1942年5月8日已经是珊瑚海海战的高潮，前一天美军刚拿下一血，紧接着自家航母也要遭殃咯。

11时05分，日军高桥机群发现了美军航母舰队，袭击列克星敦的舰攻成功对其实施了三面夹攻，美军以防空火力迎击，全舰队向右转向。

11时20分，列克星敦被第一条鱼雷准确命中85号肋位，造成左舷油舱进水，防雷带被鱼雷击穿。

仅1分钟后，第二条鱼雷再次击中左舷，导致另一处油舱进水，两台升降机因液压失效停运，海水从被撕开的破洞汹涌灌入，左舷多个隔舱进水使得航母出现了6度左倾。

舰攻之后，19架舰爆从4000米高空俯冲而下，一颗炸弹命中左舷前炮位，大量炮手阵亡，第二颗将烟囱底座彻底摧毁，同时还有数发炸弹近失。

日军袭击完列克星敦看上去问题不是特别大，甚至在下午还把飞机回收完了，很遗憾损管不利，最终因为油气爆炸沉没，这战果半推半就给小日子得逞了。

May 8, 1942, marked the climax of the Battle of the Coral Sea. The day before, the U.S. Navy had scored the first victory, but soon after, one of its own aircraft carriers was about to suffer heavy losses.

At 11:05, a Japanese squadron led by Takahashi spotted the U.S. carrier fleet. The torpedo bombers attacking the Lexington successfully launched a three-pronged assault from all sides. The U.S. forces returned fire with anti-aircraft guns, and the entire fleet turned to starboard.

At 11:20, the Lexington was struck by the first torpedo, which hit the No. 85 rib with precision, causing water to flood the port fuel tank and piercing the anti-torpedo belt.

Just one minute later, a second torpedo struck the port side again, causing another fuel tank to take on water. Two elevator systems ceased operation due to hydraulic failure, and seawater surged in through the torn opening. Water flooding into multiple port-side compartments caused the carrier to list 6 degrees to port.

Following the torpedo attack, 19 dive bombers dove from an altitude of 4,000 meters; one bomb struck the forward port gun position, killing a large number of gunners, while a second bomb completely destroyed the base of the funnel. Several other bombs came close to hitting their targets.

After the Japanese attack, the Lexington did not appear to have sustained particularly severe damage; in fact, the aircraft were even fully recovered that afternoon. Unfortunately, due to ineffective damage control, the ship ultimately sank as a result of an oil and gas explosion, and the Japanese were, somewhat reluctantly, allowed to claim this victory.