Hello, with this video today we’re going to be looking into the history and namesakes
of one of Starfleet’s vessels this time, the lineage of the name Lexington. I will
be drawing from substantial extra-canonical mentions of ships of the name as it only crops
up twice in continuity. Once in the Original Series and a different vessel in the TNG era,
mostly around Deep Space Nine. Before that however, let’s take a look at some real
world vessel to bear the name Lexington. There has been an USS Lexington in existence
practically since 1776, which I believe is an important year for the USA? Aaaanyway it
was named after the Battle of Lexington which I believe is the first Skirmish of the American
Revolutionary War? The vessel had a rather short tenure during the war, but one laced
with combat and took part in the capture of several other ships. In 1777, it was becalmed
then captured by the British on the 19th of September.
The Second vessel to be named Lexington was named for its prior incarnation, is it were,
and was commissioned in 1826. She policed the seas off the California coast during the
Gold Rush of 1849 and was eventually decommissioned in 1855 and sold in 1860.
In 1861, construction began on the USS Lexington, a timberclad gunboat. It fought in several
battles during the American Civil War and seized Confederate vessels. She was eventually
decommissioned in 1865 with the ending of the Civil War.
In 1917, the USS Lexington II SP-705 was purchased by the American Navy as a patrol boat after
being originally constructed in New York, 1911. She served as Naval Coast Defence and
was then based at Philadelphia. She was decommissioned in 1918 with the close of the First World
War. In 1916, construction had begun on a new battlecruiser,
however its construction was altered in 1922 to become an aircraft carrier. This made her
one of the first of such vessels in the American Navy. Alongside the USS Saratoga, the “Lady
Lex” CV-2 were assigned to develop tactics for this emerging type of warship. She also
undertook relief missions but in 1941, was assigned to the Pacific theatre of the Second
World War. It then was refit and assigned to the Battle of the Coral Sea alongside the
Yorktown. The vessel was struck by the Japanese and unrecoverable so as a result it was scuttled.
Its wreck has been discovered as of 2018. Immediately after its sinking, an Essex-Class
Carrier originally to be called the “Cabot” was renamed the Lexington CV-16. It was commissioned
in 1943 and took to the same waters as its namesake. In late 1943 it was hit but survived,
returning to port for repair. She was reported as sunk by the Japanese. Then Lexington returned
to war. In 1944 it was erroneously reported sunk once again, but in actuality was unharmed
by recent combat. She operated as the flagship for several campaigns and later that year
was once again reported as sunk. The Lexington was in reality, still fine and by now had
earned the nickname “the Blue Ghost” after is colouration and reputation for not remaining
dead. She was decommissioned at the end of the War
and placed in reserve for 10 years. She returned as a training vessel until 1958 for the Second
Taiwan Strait Crisis the operations in the Far East throughout the 1960s. She was rechristened
the CVT-16 and became a training vessel in 1969 until her decommissioning in 1991. It
is now a museum ship. The first Starfleet era USS Lexington actually
predates the Federation and was an NX class launched in 2156 after the initial 4 NX models.
This was in answer to the rising tensions with the Romulan Star Empire. As one of the
fastest ships in the fleet, being able to break warp 5, it was deployed on long range
strikes as the Earth-Romulan War and took part in the aftermath operations of the Battle
of Cheron to push the Romulan forces back into their own space. As of the formation
of the Federation, the vessel was still in service, but like many of the NX class, would
have quickly found itself outclassed by the new technologies of the organisation.
In the late 2240s the USS Lexington NCC-1709 was commissioned as one of the new Constitution
line of Starships. It was under the command of Captain Korolev at the time, but in 2248
to 2253 it undertook a five year exploratory mission, the likes of which the Constitution
specialised in. A second mission was undertaken from 2253 to 2258 after the ship was pulled
into to be overhauled and refit. Captain Mark Rousseau took command after that followed
by Commodore Robert Wesley. By 2267 the Lexington was undergoing repairs
at Starbase 11 and a year later it took part in the ill-fated M5 drills. As the dangerous
computer system usurped control of the Enterprise and used lethal force during simulated wargames,
53 of the Lexington’s crew were killed. Not long after this the Commodore retired
from Starfleet. By the 2280s, the vessel had been pulled in
again and overhauled with the latest and largest Constitution refit as her sister ships had
been. From this date onwards, it continued to operate alongside the Enterprise in several
instances as support for various missions throughout its final years.
By this time, the ships had earned a distinguished career, outlasting even the lifespan of the
Enterprise NCC-1701 and as pf 2290, a new class of Starship was being developed, the
first of which was the Lexington NX-3092, later rechristened NCC. The Lexington class
was effectively a lightweight Excelsior class and could reach a maximum speed of warp 9.95
(on the old scale). Despite this however, that class of vessel
did not last as long as the famed Excelsior and in 2345, there was a new USS Lexington
NCC-14427, Excelsior class. This year it held a conference of which Curzon Dax was a participant
and several years later it took part in a skirmish over Altair VI.
In the 2350s, that Excelsior was no longer flying and the Nebula-Class NCC-30405 had
been commissioned in its place. This vessel served a variety of relief missions ferrying
medical supplies, evacuating colonies and aiding in mining disasters. By 2370, the Nebula
class was doing what it’s type did best and was on exploratory missions, periodically
docking at Deep Space Nine. Like many Federation ships however, it was pulled into the Dominion
War and in 2374, its captain, Eberling was killed in the Battle of Tyra and command was
transferred to the XO, Heather Anderson. In the final days of the war, it was acting as
a convoy escort in the deeper Federation systems. By 2377, a Steamrunner-Class USS Lexington
had adopted the name or maybe a Galaxy class. As is quickly apparent, it’s unclear when
exactly many of these Lexington ships were decommissioned, but in some stories, one took
part in repelling a Borg invasion in 2381. The name Lexington, in almost every iteration
prior to Starfleet’s ones as well as one fictional one, has arisen in a time of war.
1776, the first Lexington emerges. American Civil War, a Lexington was commissioned. During
the Great War, there were two ships of this name then in the Second World War another
arose immediately to replace the former. The NX vessel was created during the Earth-Romulan
War but ever since then, the vessels have followed a more exploratory mandate. But whenever
there was a war in Starfleet’s history, there was a Lexington to fight in it in a
variety of roles; support, relief and combat. So there we go, this is every vessel I could
identify in Trek with the name Lexington and the origins of its real counterparts. Thanks
for watching this video on another of Star Trek’s legacy named vessels, I’ve been
Ric, thanks again and Goodbye!