HISTORIE

Source: Naval History & Heritage Command

SEARCHING FOR THE LOST

SHIPS WITH PAUL ALLEN

IN A YEAR AND

ONE WEEK

Text: Miro Barič

We spoke about the naval battles around Guadalcanal in the previous

article. The aircraft carriers also participated in them, however they

fought from the distance. Some of them were lost during the fighting.

One such loss was the USS Hornet, the last American aircraft carrier

completed before the attack on Pearl Harbor. She sank exactly one year

and one week after entering the service.

The first American carrier was USS Langley

(CV-1) that entered service in 1920. She came to

life by rebuilding the coal transporting ship USS

Jupiter which had been in service since 1913.

During the rebuild, eight double cranes were

removed as well as both smokestacks, which

up until then had stood next to each other, were

relocated to the port side where they stood inline. In that manner the space for the flight deck,

mounted on the tall supports, was created.

While Jupiter coal transport had 19 670 tons

displacement, Langley aircraft carrier featured

14 100 tons displacement only. The vessel length

was 165 meters and the crew accounted for 468

sailors. Langley carried 36 aircraft which could

use one lift and one catapult. The armament

consisted of 127 mm caliber cannons – two on

the bow and two on the stern. They however

could not be used for the AA defense. Another

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INFO Eduard

obsolete feature was a pigeon cage located

between two rear cannons. The idea was that the

aircraft taking off of Langley will take a postal

pigeon on board which will deliver the message

back to the ship. The pigeons were trained while

Langley was being rebuilt at Norfolk shipyards

and all seemed to work. After that, however,

when the ship set sail and the pigeons were

released near Tangier Island they returned to

Norfolk. After this blunder the pigeon cage was

eliminated. It was also deleted from the plans

of the future carriers, USS Lexington and USS

Saratoga.

Langley holds several “firsts” for the US Navy.

On October 17, 1922, the first take off from the

aircraft carrier in the USA took place from her

deck as well as, on November 18, 1922, the first

catapult launched take off. Even though she was

extremely slow (15.5 knots only) to perform

Aircraft carrier shortly

after completion at Hampton

Roads, Virginia, October 27,

1941

efficient operations while Naval aviation was

technically advancing rapidly, she helped

trained the first generations of naval aviators.

After she was completely outdated during 193637, she was re-built as a seaplanes’ carrier. She

was seriously damaged by the Japanese G4M1

Betty bombers on February 27, 1942, while she

was transporting Curtiss P-40 fighters to Java.

After the crew abandoned her, she was sunk by

the escorting destroyers.

Bermuda Triangle

Langley sank as the last of her sister ships.

She was the only aircraft carrier (the second

planned vessel was cancelled after the

decision was made to rebuild Lexington and

Saratoga) but as a former coal ship she had

three sister ships. And all of them disappeared

without trace in Bermuda Triangle. Sometime

May 2023