At about 1245, "Lexington" – heavily damaged though apparently in satisfactory condition afloat and underway – suffered severe internal explosions that rang her death knell. Fires raged out of control and, by 1630, her engines stopped. Ninety minutes later, Captain Frederick C. Sherman ordered the ship abandoned. Once rescue operations were completed, and "Lexington"s end was hastened by torpedoes from , TF 17 began a slow retirement from the Coral Sea, having suffered heavy losses but also having inflicted a decisive strategic defeat on the Japanese by barring the Port Moresby invasion.