Not so mundane or pointless at all, I’d say:
That’s fascinating news, but why did it take so long to find her? She was scuttled by the navy so one would think they would have taken the time to mark her location on a map.
M.E.D., I’d hazard a guess that (1) given the state of the art in 1941, the measurements might have been off by several miles (after all, they were in the process of sinking and evacuating, so the readings might have been a bit off) and (2) Nobody wanted to spend mucho dollars and time finding a wreck 2 miles under the sea where it was no navigation hazard (it was a Billionaire who decided to go find it, he had the money to finance the deep-sea search). IMHO as always; YMMV.
Still, a pretty neat trick and it looks well-preserved. Thanks for sharing.
Interesting news, thanks!
But why does CNN report this under “Politics”? 
Because the article is actually under the “U.S. Military” subcategory, which is where they put all kinds of news related to the US Armed Forces, current and historical. And “U.S. Military” is a subcategory of “Politics” there.
That’s a “Microsoft answer”. Perfectly accurate and relevant and completely unrevealing. Why does CNN put “U.S. Military” under “Politics”? 
I dunno. Maybe Clausewitz.
Very cool.
What can be done about the theft of historic shipwrecks by rogue salvage operations? Can we place a guard over the wreck?
Love this!
Can the salvage thieves work two miles down?
That makes sense, thanks for the reply.
I agree with carnivorousplant. I can’t imagine salvagers having the technology to access the wreck two miles deep. IMHO, even if possible, artifacts from Lexington do not have the monetary value of artifacts from the Titanic, also two miles deep.
It’s not artifacts, but the steel they want. Ships from that era – especially military ships (military service places more value on long service life, ruggedness, and resistance to damage instead of cost reduction) contain a LOT of steel.
All steel made today (and essentially all steel since July 1945) contains radioactive trace elements from open-air atomic testing. Steel made before that does not. Such “low-background” steel is especially valuable for certain technical applications (and we cannot make more of it, as I understand it).
The depth of the Lexington’s resting place is enough to protect her from these thieves…for now. As technology (and access to it) improves, and the world’s supply of low-background steel is consumed, there may come a point at which the perceived value leads someone to attempt plundering her.
Go visit the traveling Titanic exhibit and see the answer.
Those slowly rusting hulks like the Lexington represent the investment of vast amounts of public money and human labor. If they can be salvaged and their unique steel put to use, then they should be salvaged. At this point there are no human remains left onboard and we already fetishize war and the military more than enough.
I don’t think that the scavengers have the resources of Robert Ballard.
Actually, Ballard [regrets disclosing its location. Further he wishes now he could have made a claim on the wreck to prevent salvage.](Robert Ballard, who was part of the expedition that found Titanic in 1985, now regrets disclosing its location. Further he wishes now he could have made a claim on the wreck to prevent salvage.)
The salvaging has been done by other companies most notably RMS Titanic, Inc.
As LB steel gets harder and harder to recover, more and more applications will find that modern steel has an adequately low level of background radiation. If the Lexington is ever salvaged, it may not be for monetary value.
There are an immense number of pre-atomic age ships all over the place in significantly more accessible locations.
E.g., there are 7 German WWI ships still in Scapa Flow that have some to little salvaging done on them. In addition, there are several block ships that were sunk there during WWII.
2 miles down? Forget it.
US public money and US human labor, in this case. I suppose it depends on how one feels about nation-states, tribalism and all that as to whether one minds unknown salvagers profiting from that source or not.
I read that the F4F Wildcat may be the one Butch O’Hare flew.
According to the linked tweet:
The aircraft in the photos in most of the article is F5.
You’re right. Let’s plow up Arlington Cemetery and put it to good use as a golf course and condo complex. Look at the location; they’d sell like hotcakes. :rolleyes: