Langley matters even though she looks tiny beside Lexington and Saratoga. The Washington Naval Treaty protects existing experimental carriers, making her a legal and practical starting point for the United States. Her conversion lets the Navy test technologies and operating ideas before it builds Ranger, its first carrier designed from the keel up. Her torpedo bombers and fighters show the US Navy looking for offensive power while working under tight financial and political limits.
Chapter · 15:10-20:07
Langley gives the US Navy a small carrier laboratory
USS Langley appears as the US Navy's first carrier step: an experimental conversion that lets the fleet learn before Lexington and Saratoga arrive.