Langley-as-AV was just no longer the (decisive) weapon she had proven herself to be, during the inter-war Fleet Problems.

If they would just have left her with a full-length deck, she could've ferried that many P-40s PLUS defended herself with a handful of WildCats parked forward - minimally fuelled but fully armed and ready to be flung off the bow, one-time-only - just like Hornet's deck-park, in the runup to the Tokyo Raid. (Or even just some more P-40s - what the heck, their pilots were going to end up taking a swim if the ship got shot out from under them anyway, right?)

Either way could've wreaked havoc among any long-range bombers - disrupted the attack, even if escorted by fighters - and very likely saved the ship.

But, I guess that lesson was still yet to be learned - the hard way - in the few more months until Hornet's hour of glory, the debut of the RN Catapult-Armed-Merchant ships and similar tactics...

Cheers,

-Matty