USS LEXINGTON Former Crew Member

Name: Litch, Ernest W.

Service Dates: 10 April 1944 - 30 January 1945

Rank/Duty Assigned: Captain

Captain (now Vice Admiral) Ernest W. Litch relieved Rear Admiral Stump as skipper of the Lexington on 10 April 1944. The Lex was Flagship for Task Force 58 under Vice Admiral Marc A. Mitscher and Captain Litch assumed the responsibility with an easy, practiced hand.

A slight, dark man with swift, darting eyes, he soon proved that he had the fire, ability and personality to take up where Admiral Stump had left off and keep the Lex right at the top of the list of operating carriers.

On the night of 15 June 1944 while supporting the occupation of Saipan the Lex underwent a heavy dusk torpedo attack. Captain Litch with exceptional skill dodged two torpedoes and flicked the stern of the Lex out of way of flaming attacker which had just been set afire by Lexington guns.

A master seaman and a cool operator in emergencies, he brought the Lex through the most trying days of the war with flying colors. He kept faith with the Lexington tradition by receiving a promotion to the rank of Rear Admiral on 30 January 1945. Rear Admiral Litch received command of a division of Escort Carriers and took part in a number of engagements in the 7th Fleet with his CVE’s.

A fighting skipper, a graduate of the Naval Academy Class of 1920, he made a notable contribution to the winning of the Pacific war.