USS Langley, CV-1
January 2nd, 2009 From
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>From: Peter Sinfield
>Date: Tue, 15 Jul 1997 17:34:24 cst
>Subject: Re: USS Langley, CV-1
>To: mahan@microwrks.com
>Precendence: bulk
>Sender: mahan-owner@microworks.net
>
>John Snyder sent in:
>
> >> >Tim Lanzendoerfer wrote:
> > >she was sunk, as well as possibly date, cargo and location?>>>
> >
> >LANGLEY, which by that time was no longer a CV but rather a seaplane
> >tender (AV-3), was transporting 32 ready-to-fly P-40s of the 13th and
> >35th Pursuit Squadrons, plus pilots, and 12 crew chiefs from the 35th
> >(who at the last minute replaced 12 from the 51st aboard LANGLEY) from
> >Fremantle, Western Australia to reinforce Java. She never made it.
> >She was sunk on February 27, 1942, following an attack just before
> >noon by IJN aircraft from the carriers of Adm. Nagumo’s Kido Butai.
> >Crippled and burning, she was abandoned, survivors being picked up by
> >DDs EDSALL and WHIPPLE. WHIPPLE attempted to sink her by 4″ gunfire,
> >but the LANGLEY was still afloat when both DDs quit the scene, fearful
> >of another aerial attack. No one saw her go down.
> >>
>From: Gill, ROYAL AUSTRALIAN NAVY 1939-42:
>
>LANGLEY was headed for Tjilitjap (on the southern coast of Java, a
>secondary base for the RNethN and now called Cilacap) with the P-40s
>John mentions. She (and the destroyers WHIPPLE (DD.217) and EDSALL
>(DD.219) which had been sent from Tjilitjap to escort her in) was
>sighted by a Japanese recconnaissance plane at about 0900 on 27
>February. Two and a half hours later, the ships were bombed by nine
>aircraft of the 11th Air Fleet, shore-based on Celebes. In the third
>attack, LANGLEY received five direct hits and the resultant fires were
>soon out of control. “Abandon ship” was ordered at 1332 and all but 11
>of the ship’s company were picked up by the two DDs. WHIPPLE then sank
>LANGLEY with gunfire, about 75 miles south of Tjilitjap.
>
>WHIPPLE and EDSALL then headed for Christmas Island, where the
>survivors were trans-shipped to the oiler PECOS (AO.6) – which was sunk
>by aircraft from SORYU on 1 March.
>
>Winslow, THE FLEET THE GODS FORGOT, says that WHIPPLE also launched
>two torpedoes which failed to sink LANGLEY, and the two DDs left the
>area before the tender actually went down. She eventually sank later
>that night, her demise observed by the crew of a Dutch PBY.
>
>Hope this is of interest.
>
>Peter
>
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>Peter Sinfield
>Canberra ACT AUSTRALIA
>email: sinfip@anao.gov.au
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~