Naval Historywith Dr. Alex

Q&A · 31:11-32:01

Names for additional Lexington-class carrier conversions

Additional Lexington-class battlecruiser conversions might have used Constellation and Constitution, extending an older naming set into the carrier force.

Aircraft CarriersCarrier ConversionsInterwar PeriodLexington Class Aircraft CarriersLexington Class BattlecruisersShip NamingUS Naval Ship NamingUS Navy
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Question

Which names might additional Lexington-class carrier conversions have received?

Short answer

Constellation and Constitution are the suggested choices, and Constitution might even have supplied the carrier class name.

Notes

The cancelled Lexington-class battlecruiser names offer plausible choices for hypothetical third and fourth carrier conversions. Constellation fits the third carrier. Ranger also belonged to the cancelled name set, but the US Navy later used it for a purpose-built carrier. Constitution is the preferred name for a fourth conversion. That choice might even have led people to call the converted group the Constitution class despite its Lexington-class origins. The naming aside traces how conversion programmes could carry a capital-ship identity into a new ship type.