Langley helps make the Lexington conversions workable

Langley supplied practical evidence for Sims's carrier wargaming and showed that a carrier needed a role distinct from the original battlecruiser concept. Her fleet-problem performance pushed the Bureau of Ships and Bureau of Aeronautics toward enough cooperation to complete Lexington and Saratoga. The achievement deserves only qualified praise because the conversions involved repeated redesign, delay, and very large expenditure. Experimental service experience aligned two institutions well enough to deliver a new capability, although the program remained inefficient.