| USS Langley (AV-3) being abandoned after receiving crippling damage from Japanese bombs. USS Edsall (DD-219) is standing by off Langley’s port side. Photographed from USS Whipple (DD-217). USS Langley, the 1st United States Navy aircraft carrier, was converted to a seaplane carrier and recommissioned as AV-3 on February 26, 1937. On the entry of the United States into World War II, Langley was anchored off Cavite, Philippines. On December 8, 1941, following the invasion of the Philippines by Japan, she departed Cavite for Balikpapan in the Netherlands East Indies. In the natural state of alarm (the attack on Pearl Harbor had happened the day before) 300 rounds were shot at an object in the sky before it was realized that it was the planet Venus. As the Japanese advance continued, Langley proceeded to Australia, arriving in Darwin on January 1, 1942. She then became part of the American-British-Dutch-Australian Command (ABDACOM) naval forces. Until January 11, Langley assisted the Royal Australian Air Force in running anti-submarine patrols from Darwin. Langley went to Fremantle to pick up a cargo of 32 Curtiss P-40 Warhawk fighters of the Far East Air Force’s 13th Pursuit Squadron (Provisional), along with United States Army Air Force (USAAF) pilots and ground crews. At Fremantle, Langley and the motor cargo ship Sea Witch, loaded with an additional 27 unassembled and crated P-40s, joined Convoy MS.5 which had just arrived from Melbourne bound for Colombo, Ceylon with troops and supplies eventually destined for India and Burma. The convoy was composed of the United States Army Transport Willard A. Holbrook and the Australian troop transports motor vessel Duntroon and steamship Katoomba, escorted by the light cruiser USS Phoenix. MS.5 departed Fremantle on February 22. En route to Colombo, USS Langley and Sea Witch were directed by ABDACOM to leave the convoy and instead proceed individually to deliver the planes to Tjilatjap, Java. In the early hours of February 27, Langley rendezvoused with the destroyers USS Whipple (DD-217) and USS Edsall (DD-219), which had been sent from Tjilatjap to escort her. Later that morning, a Japanese reconnaissance aircraft located the formation. At 1140 Hours, about 86 miles (139 kilometers) south of Tjilatjap, the seaplane tender Langley, along with USS Whipple and USS Edsall, were attacked by 16 Mitsubishi G4M1 Type 1 “Betty” bombers of the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service’s Takao Kōkūtai, led by Lieutenant Jiro Adachi, flying out of Denpasar airfield on Bali, and escorted by 15 Mitsubishi A6M2 Reisen 0 fighters. Rather than dropping all their bombs at once, the Japanese bombers attacked releasing partial salvos. Since they were level bombing from medium altitude, Langley was able to alter helm when the bombs were released and evade the 1st and 2nd bombing passes, but the bombers changed their tactics on the 3rd pass and bracketed all the directions Langley could turn. As a result, Langley took 5 hits from a mix of 60 and 250 kilogram (130 and 550 pound) bombs as well as 3 near misses. 16 crewmen were killed. The topside burst into flames, steering was impaired, and the ship developed a 2 degree list to port. Langley went dead in the water as her engine room flooded. At 1332 Hours, the order to abandon ship was passed. After taking off the surviving crew and passengers (USS Whipple rescued 308 men and Edsall 177) at 1358 Hours, the escorting destroyers stood off and began firing 13-inch (100 millimeter) shells and 2 torpedoes into Langley’s hull at 1429 Hours to prevent her from falling into enemy hands, scuttling her at approximately 50 miles (80 kilometers) off Cilacap, Java. After being transferred to the oiler USS Pecos (AO-6), many of Langley’s crew were lost when that oiler was sunk en route to Australia by Japanese carrier aircraft. Out of over 630 total crewmen and Langley survivors on Pecos, 232 were rescued while more than 400 were left behind and died due to Japanese submarines in the area hindering rescue efforts. Exact casualty numbers for the doomed ships of the United States Asiatic Fleet and American-British-Dutch-Australian Command are impossible to gather because so many Allied warships were sunk in the Netherlands East Indies campaign (at least 24 total) and many of those ships had already picked up survivors of other sunken ships and then were also sunk by the Japanese hours or days later. 31 of the 33 pilots assigned to the USAAF 13th Pursuit Squadron (Provisional) being transported by USS Langley remained on USS Edsall to be brought to Tjilatjap, but were lost when she was sunk on the same day by Japanese warships while responding to the distress calls of USS Pecos. According to the Bureau of Naval Personnel a total of 288 United States Navy officers and crewmen from Langley were missing in action and later declared dead following the sinking of USS Langley and USS Pecos. Including the 31 USAAF pilots that were originally on USS Langley, a total of 319 from Langley were killed. | |
| Image Filename | wwii1856.jpg |
| Image Size | 1,018.05 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 5717 x 3957 |
| Photographer | |
| Photographer Title | United States Navy |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | February 27, 1942 |
| Location | |
| City | |
| State or Province | |
| Country | Java |
| Archive | Naval History and Heritage Command |
| Record Number | NH 92472 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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