http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Houston_%28CA-30%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Langley_%28CV-1%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Langley_(CV-1)
“A relatively unique feature of Langley was provision for a carrier pigeon house on the stern between the 5 in (130 mm)/51 cal guns.[15] Pigeons had been carried aboard seaplanes for message transport since World War I, and were to be carried on aircraft operated from Langley.[15] The pigeons were trained at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard while Langley was undergoing conversion.[16] As long as the pigeons were released a few at a time for exercise, they returned to the ship; but when the whole flock was released while Langley was anchored off Tangier Island, the pigeons flew south and roosted in the cranes of the Norfolk shipyard.[16] The pigeons never went to sea again and the former pigeon house became the executive officer’s quarters;[15] but the early plans for conversion of Lexington and Saratoga included a compartment for pigeons.”[