Lexington Provides Power for Civilians Ashore, 16 January 1930

On 16 January 1930 the aircraft carrier Lexington (CV 2) completed thirty days of providing electrical power to the city of Tacoma, Washington, during a city-wide power shortage caused by drought at the area’s hydroelectric generation facilities. Like some other capital ships of that era, Lexington’s turbines produced electricity to operate the shaft motors, but didn’t turn the shafts themselves as on most steam-driven ships then and now. The ship therefore had great electrical generation capacity that made her ideal for this task. Lexington provided power twelve hours a day between 17 December 1929 and 16 January 1930, ultimately totaling more than 4.25 million kilowatt hours.