The first fighter aircraft to go aboard U.S. carriers in squadron strength was the Chance Vought Corporation’s VE-7. Although actually an advanced trainer developed for the Army, the VE- 7 was an excellent shipboard aircraft.
Beginning in 1919, several U.S. battleships were fitted with platforms to launch fighter aircraft. (After taking off from the battleships the planes landed ashore.) A variety of aircraft were used, including the British Sopwith Camel and Sopwith 1 Strutter, both of World War I fame. Also used in these operations were French-built Nieuport 28s and U.S.-built Hanriot HD-Is and Vought VE-7s.
The VE-7, produced by the newly established firm of Lewis & Vought, was adapted from a two-seat training aircraft built for the U.S. Army in 1917-1918. The Navy received its first VE-7 in May 1920. (VE-7 was a Vought designation, since the Navy had no standardized scheme at the time.)
The naval aircraft was a single-seat biplane, powered by a 180-horsepower, inline Wright E-2 engine, turning a two- blade, wooden propeller. As a fighter the VE-7 had one or two machine guns mounted forward, synchronized to fire through the propeller. Initially, these were Vickers .303-caliber and later Browning .30-caliber guns. The two-seat variants also had a flexible .30-caliber Lewis gun.
The Navy procured 139 VE-7 variants—most fighters—and 21 of the improved VE-9 aircraft from both Vought in Long Island City, New York, and the government-owned Naval Aircraft Factory in Philadelphia. Nine variants are listed in Gordon Swanborough and Peter M. Bower’s United States Navy Aircraft Since 1911 (London: Putnam, 1968):
VE-7 standard two-seat trainer
VE-7G armed two-seat observation aircraft
VE-7GF same as VE-7G with emergency floatation gear
VE-7H trainer or unarmed observation aircraft fitted with floats
VE-7S single-seat fighter
VE-7SF same as VE-7S with emergency floating gear
VE-7SH same as VE-7S with floats
VE-9H same as basic VE-7 with improved 180-hp engine; shipboard observation aircraft
VE-9W experimental aircraft with 200-hp, air-cooled engine; not procured
The VE-7S had a maximum speed of 117 miles-per-hour at sea level, a ceiling of 15,000 feet, and was credited with a range of 290 statute miles. The aircraft could convert readily from wheels to a large main float and wingtip stabilizing floats.
After being flown from battleships and cruisers, VE-7s went aboard the USS Langley (CV-1), the Navy’s first aircraft carrier. The Langley's conversion from the collier Jupiter (AC-3) was completed in September 1922. On 17 October, while the ship was at anchor in the York River, Lieutenant Commander Virgil C. Griffin made the first takeoff from her deck, flying a VE-7SF. Langley aviator Jackson Tate recalled in The Golden Age Remembered (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1998) that flying from the Langley
. . . was not so simple as it sounds today. . . . planes in those days had no brakes. In order to allow a plane to turn up to full power and start its deck run, it was necessary to develop a device consisting of a bomb release attached to a wire about 5 feet long. The bomb release was hooked to a ring on the landing gear and the end of the wire to a hold-down fitting on the deck. A cord led from the bomb- release trigger to an operator on the deck, who could release the plane on signal.
The Langley operated for several years in an experimental role, testing aircraft and carrier equipment, training pilots, and developing operating techniques. Accidents of varying severity occurred during this period, but no fatalities were suffered aboard the ship.
On 29 November 1924, the Langley joined the battle fleet at San Diego, ending her role as a purely experimental ship. Navy Fighting Squadron 2 reported in January 1925 for carrier qualifications, the first squadron to be assigned to a U.S. carrier. The squadron flew 18 VE-7S fighters. (In addition, the ship had her own liaison and training aircraft assigned.)
The aircraft flew as a first-line fighter until 1926. By 1927, when the large carriers Lexington (CV-2) and Saratoga (CV-3) joined the fleet, the Langley had traded in her VE-7s for Boeing FB and Vought FU fighters. Three VE-7s were assigned to the ship—not to squadrons—for a short time longer. Similarly, the only VE-7s to fly from the “Lex” and “Sara" were part of the ships’ detachment.
Both the Navy and Marine Corps flew the VE-7, an important pioneer in U.S. naval aviation that has received very little attention.