The USS Langley was a pioneer in the US Navy, and with it began a tradition that over time has made the US carrier air wings on the most powerful air-naval force the World has ever known.The 6 cargo holds of the Jupiter ship were not modified and served as Langley hangars. In holds numbers 1,2,4 and 5, the 34 embarked aircrafts were stored, (or up to 55 if they were disassembled), in the hold no.3 was the lift, and in the hold no.6 there was a fuel tank with 578 tons of gasoline for aircrafts.On the main deck, two 3-ton mobile cranes were installed, which slid down a lane and allowed the aircrafts to be moved to the lift platform and then elevated to the flight deck. Also mounted two gooseneck cranes, one on each side for seaplanes handling.USS Langley carried a steam catapult on the bow, which was used for the take off of torpedo-bomber aircrafts that could not take off by themselves. Between 1925 and 1930 she had a wing composed by 12 fighters, 12 reconnaissance aircraft, 4 torpedo-bomber aircrafts and 6 seaplanes.USS Langley was equipped with workshops, spare parts and gas tanks with a capacity of 1,130 tons. Its armament consisted of four single-mounted 127/51mm guns and it had 275 bombs and 24 torpedoes for the embarked aircrafts.In 1937, Langley was converted into a seaplane tender for which her flight deck was reduced to 100 meters, eliminating the section from the lift to the forward edge. Since then, she remained only to transport aircrafts and materials. The bridge’s superstructure was also raised and the armament was maintained.
