USS Langley – Seaplane Tender/Aircraft Carrier – 1912
(ITTL - The Wright Brothers were only granted patents for their wing-warping control technology, instead of the overly broad interpretation given them in our universe. That change allows for some earlier development of heavier-than-air flight across the board)
On August 12, 1908, Eugene Ely, flying for the US Navy, takes off in his Curtis Pusher plane from a temporary wooden deck built over the bow of the
USS Birmingham (at anchor), becoming the first aviator to fly off of a ship. With the slow start off the stationary ship, Ely’s craft barely avoided crashing into the water, but Ely was able to pull out of the dip and flew to the nearby shore.
Photo from Wikipedia:
After that successful initial flight, Ely was called on again to land on a similarly ad hoc deck on the Armored Cruiser
USS Pennsylvania two months later in October 1908. In a bit of inspiration, a tail hook and arresting wire helped to contain the rollout of the landing plane (
That tail hook and wire is OTL, by-the-way)
In both instances, Ely and several of the Navy brass come to the common conclusion that having the ship in motion, with additional air flow across the deck would be beneficial for both take offs and landings, in future. More difficult for the pilot lining up for landing, but the speed differential was reduced.
The Navy had also started to purchase a few (8) Curtis floatplanes with the idea that such planes could be useful as fleet scouts, with the USN having far wider ranging commitments on both coasts and the Gulf and points south. It was also determined that some type of Tender ship, or ships were needed to carry and service the planes.
As Congress was being frugal with disbursement of tax funds, the decision was made to convert the obsolescent
USS New York (ACR-2), rather than build from keel up. The ship had the two main battery 8”/203mm turrets removed and much of the superstructure removed to allow for the building of a deck and re-trunking of the stacks, and installation of cranes for depositing the planes on the water for launch and later recovery. The conversion process started in 1910 and the revised ship was re-commissioned as the
USS Langley.CV-1 in 1912
Following an idea from Glenn Curtis, during the trials phase, a counter-weighted catapult launch system was tested (
similar to a rig the Wright Brothers originally used with the Wright Flyer). The idea being that every bit of forward thrust during launch was helpful, in addition to steering the ship into the prevailing wind. The floats of the plane were seated in a cradle, which was attached to the counter-weighted launch cable.
On learning of the counter-weight launch system test, the Wright Brothers sued for patent infringement (
even though that system was not covered in their original filing). On learning of the Wright Bros. lawsuit, Glenn Curtis and Eugene Ely, with Navy blessing, threw caution to the winds (literally) and repeatedly and successfully launched and landed the old tried-and-true wheeled Curtis Pusher sans launching cradle and counter-weight catapult. It was decided that both wheeled and floatplanes would be carried aboard the Langley, but the catapult would be removed. The floatplanes (and later flying boats) would be hoisted off the ship by crane and placed on the water for launching as first thought. Much trial and error involved in those early days.
With the
Langley being a first of sorts for the USN, there were a number of deficiencies uncovered, which would be addressed on later tender/carriers. Still, this
Langley was included in the US Navy’s Veracruz operations in 1914, and would provide good service as test bed until decommissioning and scrapping in 1922.
*Edit* Anyone care to take a whack at how this version of the Langley might be rigged up? I have no Springsharp skills and I'm not sure if you could even run such a thorough going overhaul through Springsharp. My initial thought was having the stack and bridge off center, but maybe not on the beam as we have seen most carrier development, leaving enough decking for transfer of aircraft from the landing side to the launching side. Apart from that, I haven't a clue how far down a 1911-ish teardown and buildup would go. (The main battery has to go of course, but do the casement guns and that deck too? Probably partially so, if you're going to have some kind of workshop area. Elevator?
?).