CV-1 was named after Samuel Pierpont Langley (1834-1906), American astronomer, physicist, and pioneer in the development of heavier-than-air craft.

Closeup of view above.

Her bridge, unaltered since her days as a collier, can be seen forward, below the flight deck and just aft of one of her 5" guns.

USS Langley (CV-1), date and place unkown.

USS Langley (CV-1) early in her career (note single stack to port). Photo is stamped on back: "Chief of Information. Navy Department. Washington, 25 D.C."

USS Langley (CV-1) at anchor, with an Aeromarine 39-B airplane landing on her flight deck, circa 1922.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph (# NH 63545).

This is a Mare Island Navy Yard reprint of a photo of USS Langley (CV 1) circa 1922.

US Navy photo, file name "CV 1 5902-43".

Aeromarine 39-B airplane approaching the flight deck of USS Langley (CV-1) during landing practice, 19 October 1922.

Courtesy of the U.S. Naval Institute Photographic Collection.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph (# NH 93178).

Aircraft in the ship's hangar, during the 1920s. The larger plane in the foreground is a Douglas DT torpedo bomber, with its wings removed. Other aircraft are Vought VE-7s of Fighting Squadron Two (VF-2), including Bureau #s A5936 (marked "2-F-9") and A5938 (marked "2-F-8"). The ship's boats are stowed along the hangar sides.

Naval Historical Center photo # NH 72927; courtesy of LT Gustave J. Freret, USN (Ret) (1970).

USS Langley (CV-1) with Vought VE-7 aircraft on deck. In the background are 4 four-stack destroyers and a Tennessee-class battleship on the left and two New Mexico-class battleships (center and right). The original photo was labeled "Harbinger" to show symbolically how the unimposing Langley was the first of a line of ships which eventually drove the battleship from its primary place into the background. Circa 1923.

Aerial, bow On, Plane on deck. August 9, 1923.

National Archives image # 80-G-185887.

USS Langley (CV-1) barely underway in calm waters, January 1925, location unknown (somewhere in the Pacific), with a Vought VE-7 about to land amidst a flock of birds.

A safety net is rigged aft, below flight-deck level, and the funnels are lowered. The calm waters and the fact the carrier is making little way suggest a negligible wind-over-deck; however, the flight deck presents no obstacles for the pilot to be wary of.

USS Langley (CV-1) docked at the carrier pier at Naval Air Station, North Island, San Diego, California, with a Douglas DT-2 airplane taking off from her flight deck. This photo may have been taken during catapult tests in 1925.

Rear Admiral William A. Moffett, USN, Chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics (right) observing aircraft operations on board USS Langley (CV-1), circa 1925-26. At left is Captain Joseph M. Reeves, Commander, Aircraft Squadrons, Battle Fleet.

Collection of Lieutenant Gustave J. Freret, USN (Retired), 1972.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph (# NH 81154).

Aft starboard quarter view of USS Langley (CV 1) circa 1926 place unknown.

US Navy photo file name "CV 1 1132-37".

Underway, aircraft on deck. June 1927.

USS Langley (CV-1) in Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Hawaiian Islands, with 34 planes on her flight deck, May 1928. Note booms rigged out from her sides.

USS Langley (CV-1) underway off San Diego, California, 1928, with Vought VE-7 aircraft on her flight deck. USS Somers (DD-301) is in the background.

Collection of Lieutenant Gustave J. Freret, USN (Retired), 1972.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph (# NH 81279).

USS Lexington (CV-2), top; USS Saratoga (CV-3), with her distinctive funnel stripe; and USS Langley (CV-1) , accross the pier from Saratoga. Bremerton, Washington, 11 November 1929.

Late 1920s image.

USS Langley (CV-1) and USS Arizona (BB-39) at Naval Air Station San Diego, CA., late 1920s.

"Aircraft Carrier Langley." (From a Russian publication).

This drawing shows Langley about 1930, after the removal of her catapult.

USS Langley in Dry Dock No. 2, at Navy Yard, Puget Sound, January 1930. Note portable sanitary lines and staging around the stern.

Seattle Branch of the National Archives photo.

At anchor off Cristobal, Panama Canal Zone, 1 March 1930, in her final configuration as a carrier. The flight-deck masts could be dismounted for flight operations and her two flight-deck catapults had been removed. Note two tiltable funnels to port.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives (photo # 80-G-185915).

Two of her four 5" guns can be seen, forward and aft. (Thanks to Robert Hurst).

On September 23, 1931. LT Alfred M. Pride piloted the Navy's first rotary wing aircraft, a Pitcairn XOP-1 autogyro, in landings and takeoffs aboard Langley while underway.

Captain Steele, in command of Carrier Division One, SCOFOR, inspects the crew of USS Langley on September 24, 1931.

A biplane takes off from Langley, circa 1931-32.

USS Langley moored pierside at NAS North Island, San Diego, circa 1931-32. Photo by Teddy Krueger, USS Holland (AS-3).

USS Langley (right) moored pierside at NAS North Island, San Diego, circa 1931-32. USS Holland (AS-3) is nearest camera. Ship in the center of the photo is USS Wright (AV-1). Photo by Teddy Krueger, USS Holland.

Fleet Review off New York City, 31 May 1934 — Ships of the Fleet Train maneuvering during the review. USS Langley (CV-1) is in the lower right. Crossing her bow is USS Melville (AD-2), led by either USS Dobbin (AD-3) or USS Whitney (AD-4). Leading the next line is USS Relief (AH-1), followed by two oilers and another auxiliary. Nine battleships are in the distance, making a column turn to port.

Collection of Vice Admiral Dixwell Ketcham, USN.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph (# NH 95716).

Stacks down, flight quarters, South Pacific, probably in the mid-1930s. USS Cole (DD-155) in the foreground.

From the collection of Preston E. Cloud.

Panama Canal, circa 1935–1936.

Broadside view of USS Langley (CV 1) circa 1936 shortly before conversion.

US Navy photo file name "CV 1 9106-5-51".