Photograph: Douglas Curran/AFP/Getty Images 
 
 The badly damaged Lexington, nicknamed “Lady Lex”, was deliberately sunk by another US warship at the conclusion of the battle. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Remarkably preserved aircraft could be seen on the seabed bearing the five-pointed star insignia of the US navy on their wings and fuselage. “As the son of a survivor of the USS Lexington, I offer my congratulations to Paul Allen and the expedition crew of Research Vessel (R/V) Petrel for locating the “Lady Lex,” sunk nearly 76 years ago at the Battle of Coral Sea,” said Navy Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr., head of the U.S. Pacific Command. Wreck from second world war’s Battle of the Coral Sea is located off eastern coast of Australia by search team led by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen 
 
 Wreckage from the USS Lexington, an aircraft carrier that sank during the second world war, has been found in the Coral Sea by a search team led by the Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. Underwater images of the wreckage are courtesy of Paul G Allen 
 
 "To pay tribute to the USS Lexington and the brave men that served on her is an honor," Allen said in a statement. “We honor the valor and sacrifice of the “Lady Lex’s” Sailors — all those Americans who fought in World War II — by continuing to secure the freedoms they won for all of us.” 
 
 The Battle of the Coral Sea was notable not only for stopping a Japanese advance but because it was the first naval engagement in history where opposing ships never came within sight of each other.
– Badly damaged after four days of battle with the Japanese, "Lady Lex" was deliberately sent to the depths of the Coral Sea with a reported 216 bodies on board. It's there that one of the first US aircraft carriers slumbered undisturbed for 76 years, until a crew led by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen arrived with cameras. Finding the USS Lexington some 500 miles off Australia's eastern coast on Sunday, the crew has recorded the first video of the World War II wreckage, showing what AFP calls "remarkably preserved aircraft" that went down with the ship, as well as anti-aircraft guns with rifling visible in the barrels. Now covered in slime, the weaponry was used to fire on three Japanese aircraft carriers that hoped to catch the USS Lexington and USS Yorktown in an ambush near Papua New Guinea's Port Moresby on May 4, 1942. In the end—in what News.com.au calls "the day that decided Australia's fate"—the US aircraft carriers prevented a defeat that threatened to cut Australia off from the US. Though it meant the USS Lexington had to be scuttled, the battle also damaged two Japanese carriers, "setting the stage for an Allied victory," according to US Pacific Command. Commander Adm. Harry Harris is celebrating the discovery as "the son of a survivor of the USS Lexington," per CNN. "To pay tribute to the USS Lexington and the brave men that served on her is an honor," says Allen, who headed a six-month project to find the carrier. "As Americans, all of us owe a debt of gratitude to everyone who served and who continue to serve our country for their courage, persistence, and sacrifice." (Allen helped find the wreck of the USS Indianapolis last year.)