With the USS Langley, aircraft carriers took off (photos)
Aircraft carriers weren't always the high-tech marvels they are today. In fact, the U.S. Navy's very first one wasn't even a carrier at first.
Coming in for a landing
But who could resist the potential for air supremacy at sea? On March 20, 1922, the U.S. Navy took a big step in that direction when it commissioned the USS Langley as its very first aircraft carrier, with the designation CV-1. This photo is from October of that year, when flight operations began to and from the Langley. (Judging by the silhouette of the aircraft, it could be a Vought VE7-SF, the first plane to take off from the Langley.)
Broadside view
The coal-carrying Jupiter
And away it goes
In the 1920s, "Langley was the platform from which Naval Aviators, guided by Captain Joseph M. Reeves, undertook the development of carrier operating techniques and tactics that were essential to victory in World War II," writes the Naval Historical Center.
Test pilot all suited up
A crowded hangar
Under way
The Langley was about 542 feet long and had a beam of 65 feet. It carried a crew of 468 and could move along at 15 knots.
Crowded flight deck
View from above
Seaplane tender
Abandon ship
This photo shows the Langley being abandoned that day.
Scout cruiser with flight deck
Eugene Ely's takeoff
This photo shows Ely's landmark takeoff.