1923 the U.S.S. Langley (CV-1) was commissioned. America's first aircraft carrier, she had been converted from a collier.
Although slow, Langley proved an immensely valuable test-bed for the development of carrier aviation. As with any experimental concept, there were some successes and some failures. For example, considerable experimentation was needed before an effective landing system was developed, the hook-and-wire system still in use today.
Of course, some experiments didn't work out very well. In fact one verged on the absurd.
Although there was less controversy about aviation in the fleet than is generally believed, there was one mission that everyone agreed aircraft could perform, reconnaissance and spotting. But in the early 1920s aircraft were too light and underpowered to permit them to carry the rather large and heavy radios of the day. So how could the airmen communicate their invaluable information to the fleet? Dropping messages from the planes as they flew low over the ships had been tried. It worked pretty well, when the message actually landed on the deck, rather than in the drink.
And then someone got a bright idea.
Why not provide the airplanes with carrier pigeons?
After all, carrier pigeons don't weigh very much, and they have the uncanny ability of being able to return to their home coop. Even as Langley was undergoing conversion into a carrier, experiments were undertaken to determine whether the carrier pigeon-in-a-plane scheme would work. And work it did.
So the plans for Langley were modified to include a substantial pigeon coop, to keep her flyers supplied with birds ready to wing home in an instant carrying messages of vital import. And when the ship was commissioned, so to was her pigeon coop. And then reality struck. Pigeons require several days to "imprint" on a coop, in order to be able to return to it. They also require that the coop not move around too much, since they seem to use some sort of inertial guidance system. In short, unless Langley remained in one place long enough for the birds to imprint, and then remain there when they were taken out on reconnaissance missions, pigeons released from her patrol planes would be unable to find her.
Needless to say, it was not long before Langley's days as a "CVP Pigeon Carrier" came to an end, and her pigeon coop was turned into quarters for her exec.
"These things must be done delicately-- or you hurt the spell." - The Wicked Witch of the West.
"We've got the torpedo damage temporarily shored up, the fires out and soon will have the ship back on an even keel. But I would suggest, sir, that if you have to take any more torpedoes, you take 'em on the starboard side." Pops Healy, DCA USS Lexington.
