"OUR TURKEY'S ROOST"
MAAM-SIM's "PROJECT TBM" will include the USS Langley, CVL-27, the light carrier from which #4 sortied against Japanese targets.
Michael Davis, an aircraft carrier aficionado who built a sterling reputation as an aircraft designer at Alphasim, will be recreating this ship as part of the Avenger package. You will be able to try your hand at taking off and landing the largest carrier aircraft of WWII on one of the smallest flight decks from which her heroic crews operated. Michael is a fast worker, and here is a screenshot of the carrier sailing in FS2004....
I'm joking!
Did I make you do a double-take? Actually, this is a photo taken of a scale model of one of the Langley's sister-ships, the Belleau Wood, CVL-24, sailing on the 'Pacific Ocean' at last year's MAAM's World War II Weekend Show. But we bet Michael's model will look this good.
Below are some fascinating wartime photos of the real CVL-27 Langley, the second carrier so named. Her predecessor was the very first carrier of the U.S. Navy, CV-1, converted from a collier, the USS Jupiter, in 1922.
Following the photos are several links to history articles on the ship and her sister-ships, the Independence class of "small aircraft carriers", more popularly known as "light carriers".
photo courtesy and copyright of The USS
Langley CVL-27 Association
USS Langley (CVL-27)
Underway off Cape Henry, Virginia, (36 55'N; 75 45'W) with two SNJ training planes on her flight deck, 6 October 1943. Photographed by a blimp of squadron ZP-14, out of NAS Weeksville, N.C. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.
USS LANGLEY, CVL-27
photo courtesy and copyright of The USS Langley CVL-27 Association
USS Langley (CVL-27)
At anchor in harbor, February 1944. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.
USS Langley (CVL-27)
Lieutenant Commander Edward C. Outlaw, Commander Fighting Squadron 32 and Air Group 32, with other VF-32 pilots in flight quarters after a sweep over Truk, 29 April 1944. Note steward serving drinks, status boards on the bulkhead and ventilator on the overhead. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. (This was our TBM's Squadron)
LANGLEY FIGHTER
ACES, APRIL 29, 1944
The photo caption reads, "Pilots of F6Fs who shot down 21 Japanese planes in less than 15 minutes over Truk Atoll aboard the Langley."
photo courtesy and copyright of The USS Langley CVL-27 Association
USS Langley (CVL-27)
Anchored in Ulithi harbor, Caroline Islands, on 31 October 1944, following the Battle of Leyte Gulf. USS Hornet (CV-12) and many other ships are in the background. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.
USS Langley (CVL-27)
An F6F "Hellcat" fighter landing "high" during flight operations in the vicinity of the Nansei Shoto, 10 October 1944. Task Force 38 carriers hit Japanese targets in the Okinawa area on that day. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.
USS Langley (CVL-27)
Scene on the flight deck,
looking forward, as the carrier shoots down a Japanese plane during air attacks
on Task Force 38 off Formosa, 14 October 1944. The falling plane is visible
directly ahead of the ship. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the
collections of the National Archives.
Task Group 38.3
Enters Ulithi anchorage in
column, 12 December 1944, while returning from strikes on targets in the
Philippines.
Ships are (from front): Langley (CVL-27); Ticonderoga (CV-14);
Washington (BB-56); North Carolina (BB-55); South Dakota
(BB-57); Santa Fe (CL-60); Biloxi (CL-80); Mobile (CL-63)
and Oakland (CL-95). Official U.S. Navy Photograph,
now in the collections of the National Archives.
Task Group 38.3
Makes a simultaneous turn to port from column formation, while entering Ulithi anchorage on 12 December 1944 after strikes against the Japanese in the Philippines. Ships are (from front): Langley (CVL-27); Ticonderoga (CV-14); Washington (BB-56); North Carolina (BB-55); South Dakota (BB-57); Santa Fe (CL-60); Biloxi (CL-80); Mobile (CL-63) and Oakland (CL-95). Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.
THE LANGLEY IN THE
MIDST OF THE GREAT TYPHOON OF DECEMBER, 1944.
Why are these sailors smiling? Perhaps they are happy not to be in the gun tub under the stacks - or wherever the crazy photographer is standing! M.D. "Pat" Donavan, who was a VT44 pilot, wrote "We called it the Christmas Typhoon and a lot of Christmas mail and packages were lost when the Hull, Spence, and Monahan, three DDs, capsized and were lost with all hands. As I recall, only the ships officers knew that the Langley was designed to take a 35 degree roll and actually went to 38. Fortunately the word didn't get around to the air group."
photo courtesy and copyright of The USS Langley CVL-27 Association
Here's what she looked like from the outside...
USS Langley (CVL-27)
Rolling sharply as she
rides out a Pacific storm. Photographed from USS Essex (CV-9).
The original photograph is dated 13 January 1945, but Morison, "History of U.S.
Naval Operations in World War II", Vol. 13, captions this view as having been
taken during the "Great Typhoon" of 18 December 1944.
Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National
Archives.
USS Langley (CVL-27)
Underway with a task force in the Pacific, 27 March 1945. Photographed from USS McCord (DD-534). Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.
photo courtesy and copyright of The USS
Langley CVL-27 Association
TBM-3 OVER THE USS
LANGLEY, AT SEA BETWEEN PEARL HARBOR AND THE PANAMA CANAL ZONE, OCT 1945
photo courtesy and copyright of The USS Langley CVL-27 Association
CAPT. WALLACE (GOTCH) DILLON, COMMANDING
OFFICER
The symbols painted on the side of the island represent 48 enemy aircraft shot down, 22 bombing missions, 3 warships and 8 merchant ships sunk, and 63 aircraft destroyed on the ground.
photo courtesy and copyright of The USS Langley CVL-27 Association
HISTORY OF THE USS LANGLEY by Bill Thompsom
USS LANGLEY CVL-27 ASSOCIATION
Click on the title above to read this article on the Langley Association website.
OFFICIAL HISTORY OF THE US LANGLEY (CVL-27), 1943-1964
Click on the title above to read this history from the Naval Historical Center website.
HISTORY OF THE INDEPENDENCE CLASS CARRIERS
Click on the title above to read this history from the Naval Historical Center website.
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