Aircraft Carriers Langley, Saratoga, Lexington, Wasp

Hook Down, Wheels Down & Langley to Enterprise

Video offers two films on carrier history. Hook Down, Wheels Down details the history of all the early carriers in the American fleet: Langley, Saratoga, Lexington, Wasp, Hornet, etc. Includes interview with only survivor of Torpedo Squadron 8 from the USS Hornet. Langley to Enterprise traces development of the aircraft carrier. Lots of footage of Langley, Saratoga and Hornet; also clips of USS Saipan, USS Hancock, USS Antietam and USS Enterprise.

Color
Run time: 90 minutes

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Langley to Enterprise

This film produced by the Navy in 1969 through the use of historical film footage combined with contemporary film examines the evolution of the Navy's aircraft carriers, from the USS Langley to the USS Enterprise, which was commissioned in November 1961.

With a fast paced introduction that culminates in a rapid launch sequence that sees the Enterprise launching F-4 Phantoms, A-6 Intruders, A-7 Corsairs, A-5 Vigilante, F-8 Crusader, A-4 Skyhawk, and A-3 Skywarrior aircraft. This film looks back over forty-eight years of Naval aviation history to 1921 and the bombing tests the Army, Navy and Marine Corps pilots participated in. Their targets were the former German submarine U-117, the destroyer G-102 and the cruiser Frankfurt. The prize was the battleship Ostfriesland which was sunk by Army pilots under the command of Brigadier General William "Billy" Mitchell, who dropped seven two-thousand pound bombs on it.

There are early clips of Rear Admiral William A. Moffett, who as the Navy's Bureau of Aeronautics believed whole heartedly in the use of aircraft to defend the fleet and extend seapower. President Calvin Coolidge in 1925 appointed the Morrow Board to determine basic aviation policies for all the services. In 1926 the board refused the Navy a seperate air arm. At the same time the former collier U.S.S. Juniper [Collier No. 3] had been undergoing conversion on the east coast. A flight deck was added and on March 20, 1922, she was commissioned the USS Langley CV-1. The Langley would come to Naval Air Station, San Diego [redesignated Naval Air Station, North Island in 1955] in 1924.

In 1922 the first landing on the flight deck of the Langley occurred and the film of those early landings on her flight deck were often chaotic as wheels broke loose and aircraft nosed over. In retrospect from the perspective of today the sight of those early landings are humerous, but they were part of the Navy's learning process with its first aircraft carrier. Seen on the Langley are Vought VE-7, Curtis F6-C and Douglas DT-2 and Boeing F2-B's. From the air there is a clip of the Langley docked at NAS, San Diego. For Naval aviation its role was primarily of gun spotting and aerial gunnery. But in a mission shift pilots tried different methods of bombing and toropedo dropping. In 1937 the Langley was converted into a seaplane tender and the forward half of her deck was removed.

The Navy's next two aircraft carriers were also conversions. Both the Lexington CV-2 and the Saratoga CV-3 were orignially designed to be battle cruisers CC-1 and CC-3 respectively. The Lexington and the Saratoga were commissioned in 1927. With these carriers the Navy worked out operational techniques that made the United States Navy's air arm the best in the world. There is good film footage of both carriers.

Rear Admiral Joseph Mason Reeves was the first to advocate independent carrier strikes that were independent of carrier operations of the battleship line. He was the first to prove the effectiveness of a carrier centered task force during Fleet Problem 10 to test naval and shore defenses of the Panama Canal against a conventional battleship attack. Admiral Reeves left the safety of the battleship line and took the Saratoga on a wide southward sweep before turning northward from an unexpected direction. While still 200 miles at sea the Saratoga launched its aircraft at 2:00 a.m. and took the defenders by surprise. There is excellent footage of the Saratoga, of aircraft in formation, and in the attack.

The USS Ranger CV-4 is captured at its launching was the first carrier built from the kiel up as an aircraft carrier. But by the time she was commissioned in 1934 she was to small and her flight deck to short, and her arresting gear was unable to handle the heavier and faster planes still coming along. Commissioned in 1937 the Yorktown CV5 was the third assault carrier to join Saratoga and the Lexington. In turn she was followed by the Enterprise CV6 in 1938, the Wasp CV7 in 1940, and the Hornet CV8 in 1941. Throughout this sequence there is good general aircraft carrier and ship views.

During fleet maneuvers in 1938 then Vice Admiral Ernest J. King, future Chief of Naval Operations, launched a practice attack on Pearl Harbor and followed it up with a successful attack on the Mare Island Navy Yard in California. In 1939 King's Carrier Division 1, Saratoga and Lexington was joined by Yorktown and Enterprise of Rear Admiral William F. "Bull" Halsey's Carrier Division 2.

The World War 2 footage in this film is rapid paced and provides a kalediscope view of Naval carrier operations in the Pacific and because of the broad expanese of ocean over which they were fighting the film's coverage is general in nature. With the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor there is stark views of the carnage from the attack. Then in a sobering sequence the Enterprise and Yorktown are seen entering Pearl Harbor in early 1942. As the United States goes on the offensive there is footage of Army Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle and his flight of sixteen B-25's taking off from the carrier Hornet on April 18, 1942 on their epic bombing mission to Japan. This film contains views of Navy carrier aircraft attacking the Japanese at the Coral Sea in May 1942, Midway in June 1942, and the landings at Guadalcanal in November 1942. With King as chief of Naval Operations the new Essex class carriers begain joining the fleet as Admirals Chester Nimitz, William F. Halsey, Marc Mitscher, and Raymond Spruance swept across the Pacific. At the battle of Leyte Gulf in October 1944 withness the Kamikaze attacks directed against the American carriers. See one of them penetrate the fleet defenses and crash into a carrier.

Following World War 2 Naval carrier aviation technology moved rapidly with the introduction of jet aircraft. With good footage documenting this advance we witness a lot of firsts. In July 1946 an FH-1 Phantom made the first jet carrier landing, The first jet squadron qualified on the Saipan CVL-48 in May 1948. During the Korean War segment, there is good footage of both FH-1 and F9F Panther jets. Before the war was over carrier flight decks were being strengthed. In February 1954 the first steam catapult went into operation on the carrier Hancock CV19 and seen is a F7U Cutlass being launched. The first angeled deck was installed on the Antietam CV36. And steam catapults and angled flight decks were incorporated into the Forrestal class carriers that began to appear in the mid-1950's.

Just as dramatically as it starts this film concludes with a good aerial view of the Enterprise and an equally impressive launch and landing sequence. Very few films impress me as this one does as it provides an overview of Naval carrier aviation through an excellent blending of historical and contemporary film footage of the period. For the veteran carrier man or those interested in carrier aviation this film is a must addition to your collection.

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