The USS Langley (CV-1) was the United States Navy's first aircraft carrier. The hull of the Langley had seen prior years of service under the name of USS Jupiter (Collier # 3), a collier or coal vessel that also served as the USN's test bed for its first turbo electrically-propelled ship. This experiment was designed to increase safety on board USN vessels by not using the standard coal burning furnaces, thus reducing the chance of an explosion caused by coal dust. President William H. Taft attended the keel laying ceremony and the ship was officially commissioned on April 7th, 1913.



Jupiter had a notable career ferrying Marines of the Pacific Fleet at Mazatlan, Mexico during the Vera Cruz crisis. On her way back she steamed through the Panama Canal on Columbus Day, the first vessel to make the crossing from the west to into the east. Her primary duty then was as a coaling ship of the fleet and was sent to France in both 1917 and 1918. Interestingly enough, on her first voyage she transported a naval aviation detachment of 7 officers and 122 men to England. It was the first United States aviation detachment to arrive in Europe, commanded by Lieutenant Kenneth Whiting, who later became Langley's first executive officer. Her conversion to an aircraft carrier was authorized on July 11th, 1919, to which she later sailed into Hampton Roads, Virginia, to be decommissioned as the USS Jupiter in March of 1920. The US Navy chose their first carrier to be named as the USS Langley (CV-1) after Samuel Pierpoint Langley (1834-1906), an American pioneer involved in the designing of heavier-than-air craft. This did not bode well with another famous aviation pioneer, Orville Wright, who had his own ideas of who the ship should have been named after.



The USS Langley became an aircraft carrier for the useful purpose of conducting trials into the relatively new idea of seaborne aviation and many changes were required in making taking her from her collier ship origins. The superstructure, cranes, kingposts, masts, and funnels were removed while a rectangular flight deck was installed. The full-length wood flight deck was fitted to a steel framework. Below the deck was spacing to allow for ventilation and natural lighting to help below-deck work and general safety conditions. One elevator was added amidships and 2 launch catapults were installed on the flight deck.



The six large cargo holds (original used for coal storage on the Jupiter) proved ideal as aircraft hanger decks for aircraft and associated machinery spaces positioned aft. The electric drive motors remained from her Jupiter days and powered 3 boilers, producing 190psi and 6,500 shaft horsepower to 2 propeller shafts. This powerplant arrangement allowed the new displacement of 15,150 tons full to make an impressive 15.5 knots. For self-defense, the USS Langley was fitted with 4 x 5" /51 caliber single gun mounts. CV-1 had room for approximately 34 aircraft (biplanes) as folding wings were not en vogue during this time. The operational crew component comprised of 468 sailors and applicable air wing personnel. Her dimensions showcased a length of 542 feet, 3 inches and a width of 65ft, 3 inches. Two gantry cranes were fitted while Number 1 Hole was dedicated to aviation fuel storage. The starboard side uptakes were cross connected to the port side and hinged down for unobstructed flight deck operations.



An interesting historical footnote of Langley lore was a carrier pigeon house installed on the stern section of the ship between the 5" 51 caliber anti-aircraft guns. Pigeons were still utilized on navy ships of the time and carried aboard seaplanes for message transport, this beginning about the time of World War I. The US Navy pigeons were "trained" at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard at the same time that USS Langley was being converted to CV-1. Though the use of trained animals might sound applicable here, it presented the operator with some natural dilemmas. It seemed that when a handful of pigeons were released at any one time, they returned to the ship. On another occasion however, a large number of pigeons were released near Tangier Island in the Chesapeake Bay and did not return, instead deciding to fly southwards and eventually ending up at the Norfolk shipyard. For such "dereliction" of pigeon training, these particular messenger pigeons were "discharged" from sea duty and not returned to Langley. The pigeon house was therefore rebuilt as the executive officer's quarters.