This fully illustrated study explores the history of the Lexington class, the US Navy's first fleet carriers, from their battlecruiser origins to their service in World War II.

The Lexington class began life as two of the six battlecruisers ordered for the US Navy in 1916. Laid down in 1920-21, they would have been the most powerful battlecruisers ever, if the Washington Naval Treaty had not scrapped the world's newest capital ships. However, as a handful of hulls were permitted to become aircraft carriers, Lexington and Saratoga were spared for conversion.

Naval historian Mark Lardas explains how the resulting design was unprecedented. When built they were the largest carriers in existence - the US Navy would not have bigger carriers until the 1945 Midway class. They were fast, they carried larger air groups than any other carrier of their time, and they pioneered a flight deck design that became standard in all future carriers. During the 1930s, they were at the heart of the fleet exercises that developed US carrier doctrine.

Illustrated with archive photos and superb artwork of the ships through their careers, this book also explores their wartime service. Lexington took part in the carrier raids of early 1942 before being sunk at Coral Sea, while Saratoga fought in many of the key Pacific campaigns, developing night carrier operations in 1944 and 1945, before being sunk as an A-bomb target in Operation Crossroads.