Coral Sea, Sinking of USS Lexington
At about 5:30 PM, as the abandonment of Lexington was nearing completion, a large explosion tore through her hangar amidships. Fires were now "roasting" torpedo warheads stowed in the after hangar, and these detonated in a spectacular blast soon after the carrier's Commanding Officer, Captain Frederick C. Sherman, left her. In keeping with the rules of the sea, he was the last man off. Thereafter, the great carrier burned furiously, shrouded in smoke almost from stem to stern. She was finally scuttled by destroyer torpedoes and sank at about 8PM.
