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NavSource Online: Aircraft Carrier Photo Archive


Courtesy of CAPT Gene Oleson, CHC, USN (Ret)

USS LANGLEY   (CV-1)
(formerly Jupiter (Collier #3); later AV-3)

CV-1 Langley
(Profile courtesy of ©Windjammer-Arts Naval Art & Aviation Art)



Flag Hoist/Radio Call Sign: November - Echo - Quebec - Charlie (per the 1931 Radio Call Sign Book)
(See here for contemporary flag names.)


Unit Awards, Campaign and Service Medals and Ribbons

 
 

Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row (as Jupiter): Mexican Service Medal / World War I Victory Medal ("Transport" clasp)
2nd Row (as Langley): American Defense Service Medal ("Fleet" clasp) / Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (2 stars) / World War II Victory Medal

Langley Class Aircraft Carrier
Awarded Laid down Launched Commissioned Decommissioned Stricken
(unknown) 18 Oct 1911 24 Aug 1912 7 Apr 1913
20 Mar 1922
24 Mar 1920
8 May 1942
Builder: Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, Calif.

Fate: Bombed by Japanese aircraft, 27 February 1942, and scuttled by her escorting destroyers, about 75 miles south of Tjilatjap, Java.

16 of her crew were lost with the ship and remain on duty.


Specifications
(As converted to a carrier, 1922)
Displacement: 13,990 tons standard; 15,150 tons full load
Dimensions (wl): 520' x 65' 3" x 22' 1" (full load)  /  158.5 x 19.9 x 6.7 meters
Dimensions (max.): 542' 2.5" x 65' 6"  /  165.3 x 20 meters
Armor: None
Power plant: 3 boilers (190 psi); geared turbines and electric drive; 2 shafts; 6,500 shp
Speed: 15.5 knots
Endurance:
Armament: 4 single 5"/51 gun mounts
Aircraft: 34
Aviation facilities: 1 elevator; 1 catapult (second catapult added soon afterwards)
Crew: 468 (ship's company + air wing)
Click on Thumbnail
for Full Size Image
Size Image Description Source
Name

NS020134
68k

CV-1 was named after Samuel Pierpont Langley (1834-1906). Born in Roxbury, Mass., he became a distinguished American astronomer, physicist, and pioneer in the development of heavier-than-air craft. In 1865 he was assistant in the Harvard Observatory, and the following year an assistant professor of mathematics at the Naval Academy. In 1878, as director of the Allegheny Observatory, he devised the bolometer—a radiant-heat detector that is sensitive to differences in temperature of one hundred-thousandth of a degree Celsius (0.00001 C)—and other scientific apparatus. In 1881 he organized a successful expedition to Mount Whitney, Calif. Professor Langley was honored by degrees from Oxford, Cambridge, Princeton, Yale, among other universities. He died in Aiken, S.C.

Portrait of Samuel Pierpont Langley Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 95, Box 15, Folder 8, 2002-12174.jpg.
Conversion

NS020116
33k

Postcard photo showing Langley during her conversion to an aircraft carrier, 1921.

Chuck White
CV-1 Langley
NS020112
101k

The bridge structure during the reconstruction process at Norfolk Navy Yard in 1921. View from the Fo'c'sle Deck looking aft. Note the ship's bell and open hatches to the crew berthing areas below.

Darren Large
CV-1 Langley
NS020163
1.85M

"The Langley, an aircraft carrier, one of the oddest looking vessels of the new fleet." The Sunday Star, Washington, D.C., Sunday, 13 February 1921.

Library of Congress, Chronicling America, via Michael Mohl
CV-1 Langley
NS020169
416k

At Norfolk Navy Yard during the conversion process, 9 May 1921. An extra deck called the Superstructure Deck has been added on top of the Poop Deck aft for officer's accomodation. The original derricks have been replaced with towers to support the flight deck. The funnel has been relocated to a sponson on the portside.

(Additional information thanks to Darren Large.)

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), photo # 80-G-185885.

Tracy White,
Researcher @ Large
CV-1 Langley
NS020187
841k

Langley under conversion at Norfolk Navy Yard, ca 1921.

Vallejo Naval & Historical Museum.

Darryl Baker
CV-1 Langley
NS020174
237k

Langley under reconstruction at Norfolk Navy Yard. The flight deck nears completion and you can see the fore and aft catapult tracks. The catapults were rarely used and were removed in 1928.

Naval History & Heritage Command (NH&HC), photo # NH 93538.

Darren Large
CV-1 Langley
NS020170
568k

Aerial photo of the Norfolk Navy Yard, taken by a USAAC plane on 1 June 1921. USS Langley (CV-1) is in left background, under conversion. Other ships present include: USS Dahlgren (DD-187) in the foreground and USS Goldsborough (DD-188) in the background.

Naval History & Heritage Command (NH&HC), photo # NH 93539.

Darren Large
CV-1 Langley
NS020181
46k

Cross-section of USS Langley (CV-1), the U.S. Navy's first aircraft carrier.

U.S. Naval Institute, Naval History magazine, April 2022 issue, p.28.

Tommy Trampp
CV-1 Langley
NS020182
349k

Drawing of USS Langley (CV-1) by Louise Larned. Published on 27 December 1920.

Library of Congress, negative glass, 8x6"; Call Number/Physical Location LC-F82- 5362 [P&P]; Source Collection National Photo Company Collection (Library of Congress); Repository Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C., 20540 USA; Digital ID npcc 29700 //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/npcc.29700; Library of Congress Control Number 2016852356; Reproduction Number LC-DIG-npcc-29700.

Via Michael Mohl
Date Unknown Images
CV-1 Langley
NS020140
109k

Landing aboard Langley.

Bradley Ingram comments:

"I think I have identified one of the aircraft on the page for the USS Langley (CV-1). I believe that NS020140 is a Loening OL-4 observation aircraft. Based on the style of exhausts, it could be an OL-2, OL-4 or an OL-6, from the shape of the cutouts under the engine, it could be an OL-4, or an OL-6, and from the shape of the wing floats, I think that the aircraft shown is an OL-4."

"According to American Combat Planes by Ray Wagner, the first of the six OL-4s were delivered to the Navy in April 1926, which gives an early cutoff date for when the photo was taken. Unfortunately, I don't have any better information to date the photograph."

Richard Huber, for his uncles Raymond ("Fergie") and Harry ("Pop") Ferguson, who served in the Navy for 30 years.
CV-1 Langley
NS020141
136k

At anchor, crew manning the rail.

Darren Large notes: "Gonaives, Haiti, March–April 1927. Foremost plane is a Douglas T2D-1."

CV-1 Langley
NS020142
172k

Aerial view.

Robert Hurst

NS0815303
354k

USS S-42 (SS-153) in port during the 1920s or 1930s. Note USS Langley (CV-1) in the background.

USN photo.

Darren Large notes that this photo shows Langley docked at Pearl Harbor, circa 1925.

Courtesy of Jim Kurrasch, Battleship Iowa, Pacific Battleship Center
The 1920s

NS020179
430k

USS Langley (CV-1) "showing air currents around landing platform," Hampton Roads, Virginia, 1 October 1922.

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) photo, # 80-G-185863.

Tracy White, Researcher @ Large

NS020172
89k

LT Virgil C. Griffin in a VE-7 making the first take off from a US carrier on Virginia Capes, 17 October 1922. (Thanks to Darren Large for the info.)

The single engine, two-crew land biplane was built by Chance-Vought for Army use. The Navy adopted the plane and it was the first aircraft to fly off an aircraft carrier.

National Naval Aviation Museum photo (# 1996.253.7214.001).

Mike Green

NS020154
61k

An Aeromarine 39-B piloted by LCDR Godfrey DeC. Chevalier, Naval Aviator #7, making the first landing on USS Langley (CV-1) on 26 October 1922. Photo U.S. Navy.

Robert Hurst

NS020133
381k

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."

Jim Bulebush

NS020121
88k

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).

NHC

NS020158
69k

Starboard side view of USS Langley (CV-1) at anchor, with sailors dressed in whites going down a ladder to board a liberty boat, early in her career (note the original single funnel). Eight aircraft are visible on the ship's flight deck.

National Naval Aviation Museum photo (# 2001.152.002).

Mike Green

NS020107
131k

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".

Darren Large, however, believes this is a Martin MO-1 observation plane recovering aboard, probably off San Diego, circa 1925.

Darryl Baker

NS020124
89k

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).

NHC

NS020122
140k

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).

NHC
CV-1 Langley
NS020171
589k

USS Langley (CV-1) underway off Norfolk, Virginia, circa 1923.

Norfolk Public Library, Sargeant Memorial Collection.

Mike Green
CV-1 Langley
NS020150
74k

USS Langley (CV-1) off Gloucester, Massachusetts, 1923.

Gerd Matthes, Germany
CV-1 Langley
NS020157
138k

USS Langley (CV-1) moored at Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola, 1923. Image is part of photograph album showing post-World War I scenes at NAS Pensacola, Florida.

National Naval Aviation Museum, photo # 1989.119.001.005.

Mike Green

NS020127
245k

Port bow overhead view of USS Langley (CV-1) off Pensacola, Florida in 1923.

National Naval Aviation Museum photo, # 1989.119.001.011.

Mike Green

NS020184
503k

USS Langley (CV-1), 1923. AS-1 Aeromarine about to recover aboard.

Official US Navy photo, now in the collections of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), # 19-NS-L2 and also # 80-G-459655.

NARA
CV-1 Langley
NS020175
752k

USS Langley (CV-1). View of pelican hook. Photograph released 15 January 1923.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collection of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), # 80-CF-LY-364.

NARA
CV-1 Langley
NS020175a
948k

USS Langley (CV-1). View of pelican hook and lines. Photograph released 15 January 1923.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collection of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), # 80-CF-LY-365.

NARA
CV-1 Langley
NS020189
377k

USS Langley (CV-1). AS-1 Aeromarine on stern, 16 February 1923.

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), # 19-NS-L4.

NARA
CV-1 Langley
NS020104
431k

Aerial, bow on, plane on deck. This photo is dated 3 August 1923, but it appeared on page 9 of the Birmingham Age-Herald, 4 May 1923 issue. Therefore, actual date might be 8 March 1923.

National Archives & Records Administration (NARA), image # 80-G-185887 (NARA identifier 520639).

NARA,
via Michael Mohl
CV-1 Langley
NS020190
275k

Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, 1924. USS Langley (CV-1) in the right background.

Naval History & Heritage Command photo, UA 542.17, Fletcher Arnhardt Collection.

Darren Large
CV-1 Langley
NS020156
162k

USS Langley (CV-1) moored at North Island, California, 1924.

National Naval Aviation Museum photo (# 1996.488.010.009).

Mike Green
CV-1 Langley
NS020173
616k

USS Langley (CV-1) in a view taken while at North Island, San Diego, California, in 1924. Note mast on flight deck, just forward of the two funnels on the port side. Also note USS Ortolan (AM-45) in background, alongside the pier visible just above Langley's mast. The similar type ship just ahead of Ortolan appears to be attached to an aviation unit, as indicated by the barely-visible star insignia on the bow.

Naval History & Heritage Command (NH&HC) photo, # NH 81281.

Bob Canchola, BT, USN (Ret.)
CV-1 Langley
NS020177
762k

Releasing device for seaplane on catapult truck, USS Langley (CV-1). Photographed 29 April 1924.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collection of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), # 80-CF-LY533.

NARA
CV-1 Langley
NS020188
482k

A real photo postcard of USS Langley (CV-1) early in her career.

Writing on back just says "docked at San Francisco." Darren Large, however, comments: "The photo shows Langley at Norfolk Naval Operating Base. Only one stack means it was taken before the summer of 1924, when the arrangement was altered. [...] I can make out a large white shroud on the flight deck. The only other image I have seen a similar shroud in, is when she went to Washington DC in early June 1923. During this visit, the ship was opened to the public and President Harding paid a visit. My theory is that this shroud is for a function that may have been held on the flight deck."

Dave Wright
CV-1 Langley
NS020151
313k

USS Langley (CV-1) in the Panama Canal, 16 November 1924.

Darren Large comments: "Culebra Cut [,aka Gaillard Cut], on her way to join the Pacific Fleet after two years as an experimental ship on the East Coast. Vought VE-7s forward and two DT-2s with wings folded further aft."

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) photo. NARA Identifier: 100996474; Local Identifier: 185-G-947; Agency-Assigned Identifier: 80-C139; Container ID: Box 5, Volume 10.

NARA,
via Michael Mohl
CV-1 Langley
NS020167
229k

Two postcards of USS Langley (CV-1) in her early years.

NS020167: "U.S.S. Langley aeroplane carrier"

NS020167a: Writing on back just says "docked at San Francisco." Dave would assume Mare Island, judging by all equipment in foreground. Circa 1924–25.

Dave Wright
CV-1 Langley
NS020167a
262k
CV-1 Langley
NS020147
246k

"Fleet Plane Carrier on Night Maneuvers," circa 1925.

Robert M. Cieri
Thomas M. McDermott
CV-1 Langley
NS020128
121k

USS Langley (CV-1), location unkown.

From the collection of LCDR Thomas A. Donegan (Ret).

Darren Large notes: "The absence of the three portholes on the funnel sponson means this is circa 1925."

Mike Donegan, son of LCDR Thomas A. Donegan

NS020135
194k

USS Langley (CV-1) with a plane landing amidst a flock of birds, 16 January 1925, probably off San Diego. Note landing signal officer on flight deck. Plane is not a DT, but is probably a VE-7.

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.

Naval History & Heritage Command (NH&HC) photo, # NH 93177, courtesy of the U.S. Naval Institute James C. Fahey collection.

Robert Hurst

NS020135a
1.51M

USS Langley (CV-1) with a Martin MO-1 observation monoplane recovering aboard. This photo appears to have been taken on the same date as the photo above.

(Thanks to Darren Large, who helped identify the photo.)

Bob Canchola, BT, USN (Ret.)

NS020113
108k

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.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph (photo # NH 47024).

Darren Large notes: "San Diego April 2, 1925."

Scott Dyben

NS020113a
652k

USS Langley (CV-1). Probably taken at about the same time as the photo above.

Darren Large notes: "TS-1 taking off, San Diego, circa 1925."

Robert M. Cieri
Bob Canchola, BT, USN (Ret.)

NS020185
791k

USS Langley (CV-1). Hull damage after collision with USS Robert Smith (DD-324) on 13 March 1925.

Vallejo Naval & Historical Museum photo.

Darryl Baker
CV-1 Langley
NS020102
138k

USS Langley (CV-1) underway about 100 miles SW of Pearl Harbor, 26 April 1925. (Thanks to Darren Large.)

USN

NS020123
67k

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).

NHC
CV-1 Langley
NS020111
39k

Believed to have been taken at Pearl Harbor.

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.

Darren Large comments: "[This is] [i]n either 1925 or 1926 because her first posting in Pearl was April through September 1925. In Jan 1927 at Mare Island, the Disbursing Office was fitted to where the original starboard side exhaust vent was. As this is absent in the photo, it is probably 1925, possibly early 1926."

Ric Hedman
CV-1 Langley
NS020111a
60k

NS020166
646k

USS Langley (CV-1), circa the mid-late 1920s. USN Photo.

Darren Large notes: "Part of a series of photos taken in 1924 when Langley first arrived in San Diego (29 November 1924)."

Manuel D. Tafoya, Sr.
Jim Kurrasch, Battleship Iowa, Pacific Battleship Center

NS020136
131k

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

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

Darren Large observes: "Most likely during Fleet Problem VII in March–April 1927. Two amphibians, probably Loening OL-8s on the aft flight deck."

Darryl Baker
CV-1 Langley
NS020148
627k

USS Langley underway, circa 1926.

Charles Hansen collection
CV-1 Langley
NS020183
403k

Naval Aircraft Factory-designed, Curtiss-built TS-1s from Fighting Squadron (VF) 1 in flight over USS Langley (CV-1), NAS North Island, San Diego, California, circa 1926.

The TS-1 was the first carrier-based aeroplane designed specifically as a fighter. It was designed by the Bureau of Aeronautics and a contract for 34 was awarded to Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company. An order for five was given to the Naval Aircraft Factory to serve as a check on costs.

San Diego Air & Space Museum photo.

Bob Canchola, BT, USN (Ret.)
CV-1 Langley
NS014044l
2.38M

USS Langley (CV-1) with Vought VE-7 aircraft on deck, at anchor off Culebra Island, Puerto Rico, on 18 March 1926. In the background are 4 four-stack destroyers and a Tennessee (BB-43/44)-class battleship on the left, and two New Mexico (BB-40/42)-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.

USN photo via National Naval Aviation Museum
CV-1 Langley
NS010026p
709k

Different angle of the above photo: Langley (CV-1) and battleships at anchor off Culebra Island, Puerto Rico, 18 March 1926.

USN photo NARA II 80-G-185902, via Tracy White, Researcher @ Large
CV-1 Langley
NS014127g
2.54M

Ships of the U.S. Fleet pictured at anchor at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, during winter exercises in 1927 (Fleet Problem VII, March 1927?).

The "center" row has Mississippi (BB-41), then Langley (CV-1), Oklahoma (BB-37), Pennsylvania (BB-38) and Arizona (BB-39) in that order. The next row to the left has Idaho (BB-42), then New Mexico (BB-40), followed by three of the Tennessee/Colorado class (hard to pick out distinguishing features in this photo), with Nevada (BB-36) as tail-end-Charlie. Further to the left are another Tennessee/Colorado class BB and a Memphis (formerly Tennessee) class armored cruiser. Two unidentified Omaha class cruisers are in the foreground. There are at least 17 destroyers, and two submarine tenders in the foreground with about 10 smaller and two large submarines. (Thanks to Richard Jensen for the identifications.)

Also identifiable (bottom, right) is USS Mahan, by then converted to a minelayer and redesignated DM-7, but still wearing her old DD hull number (102).

The peninsula in the right foreground is South Toro Cay, where the drydock is still visible that was begun in 1904, but cancelled two years later.

National Naval Aviation Museum photo (# 2003.001.323).

Wikipedia.org, via Branden Deschaine
CV-1 Langley
NS014827s
240k

With USS West Virginia (BB-48) and the Manhattan Bridge in the background, the loaded, narrow flight deck of the airplane carrier USS Langley (CV‑1) is moored at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in May 1927. Langley had suffered a generator explosion and was in the process of being repaired after having been towed to the Navy Yard. The planes are Boeing FB-5's and Curtiss TS-1's.

US Navy and Marine Corps Museum/Naval Aviation Museum, photo # 1996.253.7128.001.

(Photo id. courtesy of Charles Sauer.)

Mike Green

NS020176
101k

USS Langley (CV-1) tied up starboard side to at Brooklyn Naval Yard, repairing her starboard boiler. Photo Taken on 2 May 1927.

Darren Large

NS020178
128k

USS Langley (CV-1) seen from the Brooklyn Bridge as she departed New York on 27 May 1927.

Darren Large

NS020110
692k

Vought VE-7 taking off from USS Langley (CV-1), May 1927.

Official U.S. Navy photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), photo # 80-G-6651.

NARA
CV-1 Langley
NS020101
1.13M

NS020101: National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), image # 80-G-460108.

Darren Large remarks: "Both photos were taken on 4th June 1927 during a Fleet Review in Hampton Roads watched by President Coolidge on the Presidential Yacht Mayflower. It's interesting to note the light patches on the forward flight deck not seen in any other time frame. Perhaps newly laid planking not yet stained."

NARA
Bob Canchola, BT, USN (Ret.)
CV-1 Langley
NS020137
91k Robert Hurst

NS020114
134k

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.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives (photo # 80-G-424475).

Scott Dyben

NS0530101
120k

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 History and Heritage Command Photograph, # NH 81279.

Joe Radigan
CV-1 Langley
NS020164
85k

USS Langley (CV-1) arriving at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, 20 March 1929. "The Langley was warped by six tugs to her berth at League Island just before sundown after an uneventful voyage from the Canal Zone. The ship has brought back a detachment of 134 Marines released from service in Nicaragua. Six sea planes were on her broad upper deck when she entered port."

Philadelphia Evening Bulletin, George D. McDowell Collection.

Mike Green.
CV-1 Langley
NS020210
192k

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.

From the collection of Joseph P. English. Contributed by his son, George E. English.
CV-1 Langley + CV-2 Lexington + CV-3 Saratoga
NS020210a
1.34M

As above, cropped.

Bob Canchola, BT, USN (Ret.)
Robert Hurst.
CV-1 Langley + BB-39 Arizona
NS013916a
147k

USS Langley (CV-1) and USS Arizona (BB-39) at Naval Air Station San Diego, CA., circa 1925 (thanks to Darren Large).

USN / Joe Radigan
CV-1 Langley
NS020160
253k

USS Langley (CV-1) leaving the Brooklyn Navy Yard, 27 May 1927, and heading for Hampton Roads and the Fleet Review. (Thanks to Darren Large.)

Curt Molten, grandson of CAPT Robert P. Molten, Jr., USN
The 1930s
CV-1 Langley
NS020129
96k

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

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

Alex Tatchin
CV-1 Langley
NS020152
337k

USS Langley (CV-1), location unknown. Official U.S. Navy photo.

Circa 1930 (thanks to Darren Large).

Gerhard L. Mueller-Debus
CV-1 Langley
NS020186
187k

Aircraft laying smoke screen over USS Langley (CV-1) during 1930 fleet maneuvers.

National Naval Aviation Museum photo, # 1996.488.010.032.

Mike Green
CV-1 Langley
NS020130
55k

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.

Tracy White
CV-1 Langley
NS020143
110k

Transitting the Panama Canal, March 1930. After the Bremerton refit, USS Langley (CV-1) is heading for Pensacola, Florida. (Thanks to Darren Large.)

Robert Hurst
CV-1 Langley
NS020103
152k

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).

NHC
CV-1 Langley
NS020168
2.24M

"Five Days Adrift in a Rubber Boat!"

"While 135 Naval Vessels and 200 Planes Searched for Him, Chief Pilot Verne Harshman, U.S.N., Faced a Thousand Deaths on a Rubber Raft in Mid-Pacific—The Account of His Battle for Life Is a Thrilling Record of the Navy Department."

...

"The first full account of the adventure, which occurred during the Spring maneuvers of the battle fleet, has just been received by the Navy Department from the victim. Chief Aviation Pilot Verne W. Harshman, then one of the pilots of a Navy Curtiss Hawk fighter squadron, VF Squadron 2, U.S.S. Langley. Harshman has just been sent to the U.S.S. Lexington, aircraft carrier, at San Diego, Calif., for assignment to Scouting Plane Squadron 3, Battle Force."

...

The Sunday Star, Washington, D.C., 14 June 1931.

Michael Mohl

NS020155
169k

USS Langley (CV-1). Date and location unknown.

Darren Large notes that this photo must have been taken after 1930.

Robert M. Cieri
CV-1 Langley
NS020138
46k

USS Langley (CV-1) underway, October 1931, with an aircraft about to land, location unknown (USN photo).

Robert Hurst

NS020115
55k

Holystoning the deck, 1931. Photo taken by Preston E. Cloud, scanned with permission.

Chuck White

NS020117
58k

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

From the collection of Preston E. Cloud.

Chuck White

NS020117a
575k

Three more pictures of the Pitcairn XOP-1 autogyro and USS Langley (CV-1), probably taken at about the same time as the photo above.

San Diego Air and Space Museum Ship Image Collection.

Via Bob Canchola, BT, USN (Ret.)

NS020117b
566k

NS020117c
158k

NS020118
110k

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

From the collection of Preston E. Cloud.

Chuck White
CV-1 Langley
NS020119
52k

An O2U-2 Vought Corsair biplane takes off from USS Langley (CV-1), circa 1931–32.

From the collection of Preston E. Cloud.

Chuck White

NS020131
39k

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

Rick Larson, MMCM(SS) ret.

NS020132
71k

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.

Rick Larson, MMCM(SS) ret.
CV-1 Langley
NS020105
50k

USS Langley (CV-1) is seen at anchor at an unknown date/location. Ship's boats are at her port side and some of her boilers are lit. Langley was converted from the collier USS Jupiter (AC-3) to an aircraft carrier at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard.

Darren Large comments: "Circa 1932. O2U Corsairs on deck and probably a Loening OL-8 spotted on the centerline."

Mike Green

NS020159
194k

Ships of the United States Fleet pictured at anchor inside the breakwater at Colon, Canal Zone, 1933. Identifiable ships include the aircraft carriers Lexington (CV-2), Langley (CV-1), and Saratoga (CV-3), as well as the battleships Texas (BB-35) and New York (BB-34). Omaha-class and Pensacola-class cruisers are also visible.

National Naval Aviation Museum (NNAM) photo (# 1996.488.001.006).

NNAM

NS020191
302k

A Boeing F4B-4 (# 8918) of Fighting Squadron (VF) 3, based aboard USS Langley (CV-1), 1933–1934. USN photo.

From United States Navy and Marine Corps Fighters 1918–1962, compiled by Paul R. Matt and edited by Bruce Robertson.

Robert Hurst

NS020126
72k

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).

NHC

NS020161
573k

USS Langley (CV-1) arriving in New York, possibly on 1 June 1934.

Joe Radigan

NS020120
99k

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.

Chuck White

NS020153
128k

USS Langley (CV-1), Panama Canal (mid-1930s?).

Jim Millholland, via Alan Cole
CV-1 Langley + SS-168 Nautilus
NS020192
712k

The bow of USS Nautilus (SS-168) and USS Langley (CV-1) in Pearl Harbor, circa 1934–1935.

Private collection of Ric Hedman, PigBoats.COM

NS020144
140k

Panama Canal, circa 1935–1936.

Cliff Coffey. Photo taken by Cliff's grandfather, US Army

NS020165
492k

USS Langley (CV-1) in her later years as an aircraft carrier.

Courtesy of Jim Kurrasch, Battleship Iowa, Pacific Battleship Center

NS020139
100k

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

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

Darryl Baker

NS020162
280k

Two photos of Langley at Mare Island in October 1936, at the start of her conversion to a seaplane tender.

From the files of the Vallejo Naval & Historical Museum.

NS020162: Photo file name "CV 1 10394-1-10-36".

NS020162a: Photo file name "CV 1 10394-2-10-36".

Darryl Baker

NS020162a
321k
Memorabilia

NS020145
344k

Christmas card, year unknown.

Robert M. Cieri

NS020180
127k

The "Covered Wagon" patches.

Tommy Trampp
Models

NS020146
72k

Model on display at the National Naval Aviation Museum, Pensacola, Florida. Photos taken on 13 June 2008.

Photos by Judson Phillips

NS020146a
75k

NS020146b
84k

For more photos and information about this ship, see:

Read the USS Jupiter (Collier # 3) / USS Langley (CV-1 / AV-3) DANFS History entry

Crew Contact and Reunion Information Web Sites
U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation
Fleet Reserve Association

Related Links
Hazegray & Underway World Aircraft Carrier Pages By Andrew Toppan.
The First Aircraft Carriers Part One: The First American Flattops- Langley, Lexington and Saratoga, an article by Father Steve Dundas
U.S.S. Langley (CV-1) By Chuck White.

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Last update: 7 January 2024