On November 14, 1910, a 24‑year‑old civilian pilot, Eugene Burton Ely, took off in a 50 horsepower Curtiss plane from a wooden platform built over the bow of the cruiser ; later, on January 18, 1911, Ely landed a Curtiss Model D on a platform aboard . The Naval Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 1920 provided funds for the conversion of into a ship designed for the launching and recovery of airplanes at sea—the United States Navy's first aircraft carrier. Renamed , she was commissioned in 1922. Commander Kenneth Whiting was placed in command. In 1924, "Langley" reported for duty with the Battle Fleet, ending two years as an experimental ship.