whether fuel could have been dumped, flooded, or vented more effectively. The Royal Navy used more cautious systems that drained fuel back below deck. Those precautions grew from institutional memory, including the loss of the seaplane carrier Ben-my-Chree to fire and the loss of three cruisers to torpedo attack in one day. The same memory helps explain why British cruisers carried ASDIC even though anti-submarine warfare was not their intended primary task. British scrutiny of American-built escort carriers initially appeared excessive to US observers, but Pacific combat made the precautions more persuasive. Rapid aircraft turnaround had encouraged dangerous compromises, and first-generation carrier design still had survivability lessons to absorb.