She was laid down as USS Crown Point (CV‑27) by New York Shipbuilding Corporation, Camden, New Jersey United States on 11 April 1942 and renamed Langley on 13 November 1942.

After shakedown in the Caribbean Sea, Langley departed Philadelphia on 6 December 1943 for Pearl Harbor, where she participated in training operations.

After a brief respite at Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides, Langley's aircraft hit Japanese positions on Palau, Yap, and Woleai, Caroline Islands, from 30 March to 1 April.

The carrier departed Eniwetok on 29 August and sortied with TF 38, under the command of Adm. William F. Halsey for air assaults on Peleliu and airfields in the Philippines as the preliminary steps in the invasion of the Palaus from 15 to 20 September 1944.

Aircraft of TF 38 attacked the Japanese Center Force, as it steamed toward the San Bernardino Strait and the American beachhead at Tacloban.

[1] Langley next joined in the sweeps against Tokyo and Nansei Shoto in support of the landings on Iwo Jima between 10 February and 18 March 1945.

After touching Ulithi and Pearl Harbor, she steamed to San Francisco, arriving on 3 June for repairs and modernization at the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard.

She completed two "Magic Carpet" voyages to the Pacific, transporting soldiers back to the United States, and got underway on 1 October for Philadelphia.

After more than a decade of French Navy service as La Fayette, she was returned to the United States on 20 March 1963 and sold to the Boston Metals Co., Baltimore, Maryland, for scrapping.