---
title: "Today in military history: US aircraft carrier USS Langley is sunk"
description: "On Feb. 27, 1942, the U.S. Navy’s first aircraft carrier, the USS Langley, was sunk by Japanese warplanes."
date: "2022-02-27"
modified: "2023-02-24"
authors:
  - name: "Team Mighty"
    job_title: "Author"
    link: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/authors/teammighty/"
url: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/mighty-history/today-in-military-history-us-aircraft-carrier-langley-is-sunk/"
categories:
  - "History"
  - "Navy"
  - "War History"
  - "World War II"
---

# Today in military history: US aircraft carrier USS Langley is sunk

![USS Langley](<https://www.wearethemighty.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Langley.png>)

On Feb. 27, 1942, the U.S. Navy’s first aircraft carrier, the *USS Langley*, was sunk by Japanese warplanes.

The [*Langley* launched the first airplane in 1922 and nine days later](<https://www.history.navy.mil/browse-by-topic/ships/aircraft-carriers/uss-langley.html>), the first aircraft landed on her deck. For the next twenty years, she served as an unarmed test bed for flight deck operations before being reclassified and converted into a seaplane tender in 1937.

The *Langley* was built primarily for testing and experimentation for seaborne aviation in the Pacific. It became the test platform for developing carrier operation techniques and tactics, notably helping the Navy learn to better land and launch aircraft more quickly.

https://youtu.be/OCZk0kvcuxs

During World War II, she assisted with [anti-submarine patrols in the Pacific](<https://www.wearethemighty.com/mighty-history/saipain-changed-the-course-of-wwii/>). On Feb. 27, 1942, she was rendezvousing with U.S. destroyers when she was attacked by nine Japanese bombers. Commander R.P. McConnell managed to avoid the first two bomb waves, but the third struck hard and the engine room flooded, killing sixteen members of her crew.

McDonnell gave the order to abandon ship and watched with the rest of the crew from the destroyers decks as they finished her off, sending her down to Davy Jones’ Locker — and out of enemy hands.

*Featured Image: View of USS Langley being abandoned after Japanese bombs crippled the ship south of Java, Feb. 27, 1942. USS Edsall is standing by off Langley’s port side. Photographed from USS Whipple. (Photo by Captain Lawrence E. Divoll, USN(Retired), 1981. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command photograph.)*

## Author
Team Mighty's experience encompasses intel, special ops, military history, tactical expertise, aviation, gear, and weapons. Authors on Team Mighty include veterans, spouses, and active and reserve service members from every branch of the military, as well as former CIA employees.