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This 1926 photo features a plane from the USS Langley CV-1, the first aircraft carrier in US Navy history.
Approximate size: 6.5 inches x 8.5 inches
The USS Langley (CV-1) was the first aircraft carrier of the United States Navy and was also the US Navy’s first turbo-electric-powered ship. The ship was originally named Jupiter and was built in 1911. It was converted into an aircraft carrier in 1920 and was recommissioned as the USS Langley on 20 March 1922.
The USS Langley was named after Samuel P. Langley, a former assistant professor at the U.S. Naval Academy and later secretary of the Smithsonian Institute. Langley’s repeated attempts to launch and land aircraft from ships at sea inspired the Navy, after his death in 1906, to carry on his legacy.
The USS Langley served as an unarmed test bed for deck and flight operations throughout the 1920s. During this time, the Navy learned from its experiences on Langley how better to park and launch aircraft more quickly. The experiences that took place onboard Langley set the state for the fleet aircraft carriers that followed, such as Ranger, Lexington, and Saratoga, which were all built with flight decks that were wider, longer, and sturdier. The future carriers were built, based on lessons learned onboard Langley.
For the first half of 1923, Langley conducted flight operations and tests in the Caribbean. Later that year, she steamed to Washington, DC, for a demonstration at a flying exhibition before civil and military dignitaries. After demonstrating the Navy’s new capabilities, Langley steamed south arriving at Norfolk on 13 June, where she conducted training along the Atlantic coast and in the Caribbean through the end of the year.
In 1924, Langley participated in more maneuvers and exhibitions, then spent the summer at Norfolk for repairs and alterations. She departed for the U.S. west coast later that year arriving in San Diego, California, on 29 November to join the Pacific Battle Fleet. For the next 12 years, Langley operated in California and Hawaiian waters where she engaged in training fleet units, experimentation, pilot training, and tactical fleet problems.
With the advent of new, improved carriers being built, Langley was put into Mare Island Navy Yard on 25 October 1936 for overhaul and conversion to a seaplane tender. Langley completed conversion on 26 February 1937 and was reclassified AV‑3 later that year.
On 27 February 1942, while ferrying a cargo of USAAF P-40s to Java, she was attacked by nine twin-engine Japanese bombers and so badly damaged that she had to be scuttled by her escorts. She was awarded a noteworthy nine battle stars for her service in World War II before being sunk by her own destroyers after she was too badly damaged to salvage.
The first reference photo is of a newspaper clipping in the Kodiak Mirror (Kodiak, Alaska), May 9, 1942.
The second reference photo is of a newspaper clipping in the Ajo Copper News (Ajo, Pima Co., Ariz.), February 13, 1926.
Please inspect the pictures, as they give the best representation of condition. May have discoloring, edge or corner wear, marks, creases, fading, smudges, corner or edge bends, tears, or corners missing.
(D55 inventory number)
