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.

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.

"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.

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.

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.

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.

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."

At anchor, crew manning the rail.

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

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.

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).

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.

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).

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).

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.

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) underway off Norfolk, Virginia, circa 1923.

Norfolk Public Library, Sargeant Memorial Collection.

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

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.

Aerial, bow on, plane on deck, 3 August 1923.

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

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

National Naval Aviation Museum photo (# 1996.488.010.009).

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.

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

Darren Large comments: "Culebra 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."

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.

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

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."

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.

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.)

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."

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."

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).

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."

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)."

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."

USS Langley underway, circa 1926.

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.

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

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).

With USS West Virginia (BB-48) and the Brooklyn 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.)

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.

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."

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 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.

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.

As above, cropped.

Late 1920s image.

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

USS Langley (CV-1) with New York City skyline in the background. Photo believed to have been taken in the late 1920s–early 1930s.

(If, by studying NYC skyline, you are able to furnish a narrower time frame, please let us know.)

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

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

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

Circa 1930 (thanks to Darren Large).

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).

"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.

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

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

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.

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."

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).

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).

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

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.

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

Panama Canal, circa 1935–1936.

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

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

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

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".

Christmas card, year unknown.

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