What is the name of the first US aircraft carrier built?

Answer 1

USS Langley (CV-1) built in 1922 and sank Feb 1942. __________________________________________________________ If you care to split hairs, the Langley was built earlier than '22 as a ship to carry coal, and when the US Navy converted to oil the Langley was converted into the first US aircraft carrier after WW1. Before WW2 she was converted again to a seaplane tender and was serving in this capacity when sunk by the Japanese. USS Lexington (CV-2) and USS Saratoga (CV-3) were in construction as battle cruisers when the decision was made to convert them to aircraft carriers instead. The first USN warship designed and built as an aircraft carrier was USS Ranger (CV-4) which was smaller than the others and served in the Atlantic during WW2.

Answer 2

Early in 1911, Eugene Ely landed his Curtiss pusher biplane on the USS Pennsylvania on a landing platform that was built over it's deck. It wasn't until the collier USS Jupiter was converted into the USS Langley that the United States had it's first official US Navy aircraft carrier with the designation CV-1.

The USS Langley was commissioned on March 20, 1922. The displacement of the Langley was 12,700 tons, had a length of 542 feet, traveled at a speed of 14 knots (16mph), carried 34 aircraft, and had a crew of 350.

Answer 3

Jupiter (AC-3) was laid down 18 October 1911 by Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, Calif.; launched 14 August 1912; sponsored by Mrs. Thomas F. Ruhm; and commissioned 7 April 1913, Comdr. Joseph M. Reeves in command

Answer 4

Samuel peerpod langely built the first aircraft carrier in the early 1900's. He got a 5000 dollar grant from the government to build his idea. He was successfull, he was able to launch aircraft off of the bottom deck, and landed them on the top deck. (this did all take place in America) this man happens to be my great great great great uncle.

I have seen answers on other

More InformationWell, since he was your ancestor, you should make an effort to learn his story just a bit better than you've got it now.

Samuel Pierpont Langley was one of a number of flight pioneers active at the close of the nineteenth century. Funded primarily by grants of $50,000 from the War Department and $20,000 from the Smithsonian Institution, Langley sought to build a machine capable of carrying a human aloft under its own power. However, at no time did Langley design or otherwise contribute to the construction of an aircraft carrier, or any other sort of naval vessel.

None of Langley's designs were successful. One of his unmanned airplanes managed to take to the air for short periods, but ultimately his quest to launch a man into airborne flight failed. His last attempt was mere weeks before the Wright Brothers staged their world-shaking flight near Kitty Hawk, NC on December 17, 1903. Langley died in 1906.

The world's first true aircraft carrier, the British Royal Navy's HMS Argus, was commissioned twelve years after his death, on September 16, 1918. The USS Langley, the first carrier built for the U.S. Navy, was commissioned on March 20, 1922. Langley himself had absolutely nothing to do with the ship's design or its construction. And finally, the Langley had only one flight deck, not the over/under arrangement described above.

Answer 5

The USS Langley (CV 1). The Langley was a converted collier (a coal hauling ship, which looked something like an oil tanker). The Langley was converted into a seaplane tender by the time of WWII and did not see action as a carrier.

The next two American carriers were the USS Lexington (CV 2) and the USS Saratoga (CV 3). These ships were both begun as battle cruisers - large warships with big guns, like a battleship but less armored so as to be faster. The Washington Naval Treaty of 1923 mandated that these battlecruisers not be completed, but the US was allowed under the terms of the Treaty to have several aircraft carriers. So these two ships were finished as aircraft carriers. They were the only ones the US has ever had which had armored hulls, because of their origins as armored big gun warships, and the amount of work already done when the conversion was ordered.

The first ship designed and built from the keel up as a carrier was the USS Ranger (CV 4). It was small, and experimental.

With the USS Yorktown (CV 5) and USS Enterprise (CV 6) the US Navy settled down to the type of design that would mark all the carriers completed through the end of WWII.