The contributions that Mama Langley (along with her fellow compatriots Argus and Hosho) had pioneered remain significantly instrumental to all navies, even to this day, and it's shame that she's forgotten in favor of the more famous carriers. Great Video!
Yeah. At that stage of the war the Japanese were inside the Allied Decision Cycle acting faster than the Allies could respond. Thus - the _Langley_ and a cargo ship - were trying to carry an Army Air Group to fight the Japanese but the Japanese moved to fast for them. They were supposed to go to the Philippines but were to late so they tried to deliver the fighter group to Indonesia. The _Langley_ got sunk right off the coast. The transport, with all the fighters in boxes, was able to unload them - but then they had to be destroyed to keep the Japanese from capturing them. Besides the Air Group's aircraft (P-40's) the pilots and maintenance men were also mostly lost. An Air Group of P-40's at this time - could - have made a real contribution to the Allies Defense but - it was entirely lost before it could be deployed. The Allies were still fighting but were constantly over whelmed by the Japanese on land, sea and in the air. .
Great video and I appreciate Langley! Unfortunately, you missed the most innovative thing about her. She was almost the first ship in history to carry drones, even if they had feathers :-)
It's great to see attention given to the ancestor of American carriers. It boggles the mind to think how today's nuclear-powered supercarriers owe much to a converted collier.
