CV1- USS Langley
Displacement: 15,150 tons full load
Dim: 542 x 65.5 x 16.5 ft
Propulsion: Turbo electric, 3 190 psi boilers, 2 shafts, 7,000 shp,
Speed 15.5 knots
Crew: 468
Armaments: 4 single 5/51, 30-35 aircraft
Armor: none
Jupiter (AC-3) was slid down 18 October 1911 by Mare Island Navy Yard,Vallejo, Calif.; launched 24 August 1912; sponsored by Mrs. Thomas F. Ruhm;and commissioned 7 April 1913, Comdr. Joseph M. Reeves in command.
After successfully passing her trials, Jupiter, the first electricallypropelled ship of the U.S. Navy, embarked a submarine detachment at SanFrancisco and reported to the Pacific Fleet at Mazaltlan, Mexico, 27 April1914, bolstering US. naval strength on the Mexican Pacific coast duringthe tense days of the Vera Cruz crisis. She remained off the Pacific coastuntil she departed for Philadelphia, 10 October. In route the collier steamedthrough the Panama Canal on Columbus Day-the first vessel to transit itfrom west to east.
Prior to America's entry into World War I, she cruised the Atlantic andthe Gulf of Mexico attached to the Atlantic Fleet Auxiliary Division. Theship arrived Norfolk 6 April 1917, and, assigned to NOTS, interrupted hercoaling operations by two cargo voyages to France in June 1917 and November1918. She was back in Norfolk 23 January 1919 whence she sailed for Brest,France, 8 March for coaling duty in European waters to expedite the returnof victorious veterans to the United States. Upon reaching Norfolk 17 August,the ship was transferred to the west coast. Her conversion to an aircraftcarrier was authorized 11 July 1919. and she sailed to Hampton Roads, Va.,12 December where she decommissioned 24 March 1920.
Jupiter was converted into the first U.S. aircraft carrier at the NavyYard, Norfolk, Va., for the. purpose of conducting experiments in the newidea of seaborne aviation, a field of unlimited possibilities. Her namew as changed to Langley 21 April 1920; she was classied CV-1 and commissioned20 March 1922, Comdr. Kenneth Whiting in command. Her statistics as an aircraftcarrier are: CV-1: dp. 11,500; l. v42'; b. 6v', ev.. 65'dr. 18'11";s. 15 k.; colt 468; a. 4 5", act 55 (max.), cl. Langley.
As the first Navy carrier, Langley was the scene of numerous momentousevents. On 17 October 1922 Lt. Virgil C. Griffin piloted the first plane,a VE-7- SF, launched from her decks. Though this was not the first timean airplane had taken oft from a ship, and though Langley was not the firstship with an installed flight deck this one launching was of monumentalimportance to the modern U.S. Navy. The era of the aircraft carrier wasborn introducing into the Navy what was to become the vanguard of its forcesin the future. With Langley underway 9 days later, Lt. Comdr. a. DeC. Chevaliermade the first landing in an Aeromarine. On 18 November Commander Whiting,at the controls of a PT, was the first aviator to be catapulted from a carrier'sdeck.
By 15 January 1923 Langley had begun flight operations and tests in theCaribbean for carrier landings. In June she steamed to Washington, D.C.,to give a demonstration at a flying exhibition before civil and militarydignitaries. She arrived Norfolk 13 June and commenced training along theAtlantic coast and Caribbean which carried her through the end of the year.In 1924 Langley participated in more maneuvers and exhibitions, and spentthe summer at Norfolk for repairs and alterations. She departed for thewest coast late in the year and arrived San Diego 29 November to join thePacific Battle Fleet. For the next 12 years she operated o~ the Californiacoast and Hawaii engaged in training fleet units, experimentation, pilottraining, and tactical-fleet problems. On 25 October 1932 she put into MareIsland Navy Yard, Calif., for overhaul and conversion to a seaplane tender.Though her career as a carrier had ended, her well trained pilots provedinvaluable to the next two carriers, Lexington ( CV-2) and Saratoga ( CV-3).
Langley completed conversion 26 February 1937 and was reclassified AV-3on 21 April. She was assigned to Aircraft Scoutin,g Force and commencedher tending operations out of Seattle, Sitka, Pearl Harbor, and San Diego.She departed for a brief deployment with the Atlantic Fleet from 1 Februaryto 10 July 1939, and then steamed to assume her duties with the Pacificfleet at Manila arriving 24 September.
At the outbreak of World War II, Langley was anchored off Cavite, PhilippineIslands. She departed 8 December and proceeded to Balikpapan, Borneo, andDarv, in Australia, where she arrived 1 January 1942. Until 11 January Langleyassisted the RAAF in running antisubmarine patrols out of Darwin. She wasthen assigned to American-British-Dutch-Australian forces assembling inIndonesia to challenge the Japanese thrust in that direction. She departedFreemantle, Australia, 22 February in convoy, and left the convoy 5 dayslater to deliver 32 P-40's to TjilatJap, Java.
Early in the morning 27 February, Langley rendezvoused with her antisubmarinescreen, destroyers Whipple (DD-217) and Edsall (DD-219). At 1140 nine twinengine enemy bombers attacked her. The first and second Japanese strikeswere unsuccessful; but during the third LangZeg took five hits. Aircrafttopside burst into flames, steering was impaired, and the ship took a 10°list to port. Unable to negotiate the narrow mouth of TjilatJap Harbor,Langley went dead in the water as inrushing water flooded her main motors.At 1332 the order to abandon ship was passed. The escorting destroyers flrednine 4 inch shells and two torpedoes into the old tender to insure her sinking.She went down about 75 miles south of Tjilatjap with a loss of 16.
