aircraft carrier

Ocean-going naval vessel with a broad, flat-topped deck for launching and landing military aircraft; a floating military base for warplanes too far from home for refuelling, repairing, reconnaissance, escorting, and attack and defence operations. Aircraft are catapult-launched or take off and land on the flight-deck, a large expanse of unobstructed deck, often fitted with barriers and restraining devices to halt the landing aircraft.

The role of the carrier and its aircraft has included reconnaissance, torpedo, and bomb operations against hostile shipping, anti-submarine warfare, and air support of amphibious operations. Aircraft carriers of the US Navy have formed the equivalent of mobile airfields, replacing fixed, shore-based fields for tactical and strategic attacks against land targets. Critics of the carrier emphasize how vulnerable they are against submarine and missile attack. However, since the adoption of ‘Carrier Battle Groups’ they have all but neutralized that vulnerability.

Despite their cost, aircraft carriers are seen as the principle weapon of naval power projection. Examples include the USA's Nimitz class (1974) (CVN72 102,000 tonnes, 82 aircraft), France's Charles de Gaulle (1994) (40,600 tonnes, 40 aircraft), and the British Invincible class (1980) (22,000 tonnes). Modern aircraft carriers are equipped with combinations of fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, missiles, and air-defence guns.

The first experimental aircraft carrier was the British HMS Hermes; she was refitted in 1913. Carriers played a major role in World War II, but in post-war years the cost and vulnerability of such large vessels were thought to have outweighed their advantages. However, by 1980 the desire to have a means of destroying enemy aircraft beyond the range of a ship's own weapons – for instance, when on convoy duty – led to a widespread revival of aircraft carriers of 20,000–30,000 tonnes.

The first carriers The first recorded example of ship-borne aviation occurred during the American Civil War when, in August 1861, John La Mountain made a balloon ascent from the Union transport Fanny to observe Confederate positions. He was successful, and a special boat for balloonists was subsequently constructed. The first recorded on-deck landing of a heavier-than-air craft was on 14 November 1910 by Eugene Ely, in a modified Curtis Golden Flyer, on the USS Birmingham, which was moored in Hampton Roads, Virginia. Ely also performed the first takeoff and landing 18 January 1911 aboard the USS Pennsylvania, in San Francisco Bay, using the landing hook and transverse arrester-wire technique. The first British deck takeoff was on 10 January 1912. During 1912 the US Navy started the first experiments using launching catapults, with compressed air as propulsion. They subsequently used powder charges, a technique which remained in use until the adoption of the British-designed steam catapult about 1934. Aircraft were first used in fleet reconnaissance duties and the first carrier, the British HMS Hermes, came into service 1913. Hermes carried three seaplanes launched from a bow platform.

Carriers in World War I There were no carriers in service August 1914, but four British merchant ships were hastily given a seaplane hangar aft. Three of them, Empress, Engadine, and Riviera, participated in a strike against Heligoland December 1914, the first such attack. The first carrier to be lost due to enemy action was Hermes October 1914. By the end of World War I, Britain had used 16 carriers (carrying about 100 aircraft) in service in the North Sea, Mediterranean, Red Sea, and in Russian waters. Most were seaplane carriers which had to stop, lower their aircraft into the water for takeoff, and then stop to retrieve them. Wheeled aircraft took off from the aircraft carrier, landed alongside, and were either retrieved or abandoned. The first British ‘landing-on’ experiments 1917 led to the construction of the Argus, the first flush-decked carrier, which eventually was given elevators to the flight deck, and a control ‘island’ on the starboard side. However, it did not see service in World War I.

Custom-built carriers The first US aircraft carrier, USS Langley, was commissioned 1922. The first aircraft carrier to be completely designed as such was the Japanese Hosho in 1925. The first French aircraft carrier, Béarn, came into service 1927. Germany launched its only aircraft carrier 1938, but did not complete her.

Carriers during World War II By 1939 Britain had six aircraft carriers in service (176 aircraft) and one seaplane carrier. Four aircraft carriers were under construction. By 1941 the USA had eight aircraft carriers (three in the Pacific); Japan had ten aircraft carriers and a number of seaplane carriers.

Aircraft carriers were involved in two of the most famous naval actions of World War II: the sinking of the Bismarck in 1941, and the sinking by Germany of the British carrier HMS Ark Royal, completed 1938, which was repeatedly falsely claimed as sunk by the Axis powers, and was eventually torpedoed off Gibraltar, foundering in tow November 1941.

Major carrier aircraft actions took place at Taranto 1940, the north Atlantic 1941, Pearl Harbor 1941, Coral Sea, Midway, Eastern Solomons, and Santa Cruz 1942. The Pacific battles marked a change from the old naval concept of battleship superiority to that of aircraft carrier superiority; carriers were used extensively, especially in the Pacific, by both the Allies and the Japanese. But World War II proved that carrier aircraft were still not superior to a well-balanced, land-based airforce. During the war 42 aircraft carriers were lost; 19 each to aircraft and submarines, and 3 to surface action. By 1945 the USA had 20 fleet, 8 light fleet, and 71 escort aircraft carriers; Britain had 7 fleet, 5 light fleet, and 38 escort aircraft carriers.

History since 1945 Since 1945, new developments have included the introduction of jet aircraft, the angled flight deck, mirror landing devices, and the steam catapult. The USS Enterprise was the first nuclear-powered carrier in 1961; it could go for almost 480,000 km/300,000 mi before refuelling. The nuclear-powered Nimitz cost $594 million when commissioned in 1974.

Recent developments Since aircraft are now capable of long-range flight, and with the possible use of sophisticated missiles, few carriers were built from the 1970s; their enormous cost, low speed, and vulnerability seemed to preclude future construction. However, with continuing global commitments and the dominance of air power on the battlefield, most major powers are now in the process of replacing their ageing aircraft carriers.