I don't believe so. If you look at the Yorktown class the funnel size wasn't that much different. Likewise the Essex class really wasn't much narrower.
In all honesty, the Lexington class were a masterful reconstruction of the old battlecruiser hull. the Akagi and Kaga needed substantial rebuilds before they could be considered up to 'modern' carriers of their day and they still lagged somewhat behind the later model IJN carriers. The Akagi could handle really only around 70 aircraft at best while the Shokaku could handle a similar number and more with much less displacement. the Lexingtons could easily handle 85 plus aircraft and the Saratoga carried a larger complement at the end of the war. There were very few ships designed in the 20s that could still hold their own 20 plus years later when put with the Essex class but the Lexington class could easily do it.
I still think it was a tragedy that they used the Sara for the A-bomb tests. That was one of the two ships that made US naval aviation in the 20's, without her we would have been hosed in the first few years of the war.
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The artist formerly known as SimHq Tom Cofield
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