cv2

This would appear to be the dedication of the "World Record" plaque on USS Lexington (CV-2) commemorating the ship's speed record described below in the Associated Press report in the Tuesday, June 12, 1928 edition of the Chicago Daily Tribune: NAVY AIRCRAFT CARRIER SETS WORLD RECORD

Washington, D.C., June 11. - (AP) - By steaming over the waters of the Pacific Ocean at an average speed of 29.2 knots an hour for 24 hours, the giant aircraft carrier Lexington established a world record day's run of 700 nautical miles. When the commander of the 33,000 ton vessel advised the Navy Department of the achievement today, the Lexington was traveling 30.4 knots an hour and indications were that she may surpass the record the first 24 hours on her 2,228 nautical mile trip from San Pedro, Cal., to Honolulu, where she is due to arrive tomorrow at 1 p.m. Captain A.W. Marshall, skipper of the powerful craft, reported that the vessel weighed anchor at San Pedro at noon Saturday.

The handwritten inscription on the photo is incorrect. This is USS Lexington (CV-2), not USS Saratoga (CV-3). Note Lexington's characteristic black horizontal stripe at the top of her funnel and her spotlight platforms mounted higher on the funnel than on her sister ship Saratoga.

This is Saratoga. Note lack of horizontal stripe under the lip of the stack, and the walkway on the inboard face of the stack. Both indicative of Saratoga in 1929.