<P> USS Langley ( CV - 1 / AV - 3 ) was the United States Navy 's first aircraft carrier , converted in 1920 from the collier USS Jupiter ( AC - 3 ) , and also the US Navy 's first turbo - electric - powered ship . Conversion of another collier was planned but canceled when the Washington Naval Treaty required the cancellation of the partially built Lexington - class battlecruisers Lexington and Saratoga , freeing up their hulls for conversion to the aircraft carriers Lexington and Saratoga . Langley was named after Samuel Pierpont Langley , an American aviation pioneer . Following another conversion , to a seaplane tender , Langley fought in World War II . On 27 February 1942 , she was attacked by nine twin - engine Japanese bombers of the Japanese 21st and 23rd Naval Air Flotillas and so badly damaged that she had to be scuttled by her escorts . </P>
<P> USS Langley ( CV - 1 / AV - 3 ) was the United States Navy 's first aircraft carrier , converted in 1920 from the collier USS Jupiter ( AC - 3 ) , and also the US Navy 's first turbo - electric - powered ship . Conversion of another collier was planned but canceled when the Washington Naval Treaty required the cancellation of the partially built Lexington - class battlecruisers Lexington and Saratoga , freeing up their hulls for conversion to the aircraft carriers Lexington and Saratoga . Langley was named after Samuel Pierpont Langley , an American aviation pioneer . Following another conversion , to a seaplane tender , Langley fought in World War II . On 27 February 1942 , she was attacked by nine twin - engine Japanese bombers of the Japanese 21st and 23rd Naval Air Flotillas and so badly damaged that she had to be scuttled by her escorts . </P>
when was the first us aircraft carrier built
when was the first us aircraft carrier built
1920
1920