[Llarry]

The earliest days of U.S. Navy carrier aviation were a time of fits and starts and experimentation. The aircraft carrier was seen by the brass as a ship for scouting the enemy out so the battleships could attack. There was the realization that torpedo planes could do real damage to an enemy ship, but the first carrier, the USS Langley (CV 1) was too small to operate the torpedo planes of the day. Not until the USS Lexington (CV 2) and USS Saratoga (CV 3) joined the fleet in 1927-28 was the embarkation of torpedo planes considered feasible. There were no dive bombers; no airplane could withstand the stress of a high-G pullout after dropping a bomb. The early air groups were a squadron of fighters, a squadron of scouts and a squadron of torpedo planes (after 1927).

The first fighters were Vought VE-7Ss. The VE-7 (the first Vought Corsair) had first flown during 1917 and the VE-7S fighter version had one cockpit faired over, making it a single-seater. The Naval Aircraft Factory had also designed the first purpose-built carrier fighter, the TS-1 and that fighter had first flown in 1922. Early fighters flew both in wheeled versions from land and carriers and as floatplane fighters from battleships.

Vought also made the scout planes. The early ones were VE-7s and then slightly more advanced UOs.

The earliest torpedo planes operated on floats, as the Langley was too small for the larger and heavier torpedo planes. Douglas and Curtiss made torpedo planes. Once the big carriers arrived, Martin got into the action with the T3M and then T4M torpedo planes. The former had a water-cooled V-12, while the latter had a radial engine. The Navy bought these in large numbers for the time. At one point it was planned to have two squadrons of torpedo bombers per carrier, though I think that plan never came to fruition.

Some planes carried bombs but released them either in level flight or shallow dives. It was not until the 1930s that dive bombing became possible.