View source for USS Langley (CV-1)

{{Short description|First United States Navy aircraft carrier}}
{{Other ships|USS Langley}}
{{Use American English|date=March 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2019}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=USS Langley (CV-1) underway in June 1927 (cropped).jpg
|Ship caption=USS ''Langley'' underway, 1927
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country= United States
|Ship flag= {{USN flag|1942}}
|Ship name=
* ''Jupiter'' (1912–1920)
* ''Langley'' (1920–1942)
|Ship namesake=
* [[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter]]
* [[Samuel Pierpont Langley]]
|Ship owner=
|Ship registry=
|Ship ordered=
|Ship awarded=
|Ship builder=[[Mare Island Naval Shipyard]]
|Ship original cost=
|Ship yard number=
|Ship way number=
|Ship laid down=18 October 1911
|Ship launched=24 August 1912
|Ship sponsor=
|Ship christened=
|Ship completed=
|Ship commissioned=7 April 1913
|Ship recommissioned=
|Ship decommissioned=24 March 1920
|Ship maiden voyage=
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=yes
|Ship recommissioned=20 March 1922
|Ship decommissioned=25 October 1936
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=yes
|Ship recommissioned=21 April 1937
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship renamed=''Langley'', 21 April 1920
|Ship reclassified=
* [[Fleet carrier]] CV-1, 17 July 1920
* [[Seaplane tender]] AV-3, 21 April 1937
|Ship refit=
|Ship struck=8 May 1942
|Ship homeport=
|Ship identification=
* [[Hull classification symbol#Combat logistics type|AC]]-3
* [[Hull classification symbol#Aircraft carrier type|AV]]-1, 17 July 1920
* [[Hull classification symbol#Aircraft carrier type|AV]]-3, 21 April 1937
|Ship motto=
|Ship nickname="Covered Wagon"
|Ship honors=
* '''As ''Jupiter'':'''
** [[Mexican Service Medal]]
** [[World War I Victory Medal (United States)|World War I Victory Medal]] ("Transport" clasp)
* '''As ''Langley'':'''
** [[American Defense Service Medal]] ("Fleet" clasp)
** [[Asiatic–Pacific Campaign Medal]]
** [[World War II Victory Medal (United States)|World War II Victory Medal]]
|Ship fate= Scuttled after Japanese air attack off Java coast, 27 February 1942; {{Coord|8|51|4|S|109|2|3|E|type:event_region:ID|display=title,inline}}
|Ship notes=
|Ship badge=[[File:USS Langley (CV-1) insignia (NH 82611-KN).png|85px]]
}}
{{Infobox ship class overview

|Class before=N/A
|Class after={{sclass|Lexington|aircraft carrier|4}}
| Total ships planned = 2<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.history.navy.mil/about-us/leadership/director/directors-corner/h-grams/h-gram-069/h-069-1.html#:~:text=A%20second%20collier%20was%20planned,3)%20becoming%20available%20for%20conversion. |title=H-069-1: "The Covered Wagon": USS ''Langley'' (CV-1) |access-date=3 June 2022 |archive-date=3 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220603134909/https://www.history.navy.mil/about-us/leadership/director/directors-corner/h-grams/h-gram-069/h-069-1.html#:~:text=A%20second%20collier%20was%20planned,3)%20becoming%20available%20for%20conversion. |url-status=live }}</ref>
| Total ships completed = 1
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class=* [[USS Proteus (AC-9)|''Proteus''-class]] [[Collier (ship)|collier]]
* ''Langley''-class aircraft carrier
|Ship type=
|Ship displacement=
* {{convert|19360|LT|t|0|lk=on}} (as ''Jupiter'')
* {{cvt|12700|LT|t|0}} (standard, as ''Langley'')<ref name=Ford>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Ford|Gibbons|Hewson|Jackson|2001|p=330}}</ref>
* {{cvt|13900|LT|t|0}} (full load, as ''Langley'')<ref name=Ford/>
|Ship length={{cvt|542|ft|m|1}}<ref name=Ford/>
|Ship beam={{cvt|65|ft|5|in|m|1}}<ref name=Ford/>
|Ship draft=
* {{cvt|27|ft|8|in|m|1}} (as ''Jupiter'')
* {{cvt|24|ft|m|1}} (as ''Langley'')<ref name=Ford/>
|Ship power=* 3 × boilers
* {{cvt|7200|shp|kW|lk=on}}<ref name=Ford/>
|Ship propulsion=
* 2 × shafts
* [[turbo-electric transmission]]
|Ship speed={{convert|15.5|kn|lk=in}}
|Ship range={{cvt|3500|nmi|lk=in}} at {{convert|10|kn}}<ref name=Ford/>
|Ship capacity=
|Ship complement=
* 163 officers and men (as ''Jupiter'')
* 468 officers and men (as ''Langley'')
|Ship armament=
* 4 × [[4"/50 caliber gun|{{cvt|4|in|mm|0}}/50 cal gun]]s (as ''Jupiter'')
* 4 × [[5"/51 caliber gun|{{cvt|5|in|mm|0}}/51 cal gun]]s (as ''Langley'')
* 4 × [[5"/51 caliber gun|{{cvt|5|in|mm|0}}/51 cal gun]]s, 4 x 3-inch AA at corners of flight deck, 4 x .50-cal machine guns (as sunk)<ref>Messimer, Dwight (1983). Pawns of War: The Loss of the USS ''Langley'' and the USS ''Pecos''. Annapolis, MD: United States Naval Institute.</ref>
|Ship aircraft=
* None (as ''Jupiter'')
* 36 (as ''Langley'')<ref name=Ford/>
|Ship aircraft facilities=
* 1 × elevator
* 1 × [[Aircraft catapult|catapult]]
|Ship notes=
}}
|}

'''USS ''Langley'' (CV-1/AV-3)''' was the [[United States Navy]]'s first [[aircraft carrier]], converted in 1920 from the [[Collier (ship)|collier]] '''USS ''Jupiter'' (Navy Fleet Collier No. 3)''', and also the US Navy's first [[turbo-electric transmission|turbo-electric-powered]] ship. ''Langley'' was named after [[Samuel Langley]], an American aviation pioneer. She was the sole member of her class to be rebuilt as a carrier. Conversion of another collier was planned but canceled when the [[Washington Naval Treaty]] required the cancellation of the partially built {{sclass|Lexington|battlecruiser}}s ''Lexington'' and ''Saratoga'', freeing up their hulls for conversion to the aircraft carriers {{USS|Lexington|CV-2|2}} and {{USS|Saratoga|CV-3|2}}. Following another conversion to a [[seaplane tender]], ''Langley'' saw service in [[World War II]]. On 27 February 1942, while ferrying a cargo of USAAF P-40s to Java, she was attacked by nine twin-engine Japanese bombers{{sfn|USN|2009}} of the [[Empire of Japan|Japanese]] 21st and 23rd naval air flotillas<ref name=Ford/> and so badly damaged that she had to be [[Scuttling|scuttled]] by her escorts.

==Construction==
President [[William H. Taft]] attended the ceremony when ''Jupiter''{{'}}s keel was laid down on 18 October 1911, at the [[Mare Island Naval Shipyard]] in [[Vallejo, California|Vallejo]], California. She was [[Ship naming and launching|launched]] on 24 August 1912, sponsored by Mrs. Thomas F. Ruhm; and [[Ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 7 April 1913, under [[Commander (United States)|Commander]] [[Joseph M. Reeves]].<ref name="DANFS">{{cite DANFS |url=http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/l/langley-i.html |title=Langley I (AC-3)}}</ref> Her [[sister ships]] were {{USS|Cyclops|AC-4|2}}, which disappeared without a trace in World War I, {{USS|Proteus|AC-9|2}}, and {{USS|Nereus|AC-10|2}}, both of which disappeared on the same route as ''Cyclops'' in World War II.

''Jupiter'' was the first [[Turbo-electric transmission|turbo-electric-powered]] ship of the US Navy. {{USS|Neptune|AC-8|2}} had been built with a [[Turbine Steam Ship|steam turbine]] and geared drive but performance was inferior to the earlier ''Cyclops'' with its two [[triple expansion engine|triple expansion steam engines]]. ''Jupiter''{{'}}s electric drive, designed by [[William Le Roy Emmet]] and built by the [[General Electric Company]], consisted of two electric motors, each directly connected to a [[propeller shaft]], powered by a single [[Charles Gordon Curtis|Curtis turbine]] and alternator set. At 2,000 rpm and 2,200 volts the set delivered a speed of {{convert|14|kn|lk=in}} with [[propeller]]s at 110 rpm. There was also a weight saving with the turbo-electric drive being 156 tons versus the 280 tons of equivalent machinery for ''Cyclops''.{{sfn|JASNE|1912|p=1093}}

==Service history==
===Collier===
[[File:USS Jupiter (AC-3) at Mare Island on 16 October 1913 (NH 52365).jpg|thumb|left|''Jupiter'' at Mare Island, 16 October 1913]]

After successfully passing her [[sea trial]] ''Jupiter'' embarked a [[United States Marine Corps]] detachment at [[San Francisco]], California, and reported to the [[United States Pacific Fleet|Pacific Fleet]] at [[Mazatlán]], Mexico, on 27 April 1914, bolstering US naval strength on the Mexican Pacific coast in the tense days of the [[U.S. occupation of Veracruz (1914)|Veracruz crisis]]. She remained on the Pacific coast until she departed for [[Philadelphia]], on 10 October. ''En route'', the collier steamed through the [[Panama Canal]] on [[Columbus Day]], the first vessel to transit it from the Pacific to the Atlantic.<ref name="DANFS"/>

Prior to America's entry into [[World War I]], she cruised the Atlantic and [[Gulf of Mexico]], attached to the [[United States Fleet Forces Command|Atlantic Fleet]] Auxiliary Division. The ship arrived at [[Norfolk, Virginia|Norfolk]], Virginia, on 6 April 1917, and was assigned to the Naval Overseas Transport Service, interrupted her [[Coaling (ships)|coaling]] operations by two cargo voyages to France, in June 1917 and November 1918. The first voyage transported a naval aviation detachment of 7 officers and 122 men to England.<ref name="p62">{{Harvard citation no brackets|Tate|1978|p=62}}</ref> It was the first US aviation detachment to arrive in Europe and was commanded by [[Lieutenant]] [[Kenneth Whiting]], who became ''Langley''{{'s}} first executive officer five years later.<ref name="p62"/> ''Jupiter'' was back in Norfolk, on 23 January 1919, whence she sailed for [[Brest, France|Brest]], France, on 8 March, for coaling duty in European waters to expedite the return of victorious veterans to the United States. Upon reaching Norfolk, on 17 August, the ship was transferred to the West Coast. Her conversion to an [[aircraft carrier]] was authorized on 11 July 1919, and she sailed to [[Hampton Roads]], Virginia, on 12 December, where she was decommissioned on 24 March 1920.<ref name="DANFS"/>

===Aircraft carrier===
''Jupiter'' was converted into the first US aircraft carrier at the [[Norfolk Naval Shipyard]], [[Portsmouth, Virginia]]. On 11 April 1920, she was renamed ''Langley'' in honor of [[Samuel Pierpont Langley]], an American astronomer, physicist, aeronautics pioneer and aircraft engineer, and she was given the [[hull classification symbol|hull number]] ''CV-1''. By early 1921, memories of World War I were swaying public opinion away from warship construction toward disarmament. Article VIII of the [[Washington Naval Treaty]] provided an exemption for experimental aircraft carriers in existence or building on 12 November 1921. The Washington Naval Treaty was signed on 6 February 1922; and ''Langley'' was recommissioned on 20 March 1922 for the purpose of conducting experiments in seaborne aviation. The commanding officer was Commander Kenneth Whiting, who had first proposed conversion of a collier to the [[General Board of the United States Navy]] three years earlier.<ref>{{cite journal |last=van Deurs |first=George |year=1986 |title=The Aircraft Collier ''Langley'' |journal=Proceedings |volume=Supplement |issue=April |pages=24–27 |publisher=[[United States Naval Institute]]}}</ref><ref name="DANFS"/> ''Langley'' was designed to carry up to 34 airplanes, e.g., 12 single-seaters, 12 two-seaters, and 10 “torpedo-dropping” aircraft.<ref name="Johnson 2022-WHN">{{cite web |last1=Johnson |first1=Frank |title=USS Langley: The U.S. Navy's Covered Wagon |url=https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/uss-langley-the-u-s-navys-covered-wagon/ |website=Warfare history network |access-date=4 July 2024 |date=December 2022}}</ref> 

As the first American aircraft carrier, ''Langley'' was the scene of several seminal events in US naval aviation. On 17 October 1922, Lt. Virgil C. Griffin piloted the first plane—a [[Vought VE-7]]—launched from her full-length wooden deck.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://portsmouthnavalshipyardmuseum.com/online-learning-archive/first-of-many-the-aircraft-carrier-uss-langley/ |title=First of Many: The Aircraft Carrier USS Langley |publisher=portsmouthnavalshipyardmuseum.com |date=4 June 2020 |access-date=24 April 2022 |archive-date=17 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220417033715/https://portsmouthnavalshipyardmuseum.com/online-learning-archive/first-of-many-the-aircraft-carrier-uss-langley/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="p66">{{Harvard citation no brackets|Tate|1978|p=66}}</ref> Though this was not the first time an airplane had taken off from a ship, and though ''Langley'' was not the first ship with an installed flight deck, this one launching was of monumental importance to the modern US Navy.<ref name="DANFS"/> With ''Langley'' underway nine days later, [[Lieutenant commander (United States)|Lieutenant Commander]] [[Godfrey de Courcelles Chevalier]] made the first landing, in an [[Aeromarine 39B]].<ref name="p66"/> On 18 November, Commander Whiting was the first aviator to be catapulted from a carrier's deck.<ref name="DANFS"/><ref name="p67">{{Harvard citation no brackets|Tate|1978|p=67}}</ref><ref>Though catapults had already been used for launching aircraft from ships – e.g. [[Henry C. Mustin (1874–1923)|Henry C. Mustin]] in 1915 from the cruiser {{USS|North Carolina|ACR-12|2}}</ref>

An unusual feature of ''Langley'' was provision for a [[carrier pigeon]] house on the stern between the [[5"/51 caliber gun|5-inch guns]].<ref name="p65">{{Harvard citation no brackets|Tate|1978|p=65}}</ref> Pigeons had been carried aboard [[seaplane]]s for message transport since World War I, and were to be carried on aircraft operated from ''Langley''.<ref name="p65"/> The pigeons were trained at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard while ''Langley'' was undergoing conversion.<ref name="proceedings">{{Harvard citation no brackets|Pride|1979|p=89}}</ref> As long as the pigeons were released a few at a time for exercise, they returned to the ship; but when the whole flock was released while ''Langley'' was anchored off [[Tangier Island]], the pigeons flew south and roosted in the cranes of the Norfolk shipyard.<ref name="proceedings"/> The pigeons never went to sea again and the former pigeon house became the executive officer's quarters;<ref name="p65"/> but the early plans for conversion of ''Lexington'' and ''Saratoga'' included compartments for pigeons.<ref name="proceedings"/>

By 15 January 1923, ''Langley'' had begun flight operations and tests in the [[Caribbean Sea]] for carrier landings. In June, she steamed to [[Washington, D.C.]], to give a demonstration at a flying exhibition before civil and military dignitaries. She arrived at Norfolk on 13 June, and commenced training along the Atlantic coast and Caribbean which carried her through the end of the year. This publicity cruise stopped at [[Bar Harbor, Maine]], [[Portland, Maine]], [[Portsmouth, New Hampshire]], [[Gloucester, Massachusetts]], [[Boston]] and [[New York City]]. After entering port and anchoring, ''Langley'' published a takeoff and landing schedule so interested civilians might watch. Although the aviators did some formation flying over the cities, people were more interested in watching the shipboard takeoffs and landings. The planes seldom attained flying speed on deck when taking off while the ship was at anchor with little or no wind, but the pilots were confident their [[Vought VE-7]]s could reach flying speed during the {{cvt|52|ft}} drop from the flight deck before reaching the water.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Pride |first=Alfred M. |year=1986 |title=Pilots, Man Your Planes |journal=Proceedings |volume=Supplement |issue=April |pages=28–35 |publisher=[[United States Naval Institute]]}}</ref> In 1924, ''Langley'' participated in more maneuvers and exhibitions, and spent the summer at Norfolk for repairs and alterations, she departed for the West Coast late in the year and arrived in [[San Diego, California]], on 29 November to join the Pacific Battle Fleet.<ref name="DANFS"/>

Captain Joseph Mason "Bull" Reeves, who commanded all fleet aircraft, went aboard the ''Langley'' in October 1925. During the 1925 maneuvers aboard the Langley, Reeves developed dive-bombing tactics to attack enemy ships.<ref name="Johnson 2022-WHN" /> 

In 1927, ''Langley'' was at the [[Guantanamo Bay Naval Base]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://collections.naval.aviation.museum/emuwebdoncoms/pages/common/imagedisplay.php?irn=9066&reftable=ecatalogue&refirn=4912 |website=collections.naval.aviation.museum |title=U.S. Navy National Museum of Naval Aviation photo No. 2003.001.323 |access-date=26 April 2015 |archive-date=17 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117015306/http://collections.naval.aviation.museum/emuwebdoncoms/pages/common/imagedisplay.php?irn=9066&reftable=ecatalogue&refirn=4912 |url-status=dead}}</ref> For the next 12 years, she operated off the [[California]] coast and [[Hawaii]], engaged in training fleet units, experimentation, pilot training, and tactical-fleet problems.<ref name="DANFS"/> ''Langley'' was featured in the 1929 silent film about naval aviation ''[[The Flying Fleet]].''<ref name="Kaplan 2013 67">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s5TwAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA67 |title=Naval Air: Celebrating a Century of Naval Flying |first=Philip |last=Kaplan |publisher=Pen and Sword |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-78159-241-0 |page=67 |access-date=26 April 2015 |archive-date=20 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240320035752/https://books.google.com/books?id=s5TwAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA67#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref>

<gallery widths="200px" heights="160px">
File:USS Langley (CV-1) being converted to an aircraft carrier at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, 14 May 1921 (NNAM.1996.488.010.002).jpg|''Langley'' being converted to an aircraft carrier at Norfolk Naval Shipyard, 1921
File:USS Langley (CV-1), USS Saratoga (CV-3) and USS Lexington (CV-2) docked at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, circa 1930 (NH 95037).jpg|''Langley'' at [[Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility|Puget Sound Navy Yard]], immediately opposite {{USS|Saratoga|CV-3|2}} (with black stripe on funnel) and {{USS|Lexington|CV-2|2}} in 1929
</gallery>

===Seaplane tender===
[[File:USS Langley (AV-3).jpg|thumb|''Langley'' after conversion to a seaplane tender, 1937]]

On 25 October 1936, she put into [[Mare Island Navy Yard]], California for overhaul and conversion to a [[seaplane tender]]. Though her career as a carrier had ended, her well-trained pilots had proved invaluable to the next two carriers, ''Lexington'' and ''Saratoga''<ref name="DANFS"/> (commissioned on 14 December and 16 November 1927, respectively).

''Langley'' completed conversion on 26 February 1937 and was assigned hull number ''AV-3'' on 11 April. She was assigned to the Aircraft Scouting Force and commenced her tending operations out of [[Seattle, Washington]], [[Sitka, Alaska]], [[Pearl Harbor]], and San Diego, California. She departed for a brief deployment with the Atlantic Fleet from 1 February-10 July 1939, and then steamed to assume duties with the [[United States Asiatic Fleet|Asiatic Fleet]] at [[Manila]] arriving on 24 September.<ref name="DANFS"/>

===World War II===
On the entry of the US into [[World War II]], ''Langley'' was anchored off [[Cavite City|Cavite]], Philippines.<ref name="DANFS"/><ref name="Birkett">{{cite web |last=Birkett |first=Gordon |title=P-40's in Australia – Part 5 |url=http://www.adf-serials.com.au/research/Part5-P40.pdf |work=www.adf-serials.com |access-date=16 May 2013 |archive-date=6 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230306013305/http://www.adf-serials.com.au/research/Part5-P40.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> On 8 December, following the [[Philippines campaign (1941–1942)|invasion of the Philippines]] by Japan, she departed Cavite for [[Balikpapan]] in the [[Dutch East Indies]]. In the natural state of alarm (the [[attack on Pearl Harbor]] had happened the day before) 300 rounds were shot at an object in the sky before it was realized that it was the planet [[Venus]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Made |first1=Foster |title=Laundry, Shooting at Venus, and Surviving Two Back-To-Back Ship Sinkings Part 1 |url=https://www.pacificwarmuseum.org/about/news/laundry-shooting-at-venus-and-surviving-two-back-to-back-ship-sinkings-part |website=The National Museum of the Pacific War |access-date=5 March 2023 |date=December 6, 2018 |archive-date=5 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230305173020/https://www.pacificwarmuseum.org/about/news/laundry-shooting-at-venus-and-surviving-two-back-to-back-ship-sinkings-part |url-status=live }}</ref> As the Japanese advance continued, ''Langley'' proceeded to Australia, arriving in [[Darwin, Northern Territory|Darwin]] on 1 January 1942.<ref name="Birkett"/> She then became part of the [[American-British-Dutch-Australian Command]] (ABDACOM) naval forces. Until 11 January, ''Langley'' assisted the [[Royal Australian Air Force]] in running [[Anti-submarine warfare|anti-submarine patrols]] from Darwin.<ref name="DANFS"/><ref name="Birkett"/>

''Langley'' went to [[Fremantle]] to pick up a cargo of 32 [[Curtiss P-40 Warhawk|P-40]] [[Fighter aircraft|fighters]] of the [[Far East Air Force (United States)|Far East Air Force]]'s 13th Pursuit Squadron (Provisional), along with [[United States Army Air Forces|U.S. Army Air Force]] (USAAF) pilots and ground crews.<ref name="Birkett"/> At Fremantle, ''Langley'' and the cargo ship {{MS|Sea Witch|1940|2}} (loaded with an additional 27 unassembled and crated P-40s), joined Convoy MS.5 which had just arrived from [[Melbourne]] bound for [[Colombo]], [[Sri Lanka|Ceylon]] with troops and supplies eventually destined for India and [[Myanmar|Burma]]. The convoy was composed of the United States Army Transport {{USAT|Willard A. Holbrook|3=2}} and the Australian troop transports {{MV|Duntroon|3=2}} and {{SS|Katoomba||2}}, escorted by the [[light cruiser]] {{USS|Phoenix|CL-46|6}}. MS.5 departed Fremantle on 22 February.<ref name="DANFS"/>{{sfn|Gill|1957|pp=601–602}} En route to Colombo, ''Langley'' and ''Sea Witch'' were directed by ABDACOM to leave the convoy and instead proceed individually to deliver the planes to [[Cilacap Regency|Tjilatjap]], Java.<ref name="DANFS"/>{{sfn|Gill|1957|pp=601–602}}

[[File:USS Langley (AV-3) is hit by torpedo on 27 February 1942 (cropped).jpg|thumb|''Langley'' scuttled via torpedo on 27 February 1942 off Java]]

In the early hours of 27 February, ''Langley'' rendezvoused with the [[destroyer]]s {{USS|Whipple|DD-217|6}} and {{USS|Edsall|DD-219|6}}, which had been sent from Tjilatjap to escort her.<ref name="DANFS"/><ref name="Birkett"/> Later that morning, a Japanese reconnaissance aircraft located the formation. At 11:40, about {{convert|75|nmi|lk=in}} south of Tjilatjap, the seaplane tender, along with ''Edsall'' and ''Whipple'' were attacked by sixteen [[Mitsubishi G4M]] "Betty" bombers of the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service's Takao [[Kōkūtai]], led by Lieutenant Jiro Adachi, flying out of Denpasar airfield on Bali, and escorted by fifteen [[A6M Reisen|A6M2 Reisen]] fighters. Rather than dropping all their bombs at once, the Japanese bombers attacked releasing partial salvos. Since they were level bombing from medium altitude, ''Langley'' was able to alter helm when the bombs were released and evade the first and second bombing passes, but the bombers changed their tactics on the third pass and bracketed all the directions ''Langley'' could turn. As a result, ''Langley'' took five hits from a mix of {{convert|60|and|250|kg|adj=on}} bombs as well as three near misses,{{sfn|Java Sea|1943}} with 16 crewmen killed.{{sfn|Messimer|1983}}{{refn|group=note|Some English language sources rely on Roscoe<ref name=Roscoe>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Roscoe|1953|p=102}}</ref> which incorrectly attributes the attack to nine [[Aichi D3A1]] "Val" dive bombers of the Japanese 21st and 23rd naval air flotillas, however ''Langley''{{'}}s own action report (no longer available online?) cited the attackers as twin-engined horizontal bombers, which the report compared to [[Nazi Germany|German]] [[Junkers Ju 86]] bombers; and the multiple passes taken would be impossible for dive bombers with a single bomb each, to carry out.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}}{{original research inline|date=June 2022}}}} The topside burst into flames, steering was impaired, and the ship developed a 10° [[List (watercraft)|list]] to port.<ref name="DANFS"/><ref name="Birkett"/> ''Langley'' went dead in the water as her engine room flooded. At 13:32, the order to abandon ship was passed.<ref name="DANFS"/>

After taking off the surviving crew and passengers (''Whipple'' rescued 308 men and ''Edsall'' 177) at 13:58, the escorting destroyers stood off and began firing nine {{convert|4|in|mm|adj=on}} shells and two [[torpedo]]es into ''Langley''{{'s}} hull at 14:29<ref name="DANFS"/> to prevent her from falling into enemy hands, [[scuttling]] her at approximately {{coord|08|51|04|S|109|02|03|E|name=USS ''Langley'' (AV-3)}}.<ref name="Birkett"/> After being transferred to the [[replenishment oiler|oiler]] {{USS|Pecos|AO-6|6}}, many of ''Langley''{{'}}s crew were lost when ''Pecos'' was sunk en route to Australia by Japanese carrier aircraft. Out of over 630 total crewmen and ''Langley'' survivors on ''Pecos'', 232 were rescued while more than 400 were left behind and died due to Japanese submarines in the area hindering rescue efforts. Exact casualty numbers for the doomed ships of the [[United States Asiatic Fleet]] and [[American-British-Dutch-Australian Command]] are impossible to gather because so many Allied warships were sunk in the [[Dutch East Indies campaign]] (at least 24 total) and many of those ships had already picked up survivors of other sunken ships and then were also sunk by the Japanese hours or days later.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.history.navy.mil/about-us/leadership/director/directors-corner/h-grams/h-gram-003/h-003-3.html |title=H-003-3: The Valor of the Asiatic Fleet |publisher=history.navy.mil |access-date=20 March 2022 |archive-date=6 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220406225332/https://www.history.navy.mil/about-us/leadership/director/directors-corner/h-grams/h-gram-003/h-003-3.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/p/pecos-i.html |title=Pecos I (AO-6) |publisher=history.navy.mil |access-date=20 March 2022 |archive-date=28 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230528163604/https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/p/pecos-i.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Thirty-one of the thirty-three pilots assigned to the USAAF 13th Pursuit Squadron (Provisional) being transported by ''Langley'' remained on ''Edsall'' to be brought to Tjilatjap, but were lost when she was sunk on the same day by Japanese warships while responding to the distress calls of ''Pecos''.<ref name="Birkett"/> According to the [[Bureau of Naval Personnel]] a total of 288 U.S. Navy officers and crewmen from ''Langley'' were missing in action and later declared dead following the sinking of ''Langley'' and ''Pecos''. Including the 31 USAAF pilots that were originally on ''Langley'' a total of 319 from ''Langley'' were killed.<ref>https://www.naval-history.net/WW2UScasaaDB-USNBPbyDate1941-42.htm {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230825233129/https://www.naval-history.net/WW2UScasaaDB-USNBPbyDate1941-42.htm |date=25 August 2023 }} . Retrieved 25 August 2023</ref>

==Awards and decorations==
{| style="margin:1em auto; text-align:center;"
|colspan=2|As ''Jupiter''{{sfn|Navsource|2016}}
|-
|{{ribbon devices|number=0|type=service-star|ribbon=Mexican Service Medal ribbon.svg|width=103}}
|{{ribbon devices|number=1|type=service-star|ribbon=World War I Victory Medal ribbon.svg|width=103}}
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:1em auto; text-align:center;"
|[[Mexican Service Medal]]
|[[World War I Victory Medal (United States)|World War I Victory Medal]]<br/>with "Transport" clasp
|}

{| style="margin:1em auto; text-align:center;"
|colspan=3|As ''Langley''{{sfn|Navsource|2016}}
|-
|{{ribbon devices|number=1|type=service-star|ribbon=American Defense Service Medal ribbon.svg|width=103}}
|{{ribbon devices|number=2|type=service-star|ribbon=Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal ribbon.svg|width=103}}
|{{ribbon devices|number=0|type=service-star|ribbon=World War II Victory Medal ribbon.svg|width=103}}
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:1em auto; text-align:center;"
|[[American Defense Service Medal]]<br/>with "Fleet" clasp
|[[Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal]]<br>with 2 [[Service star|stars]]
|[[World War II Victory Medal (United States)|World War II Victory Medal]]
|}

USS ''Langley'' (as AV-3) earned two battle stars on its Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Streamer: One for the Philippine Islands Operation, 8 December 1941 – 6 May 1942; and one for Netherlands East Indies Engagements, 23 January – 27 February 1942.{{sfn|Navsource|2016}}

==See also==

* {{HMS|Argus|I49|6}}

==Citations==
===Notes===
{{reflist|group=note}}

===References===
{{Reflist}}

===Bibliography===
* {{DANFS |http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/l/langley-i.html}}
* {{cite web |title=USS ''Langley'' (CV-1) (formerly ''Jupiter'' (Collier #3); later AV-3) |website=NavSource Online |url=http://www.navsource.net/archives/02/01.htm |date=10 July 2016 |access-date=7 August 2016 |ref={{sfnRef|Navsource|2016}} |archive-date=27 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210127015044/http://www.navsource.org/archives/02/01.htm |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book |last1=Ford |first1=Roger |last2=Gibbons |first2=Tony |last3=Hewson |first3=Rob |last4=Jackson |first4=Bob |last5=Ross |first5=David |year=2001 |title=The Encyclopedia of Ships |place=London |publisher=Amber Books Ltd. |isbn=978-1-905704-43-9 |page=330}}
* {{cite book |last=Gill |first=G. Hermon |author-link=G. Hermon Gill |title=Royal Australian Navy 1939–1942 |series=Australia in the War of 1939–1945. Series 2 – Navy |volume=1 |year=1957 |publisher=Australian War Memorial |place=Canberra |lccn=58037940 |url=http://www.awm.gov.au/histories/second_world_war/volume.asp?levelID=67910 |access-date=2 January 2014 |archive-date=25 May 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090525001721/http://www.awm.gov.au/histories/second_world_war/volume.asp?levelID=67910 |url-status=dead }}
* {{cite journal |last=JASNE |year=1912 |title=Electric Drive on Collier |journal=Journal of the American Society of Naval Engineers, Inc |volume=24 |place=Washington, DC |publisher=American Society of Naval Engineers |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qXcSAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA1093 |access-date=8 January 2021 |archive-date=20 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240320035604/https://books.google.com/books?id=qXcSAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA1093#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book |last=Messimer |first=Dwight |year=1983 |title=Pawns of War: The Loss of the USS Langley and the USS Pecos |place=Annapolis, MD |publisher=United States Naval Institute}}
* {{cite journal |last=Pride |first=A.M. VADM USN |date=January 1979 |title=Comment and Discussion |journal=United States Naval Institute Proceedings |page=89}}
* {{cite book |last=Roscoe |first=Theodore |year=1953 |title=United States Destroyer Operations In World War II |place=Annapolis, MD |publisher=United States Naval Institute |isbn=0-87021-726-7 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/unitedstatesdest0000rosc }}
* {{cite book |last=Tagaya |first=Osamu |title=Mitsubishi Type 1 Rikko Betty Units of World War 2 |date=2001 |publisher=Bloomsbury US |isbn=1-84176-082-X}}
* {{cite journal |last=Tate |first=Jackson R. RADM USN |date=October 1978 |title=We Rode the Covered Wagon |journal=United States Naval Institute Proceedings |pages=62–69}}
* {{Cite web |url=http://www.navy.mil/navydata/nav_legacy.asp?id=2 |title=A Brief History of U.S. Navy Aircraft Carriers Part IIa – The War Years (1941–1942) |website=Official Website of the United States Navy |date=15 June 2009 |access-date=7 August 2016 |ref={{sfnRef|USN|2009}} |archive-date=26 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130826153302/http://www.navy.mil/navydata/nav_legacy.asp?id=2 |url-status=dead }}
* {{Cite web |url=https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/j/java-sea-campaign.html#sink |title=The Java Sea Campaign Combat Narratives |publisher=Office of Naval Intelligence – United States Navy |date=1943 |access-date=7 August 2016 |ref={{sfnRef|Java Sea|1943}} |archive-date=14 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211214234627/https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/j/java-sea-campaign.html#sink |url-status=live }}

==External links==
{{Commons category|USS Langley (CV-1)}}
* [https://www.history.navy.mil/search.html?q=%22uss+langley%22+cv-1&category=%2Fcontent%2Fhistory%2Fnhhc%2Four-collections Images of USS ''Langley'' (CV-1) in the Naval History and Heritage Command's Photo Archive]
* [https://www.flickr.com/photos/sdasmarchives/tags/usslangley/ Image archive] at [[San Diego Air & Space Museum]] Archives
* [http://www.navsource.org/archives/02/01.htm ''Langley'' at NavSource.org]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SSd_zPTYFQ Video of early landings aboard USS ''Langley'' (CV-1) c. 1922]

{{Proteus class collier}}
{{US Seaplane Tenders}}
{{WWII US ships}}
{{February 1942 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Langley (CV-01)}}
[[Category:1912 ships]]
[[Category:Aircraft carriers of the United States Navy]]
[[Category:Aircraft carriers sunk by aircraft]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in February 1942]]
[[Category:Proteus-class colliers]]
[[Category:Seaplane tenders of the United States Navy]]
[[Category:Ships built in Vallejo, California]]
[[Category:Ships sunk by Japanese aircraft]]
[[Category:Turbo-electric steamships]]
[[Category:World War I auxiliary ships of the United States]]
[[Category:World War II aircraft carriers of the United States]]
[[Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Java Sea]]