USS Langley (CV-1)

The USS Langley (CV-1) was the earliest aircraft carrier in service with the US Navy. She was developed from a coal cargo ship, the collier USS Jupiter, between 1919 and 1921. She would be commissioned on March 20, 1922, and would remain with the fleet until 1936, when she was rebuilt as a seaplane tender. Until 1928, she was the only aircraft carrier in the US Navy. Then USS Lexington (CV-2) and Saratoga (CV-3) would also join the fleet. By 1936, she had already become slow (14 knots) and unable to handle the new generation of new fast monoplanes.

The first US Navy fighter to take off from USS Langley was the Vought VE-7, a biplane that had been introduced in 1918. This aircraft would be assigned to this US Navy's carrier until 1927. Early in her career, she had a large pigeon coop under her flight deck. The coop contained homing pigeons which were used to send messages. However, the pigeon coop was taken out after she was commissioned. The carrier also had two smoke stacks, which were folded down during flight operations.

When the Imperial Japanese Army invaded the Philippines on December 8, 1941, the seaplane tender USS Langley was anchored off the coast of Cavite, the Philippines. As the Japanese troops advanced, she hoisted anchor and sailed for the Dutch East Indies. However, as the Japanese invaded these islands, she left for Darwin, Australia, where she arrived in early January 1942. There, she became part of the Allied naval forces.

On February 27, while the USS Langley carried a cargo of thirty two disassembled P-40 aircraft, sixteen Japanese Mitsubishi G4M bombers attacked her and her escorts. She took five heavy-bomb hits. There were several explosions as fire broke out. With the steering broken and with a hole in her hull, tons of water poured into the engine room. First, she got a 10 degrees list, then she began to sink. After her crew had been rescued, she was scuttled by the escort destroyers, which used torpedoes and gun shells.

Specifications

Displacement: 12,900 tons

Length: 165.2 m (542 feet)

Beam: 19.9 m (65 feet, 5 inches)

Draft: 8.4 m (27 feet, 8 inches)

Propulsion: two electric motors, with two shafts, powered by two AC generators, generating 7,200 HP. Three boilers, for the turbines that drove the generators.

Maximum Speed: 14 knots

Range: 3,500 nautical miles (6,500 km/4,000 miles)

Number of Aircraft: 36

Armament: sixteen 102-mm guns set up in four turrets.

Crew: 470 sailors and officers

Below, the USS Langley (CV-1) in 1924