[QUOTE=pipantarctic;53181212]This is incredible. If the contents of USS Lexington are so well preserved, imagine what could we find with any other sunken ship/airship.[/QUOTE]
It depends entirely on where it's submerged. The deep sea is usually more forgiving because there's not much going on down there, and little oxygen to rust/rot anything. Same with bogs, where we've found entire preserved PEOPLE that were many centuries old, as well as numerous WWII tanks in Eastern European bogs and swamps that still look mostly brand-new.
I wonder if there are any veterans that served on the Lexington still alive to witness this?
[QUOTE=OvB;53181654]I wonder if there are any veterans that served on the Lexington still alive to witness this?[/QUOTE]
Certainly, since over 2700 were saved from it. Only 317 survived the Indianapolis sinking and there were still veterans to witness its wreck last year, surely there will be a few for Lexington.
[QUOTE=Orkel;53181146]Yeah, but the only Devastators in existence right now are at the bottom of the sea on various ships. Lexington is in a pristine condition, and those Devastators have survived amazingly well. If they could raise a couple of those intact planes, it'd be a huge thing for aviation history.[/QUOTE]
That's all well and good but that's still decades of initial, expensive, preservation work, and then you have to keep it preserved forever. What knowledge would be gained from raising one of those planes? What would we learn that we already don't know? Quite frankly, I don't know if anything can justify that cost at this time. Leave them on the bottom, they're better preserved there and the site stays undisturbed.
[img]https://horobox.co.uk/u/4dP0Vj.jpg[/img]
[editline]8th March 2018[/editline]
Although it sank intact at the surface (see pic in the OP), it seems it had air pockets still left inside that caused it to implode and break apart on the way down.
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