It was the USS Yorktown,not the Lexington, that was used for the real flying scenes,depicting the Japanese carrier `Akagi`. However the real Akagi `s `island was on the port side,but `Yorktown`s is to starboard...so unless YT could steam astern,at about 15-20 kts, and t/offs were from bow to stern,it would not be a true representation of the `Akagi`. It may have worked but I would bet the USN would have vetoed it...
None of the pilots were credited with the dawn t/o, where a cough/splutter from Mr Pratt or Whitney may have led to a dunking ,or a trampling from 30000tons would have spoiled your whole day...That was a real `one shot `take`......