As the German Navy's Deutschland-class aircraft carrier began construction, almost at the same time, across the ocean in Baltimore, an American Navy shipyard held a laying-down ceremony for another warship.
President Woodrow Wilson, Secretary of the Navy Daniels, Chief of Naval Operations General William Benson, Commander of the Atlantic Fleet General Henry Mayo, and a host of other senior American Navy officers had gathered at the shipyard. Besides the Americans, British Prime Minister Churchill, British First Sea Lord Jellicoe, and many senior British Navy officers had also appeared at the shipyard.
That was because the warship about to begin construction had been jointly developed by Britain and the United States.
The warship about to begin construction was precisely the aircraft carrier jointly developed by Britain and the United States. While the German Navy had already achieved astonishing success in the field of aircraft carriers and begun building them in large numbers, Britain and the United States had not been idle either. They too were struggling desperately to catch up with Germany. However, because they had started late and from a lower point, their progress had been very slow. But now, they would finally achieve a breakthrough from zero.
"Gentlemen, our first aircraft carrier—the Langley—is about to begin construction. Although we have already fallen far behind compared with our enemy, through the efforts of ourselves and our British allies, we are striving with all our might to catch up with the Germans. I believe that before long, we will catch up with Germany and surpass them. Our enemy is powerful, possessing the world's strongest navy, army, and air force. They also possess the broadest colonies in the world. Defeating them will be a difficult and winding road. But I firmly believe that if the Republic of America and the British Empire