Seward daily gateway., 1925-10-29
LAUNCH BIGGEST AIRCRAFT BOAT IN EAST, VESSEL
 HAS 72 PLANES
U. s. s. LEXINGTON IS LONGER AND FASTER THAN ANY
 U. s. BATTLESHiP.
HISTORY OF NAMESAkES
Vessel Will Be Commissioned Ir 1927-WilI Be Flagship of All
 Aircraft Squadrons.

Many historical facts have been lifted from the gloom of antiquity and bathed in a brilliant newness by the launching at the Fore River shipyards at Quincy, Mass, recent ly, of the aircraft carrier Lexington. This vessel, with the Saratoga, which will be launched within a few months form the most remarkable advance in naval aviation since Curtiss assem- bled and flew the worlds first air and sea boat at San Diego IA years ago.
 The first Lexington was brig of 16 guns authorized by the continen- tai congress October 13, 1775. She is said to have been the first ship of the continental navy ready for sea after the declaration of war. John Barry was its captain. In Oc- tober, 1776, when under the command of Captain William Hallock, it was captured by the British 32-gun frig- ate Pearl as it was returning heavy laden with powder and stores from the West Indies.
 A high wind prevented the trans fer of the prisoners to the frigate so the British commander put a prize crew aboard the Lexington with instructions to follow the Pearl. When night came on and the Brit. ish officers went below the 75 Am erican prisoners seized the oppor- tunity to retake the vessel, changed her course and escaped to Baltimore with the British prize crew as pris- oners. Subsequently the Lexington fought and forced the British frigate Alert to surrender.
 The second Lexington was d stoop of war of 691 tons, with IS guns, built in 1925. It was with Commo- dore Perry on his memorable cruise to Japan.
 In Rodgers Family.
 Commodore John Rodgers, rela- tive of Com. John Rodgers of Ha- waiian flight fame, purchased the third Lexington, a 500-ton side-wheel- CT of seven knots speed, built in Pittsburgh in 1860. She was bought by the army for $20,000 and later tpo of to ho TlJrinc th O civil war it rendered commendable service chasing Confederate gunboats.
 The Lexington launched recently is 8S8 feet over all, with 105 feet beam and displaces 33,O0O tons. It can attain a speed of 33 knots an hour with it's electric drive.
 The Lexington, the fourth, will ex- ceed in propulsion power, speed and length the queen ships of the Amer ican navy. It will even outclass in these respects the superdreadnaugh Maryland and West Virginia.
 But it's enormous size and poten- tial strength and speed are not it's only distinguishing features. Carry ing 72 planes with a take-off for the planes below deck and a land ing space that extends from stem to stern the ship will be literally a floating aviation field, dWarfing the experimental aircraft carrier Langley ley by comparison.
 There will be ample storage room for the planes below deck and so complete will be it's machine and re- pair shops that land planes, housed in the navy's best equipped shore stations, will receive no better care or attention than will the Lexington's fleet of aerial scouts and fighting craft thousands of miles at sea.
 The enormous potentialities of the 1SO,OO0 horsepower electric motors that will drive the Lexington thru the water at the same speed as the destroyer are best appreciated by a statement of what the power would accomplish if directed in other chan nels.
 The 18O,0OO horsepower would fur nish all the light, heat and power