LANGLEY, LEX and SARA by Scot Macdonald ‘It Is the Navy's Mission to Protect Our Coasts, Our Seaborne Commerce, and Far-Flung Possessions
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ANCHORED IN SAN DIEGO harbor January 1933, U.S. Navy’s first the recent past. At right is USS Constitution. “Old Ironsides” was aircraft carrier, USS Langley, provides a startlinq contrast against then on her last major voyage, a tour of important U.S. seaports. Evolution of Aircraft Carriers LANGLEY, LEX AND SARA By Scot MacDonald ‘It is the Navy's mission to protect our coasts, our seaborne commerce, and far-flung possessions. Once war is forced upon us we must take the offensive to win it. The Navy is the first line of offense, and Naval Aviation as an advance guard of this line must deliver the brunt of the attack. Naval Aviation cannot take the offensive from shore; it must go to sea on the back of the fleet. I do not believe aircraft on shore can ward off a bombing attack launched, perhaps, from carriers by night from an unknown point for an unknown objective. On the other hand, a fleet with adequate aviation of its own can drive the carriers back out of effective range. Both for offense and defense the fleet and Naval Aviation are one and inseparable.’ —R.Adm. William A. Moffett, USN, October 1925, in the U.S. Naval Institute Proccedings NE DAY," said Capt. Thomas T. Jason. Although some conservative Returning to America, he immedi- O Craven, who had relieved Capt. seniors frowned on the plan, in time ately studied the problems of strength- Noble E. Irwin as Director of Naval and with the Secretary of the ening the Navy’s complement of pilots Aviation in May 1919, "one day, when Navy’s approval, we persuaded Con- and support personnel, obtaining "ap- someone suggested that shoveling coal gressional committees of the wisdom paratus suitable for their use,” and was becoming unpopular, we proceeded of converting one ship, the Jupiter, developing tactics. to angle for the colliers Jupiter and into an aircraft carrier. Having an Cdr. Kenneth Whiting, in a mem- entirely inadequate speed, the vessel could not possibly fulfill all Service requirements, but she could serve as a laboratory for determining naval needs. Naval Aviation took heart.” At war’s end, Great Britain had the Hermes, Eagle and Argus in operation, while Germany successfully converted the merchantman Stuttgart into a car- rier. Capt. Craven was in France at the time, assigned as Aide for Avia- tion to Commander U.S. Naval Forces, and Commander Naval Aviation Forces (“I was deeply involved in the complicated business of closing out the Navy’s aeronautical account”). He was approached by the Chief of Naval Operations—and later, by Secretary of the Navy, Josephus Daniels—and EXPERIMENTAL autogiro takes off from Lang- asked to assume the Office of Director A 1928 VIEW of Langley at Pearl Harbor ley in September 1931 during tests underway. of Naval Aviation. shows Vought O2U Corsairs, UO's, Boeing F2B’s. 16 NAVAL AVIATION NEWS orandum to the Committee on Na- tages outweighed her disadvantages.” val Affairs, sized up the situation: The ship was slow and might prove a drogue to a fast-moving fleet. But “When the sear ended those who had chosen the Navy as a life work, she did have the necessary length to and especially those of the Navy who permit planes to fly off from a special- had taken up Naval Aviation, revived ly prepared deck. Her hold spaces the question of ‘carriers’ and ‘fleet were very large, “with high head room aviation.’ They found the sledding in them, a difficult thing to find in any not quite so hard as formerly, but the ship. She had larger hatches leading going was still a bit rough. to these holds than most ships, a fac- “The naval officers who had not tor permitting the stowing of the actually seen Naval Aviation working largest number of planes.” retained their ultra conservatism; Jupiter was electricly-driven, the some of those who had seen it work- first of a few ships in the current fleet ing were still conservative, but not ultra; they were in the class ‘from to be so powered. Her top speed was Missouri’ and wished to be ‘shown.’ a comparatively slow 14 knots. One Others, among the ranking officers of the clinching arguments for her who had seen, had conquered their conversion was her small crew require- conservatism and were convinced. ment. With hostilities over, non-regu- “This latter group, headed by the lar Navy men were eager to continue CAPT. THOMAS T. CRAVEN, Director of Naval General Board of the Navy, and in- civilian activities and were leaving cluding Adm. Henry T. Mayo, Adm. Aviation, pressed hard in Congressional hear- ings for conversion of the collier Jupiter. service in large numbers. N.C. Twining, Capt. Ernest J. King Jupiter sailed to Norfolk Navy and Capt. W.S. Pye, both on the staff of the commander in chief during Yard where the conversion work was the war, Capt. H.I. Cone and Capt. accomplished. “We thought she could Thomas T. Craven, incontinently de- be converted cheaply,” Cdr. Whiting manded that ‘carriers’ be added to said, “—that was a mistake, however. our fleets. In any event, she will have cost less “The net result of these demands when completely converted than any was the recommendation that the other ship we might have selected. collier Jupiter be converted into a We thought she could be converted ‘carrier’ in order that the claims of quickly—that was another mistake. the naval aviators might be given a demonstration.” The war is over and labor, contractors and material men are taking a breath- Jupiter did not possess all the char- ing spell. The recommendation for acteristics that would have made her her conversion was made by the Gen- an ideal aircraft carrier, but she did eral Board of the Navy early in 1919; have many advantages. Commissioned Congress appropriated the money [on April 7, 1913 as fleet collier No. 3, 11 July] 1919; she was promised for she, with the Neptune, carried the January 1921; she may be ready by first Naval Aviation detachments to July 1921." She was not. Jupiter’s France in World War I. At war’s end, designation was changed to CV on she was scheduled for retirement. July 11, 1919; she went into the yard “At the time she was selected [for RADM. WILLIAM A. MOFFETT was first Chief for conversion March 1920, and was conversion to an aircraft carrier],” of Bureau of Aeronautics and was an ardent commissiond USS Langley (CV-1) Cdr. Whiting pointed out, “her advan- advocate of the development of carriers. on March 20, 1922, at Norfolk, Va. A VE-7 AIRCRAFT lands on USS Langley in May 1927, using longitudinal wires on fiddle bridges DOUGLAS TORPEDO bomber, DT-2, launches for an arresting arrangement. Note tail hook on plane and masts of sailing ship under wings. from Langley’s deck while carrier is berthed. MAY 1962 17 In the yards, all the coal-handling carpenter, metal and wing repair was moved to Anacostia where land- gear was removed from the collier and stowage; spare parts, spare engines, and ing tests were conducted. a flight deck, 534 feet long and 64 shops; for gasoline and lubricating oil Experiments were conducted at feet wide, was installed. At first, it aircraft ammunition. Her living quar- Hampton Roads in which Lt. Alfred was planned that this deck would be ters appeared to be a bit crowded, but M. Pride participated. A turntable completely free of obstruction, and sufficient for the work to be under- platform was used, similar to the type so it was in the Langley. But in taken. ” the British developed in WW I—in the Sara and Lex, this view was Smoke pipe plans called for the turn, an improvement of Ely’s ar- changed in favor of an island provisions of a short smoke pipe on rangement used on the Pennsylvania. placed on the starboard side. This each side of the ship, clear of the A BUA ER letter dated November 19, side was selected for the island’s flight deck. They were interconnected 1923, described the Langley and British location because it provided a better so that smoke could be discharged on systems. The Langley gear, the letter view of buoy markers in narrow chan- the lee side. One of the smoke pipes states, “depends on an athwartship re- nels. It also facilitated left-hand turns was designed to hinge downward when tarding force while the [British] gear which pilots preferred, owing to the considered necessary to discharge near depends on air resistance together with torque of the turning propeller. The the water; the second, to discharge the resistance set up by fore and aft island design offered the only practical smoke downward through water spray. cables.” The Langley wires were sus- solution to problems predicated by pended about ten inches above the smoke discharge, navigation, fire con- ROM M AY 1919 to March 1921, deck. They were not entirely satis- trol, and communications. F during his tour as Director of factory, but were used, with some An elevator was installed to lift Naval Aviation, Capt. Craven directed modifications, in the Lcxington and planes from the assembly and storage much attention to the training of pi- Saratoga until 1929. deck to the flight deck. A palisade lots. “Pending the completion of fa- When Langley eventually went to was built around this elevator to pro- cilities that would enable the Navy sea in September 1922, she had an ar- vide a windbreak, protecting the to train pilots to fly landplanes from resting gear installed.