Land mobile aircraft carrier

A land mobile aircraft carrier is a fictional terrestrial vehicle built to launch aircraft while mobile. It is not a launching sled for zero-length takeoff systems. The concept of a mobile airbase on land has been explored theoretically by many people, and deemed impractical^{[citation needed]}, however this concept appears in some adventure fiction and Japanese manga and anime.

In Japanese animanga, the land carrier, as it is commonly known, is usually accompanied by analogs of other wet navy surface ships, such as land battleships.

• In Gundam, there are land mobile aircraft carriers and land mobile suit carriers.
• In Area 88, there is a converted Soviet aircraft carrier placed atop converted Crawler-Transporter drive systems crawling the desert. This carrier also appears as a boss in the video game adaptation U.N. Squadron.
• In the Warhammer 40,000 novel Double Eagle by Dan Abnett, the forces of Chaos use land mobile aircraft carriers to launch fighter strikes against retreating Imperial forces.
• In the Post-apocalyptic The Amtrak Wars universe, giant cross country Road trains act as mobile forts, their long flat tops acting as runways for microlight type attack aircraft.

Although not formally land mobile aircraft carriers, films and television series have also depicted helicopter and VTOL aircraft launches from semi-trailers and railroad cars.

Submarine aircraft carrier

HMS M2 launching a seaplane.

Submarine aircraft carriers are submarines equipped with airplanes for observation or attack missions. These submarines saw their most extensive use during World War II, although their operational significance remained rather small. The most famous of them were the Japanese submarine I-400 and the French submarine Surcouf, although a few similar craft were built by other nations' navies as well.

Early history (WWI)

Germany was the first nation to experiment with submarine aircraft carriers, inspired by the Imperial German Naval Air Service commander Oberleutnant zur See Friedrich von Arnauld de la Perriére. He commanded a unit of two reconnaissance seaplanes (Friedrichshafen FF-29s) in Zeebrugge which had been recently occupied by the Imperial German Army in the early months of World War I. One of the first U-Boats to arrive at the Zeebrugge base was Kapitanleutnant Walter Forstmann's U-12, which was to play the role of submarine aircraft carrier.

Forstmann ordered the modification of the unarmed FF-29 seaplanes so they could carry 26 1/2 pound bombs. This unit made history when on Christmas Day, 1914, one of its newly modified aircraft flew across the English Channel and up the Thames River, dropping its bombs on the outskirts of London where they did little damage. Although chased for a time by three British interceptors, it returned to base safely. On this first ever bombing mission it became apparent that the aircraft suffered more from fuel problems and lack of range than from British defenses.

Later encouraged by this success, Arnauld and Forstmann theorized that they could effectively increase the range of their seaplanes by taking the aircraft to the sea on the deck of submarine and placing it in a takeoff position, then launching the planes after the sub partially submerged, allowing the plane to float off. On January 15, 1915 the U-12 left their Zeebrugee base transporting one bomb-armed FF-29 on its deck. The submarine left the harbor, seemingly dwarfed by the 53-foot-2-inch wingspan of the airplane, which stretched almost one-third of the 188-foot length of the small coastal patrol submarine. After U-12 had left the safety of the breakwater, however, the captain realized that the heavy swells they were encountering might swamp the aircraft and endanger the operation, he ordered the immediate launch of the seaplane.

Forstmann flooded the sub's forward tanks and despite the pitching of the boat, Arnauld in command, floated the seaplane off the deck's surface without much difficulty and took off. He had originally intended to rendezvous with the sub, but later decided against it. After gaining sufficient altitude, Arnauld's plane left for the British coast. The German officer apparently flew along the English coastline undetected and then made his way back to occupied Zeebrugge. The experiment had been successful, inasmuch as the aircraft had been carried out to sea and safety floated off the submarine's deck. However, it was obvious that some improvements were needed in the procedure and setup.

Arnauld and Forstmann proposed further development experiments to the German Naval Command, but were vetoed as their project was considered technically impracticable. The plans were kept on ice until 1917, when they were reinvestigated in the hope that they would increase the striking power of new German subs such as the long-range cruise type Unterseeboots, which were to be equipped with aircraft for scouting purposes - little seaplanes that could be quickly assembled and dismantled on board and kept in special compartments on deck - but the idea was eventually abandonded as the war came to an end.

Two of the aircraft designs created for that purpose were the biplane Hansa Brandenburg W.20 and low-wing monoplane Luftfahrzeug Gesellschaft L.F.G. Stralsund V.19. The first type was designed in 1917 for use aboard the Cruiser submarines that never went into service. The second model was an experimental plane of the flimsiest construction for use in the calmest of seas.

The British, too, experimented with the aircraft carrier submarine concept when HM Submarine E22 was fitted out in a manner similar to the German U-Boat. It was to be capable of launching its two Sopwith Schneider/Sopwith Baby floatplanes in 1916. However, just as in the German experiment, the aircraft were carried outside and the submarine could not submerge without losing them.

World War I / Post WWI examples

France

Surcouf was a French submarine ordered to be built in December 1927, launched 18 October 1929, and commissioned May 1934. At 4,000 tons displacement submerged the Surcouf was the largest submarine in the world at the start of World War II. Her short wartime career is laced with controversy and conspiracy theories.

Surcouf was designed as an "underwater cruiser," intended to seek and engage in surface combat. For the first part of that mission, it carried an observation float plane in a hangar built into the after part of the conning tower; for the second part, it was armed with not only ten torpedo tubes but also a twin eight-inch (203 mm) gun turret forward of the conning tower. The guns were fed from a magazine holding 600 rounds and controlled by a director with a 40-foot (12 m) rangefinder, mounted high enough to view a seven-mile horizon. In theory, the observation plane could direct fire out to the guns' 15 mile (24 km) maximum range. Anti-aircraft cannon and machine guns were mounted on the top of the hangar.

Italy

The Regia Marina (Italian Navy) developed, in the late 1920s, the Ettore Fieramosca, a submarine with a waterproof hangar for a small reconnaissance plane. They gave commissions to the Italian aircraft manufacturers Macchi and Piaggio for two prototypes. The Macchi M.53 and the Piaggio P.8 were developed by 1928, but the program for an Italian aircraft-carrying submarine was cancelled, and the hangar was removed from the submarine in December 1931, before the Ettore Fieramosca was delivered to the Italian navy.

United Kingdom

After the loss of the heavy gun carrying HMS M1, the remaining M-Class submarines were converted to other uses. By 1928 the M2 had been fitted with a waterproof hangar and steam catapult and could launch and recover a small seaplane. The submarine and her plane could then act as a reconnaissance unit ahead of the fleet. The M2 herself was lost in 1932 and plane launching submarines were abandoned by the Royal Navy.

United States

The concept was studied in the United States since 1922. The American government purchased two Caspar-Heinkel U-1 disarmable seaplanes for detachment to Anacostia Naval Station for evaluation and testing. Later one aircraft was lost during an exhibition flight in 1923, but this provided useful technical information.

The U.S. Navy accepted the construction of 12 submarine-based aircraft at different private enterprises like Cox-Klemm Aircraft (from New York) with their Cox-Klemm XS-1 design(1 prototype and 5 pre-production aircraft) and another six were ordered from Glenn L. Martin Company (from Baltimore) with their design Glenn Martin MS-1, both small disarmable seaplanes.

Both models were tested in submarine S-1 during October and November 1923. Later the Cox-Klemm company attempted to develop its design with an XS-2 model, but the Navy lost interest in the concept. In 1931 another similar concept was born when Loening Aircraft Engineering Corporation presented its design Loening XSL-1 Amphibian flying boat for submarine trials aboard the S-1, but this concept was never accepted by the submarine service.

News that the British submarine HMS M2 had sunk during aircraft launching trials during 1933, and damage to the XSL-2 during aquatic testings in the Anacostia river area, caused the whole idea of submarine-borne aircraft to be abandoned by the U.S. Navy.

World War II / Post WWII examples

Germany

The Kriegsmarine also started development of submarines capable of launching aircraft and ordered 4 very large "cruiser" U-boats in early 1939. These boats were to be twice as large as any existing U-boat and have a crew of 110. They were intended to carry a single Arado Ar 231 aircraft, but were canceled at the outbreak of war later that year.

Type XI B "Schwarzer Ritter"

The Unterseboot Type XI B that did not officially exist.The first sub of this type and unique operative example,U-112 has been named as the only Type XI B completed under secrecy and your operations was unrecorded. The large 3,600 ton U-boat was larger than any other German U-boat type and faster at 23 knots. Two massive turrets on the deck with four 127 mm guns and was designed to carry a collapsible aircraft- an Arado Ar 231 in special hangar in deck.

If was code-named "Schwarzer Ritter" (Black Knight) and was send during the war at neutral ports in Spain, later heading back to Germany for a special mission in late 1944.such submarine was discovered in 1993 off Cape Cod, apparently sunk before its mission was accomplished. It is now known as CA-35 after the German naval chart location system.This boat was also designed to carry double a standard U-boat crew with provision for carrying material and special commandos.

Type IX D 2-"Monsun"

Other German long range U-boat was the Type IX D 2 "Monsun", used in the Indian Ocean and Far East Area based in Penang (Occupied Malaya) during wartime. To aid such submarines the "Autogyro-Glider" Observation vehicle Focke-Achgelis Fa 330 "Bachstelze" (Water Wagtail) was developed. This vehicle was used in the Indian Ocean and sporadically in the Southern Atlantic, since May-June 1942.

Another plan was the use of Flettner Fl 282A "Kolibri" Disarmable recon-helicopter version from long range submarines.

Such project implied the special disarmable one-place helicopter design were its fuselage was manufactured of welded steel tubing that was sized so that it could be stowed with rotor blades and landing gear removed in a compact area (5.9 ft. in diameter by 18 ft. long) and its pressured hangar for carriage in the U-boat plan.

There is no evidence that any Fl 282 "Kolibri" was deployed on a German submarine in wartime.

Japan

The Japanese applied the concept of the submarine aircraft carrier extensively. Altogether 47 submarines were built with the capability to carry seaplanes. Most IJN submarine aircraft carriers could carry only one aircraft, though a few types could carry two, and the giant I-400 class submarines could carry 3.

B1 Type (20 units)

B1 type submarine.

The B1 Type (I-15 Series) submarines (I-15, I-17, I-19, I-21, I-23, I-25, I-26, I-27, I-28, I-29, I-30, I-31, I-32, I-33, I-34, I-35, I-36, I-37, I-38, I-39) were the most numerous type of submarines of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. In total, 20 were made, starting with number I-15, which became the name of the series. These submarines were fast, had a very long range, and carried a single Yokosuka E14Y seaplane, located in a hangar in front of the conning tower, which was launched by a catapult.

The series was rather successful, especially at the beginning of the war. The I-26, in 1942, crippled the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga. The I-19, on 15 September 1942, fired six torpedoes at the aircraft carrier USS Wasp, two of which hit the carrier and crippled it, with the remaining torpedoes damaging the battleship USS North Carolina. The I-25 conducted the only aerial bombings ever on the continental United States in September 1942.

AM Type (I-13,I-14)

The AM (A Modified) type submarine was a large seaplane-carrying submarine, with a hangar space for 2 aircraft. These giant submarines were originally of the A2 type, but their design was revised after construction started so that they could carry a second aircraft. The seaplanes were to be the Aichi M6A1 bomber carrying 800 kg bombs.

The range and speed of these submarines was remarkable (21,000 nm at 16 knots), but their underwater performance was compromised, making them easy targets. The I-13 was sunk on 16 July 1945 by the destroyer escort USS Lawrence C. Taylor (DE-415) and aircraft action from the escort carrier USS Anzio about 550 miles east of Yokosuka. The I-14 surrendered at sea at the end of the war, and was later scrapped.

Sentoku Type (I-400, I-401, I-402)

An I-400 class submarine

The I-400 class submarine displaced 6,500 tons and was over 400 feet (120 m) long, three times the size of ordinary submarines. It had a figure-eight hull shape for additional strength to handle the on-deck hangar for housing the three Seiran aircraft. In addition, it had four anti-aircraft guns and a large deck cannon as well as eight torpedo tubes from which they could fire the Long Lance - the largest, longest ranged and most deadly torpedo in use at the time.

Three of the Sen Toku were built, the I-400, I-401, and I-402. Each had four 3,000 horsepower (2.2 MW) engines and enough fuel to go around the world one-and-a-half times, more than enough to reach the United States from either direction.

The submarines were also able to carry three Sei ran aircraft (the Aichi M6A), each carrying an 800 kilogram (1,760 lb) bomb 650 miles (1000 km) at 360 miles per hour (580 km/h). Its name was combination of sei (clear sky) and ran (storm), literally “storm out of a clear sky,” because the Americans would not know they were coming. It had a wing span of 40 feet (12 m) and a length of 38 feet (11.6 m). To fit the aircraft into the hangar the wings of the aircraft were folded back, the horizontal stabilizers folded down, and the top of the vertical stabilizer folded over so the overall profile of the aircraft was within the diameter of its propeller. A crew of four could prepare and get all three airborne in 45 minutes, launching them with a 120-foot (37 m) catapult on the fore deck of the giant submarine.

Future designs

There are no submarine carriers in use today, but several concepts exist that could provide a design in the future, allowing an attack force to move entirely underwater, attack without warning, and vanish again. To match the carrying capacity of a modern carrier, however, the SSCV(N) would have to be massive, and would represent a vast investment of money and time. It remains to be seen if any of the world's navies will adopt this type of vessel.

There is/has been a research project for the US navy, in its changes to the Ohio class submarine from SSBNs to SSGNs, to develop a UAV that resides in and launches from one of the tubes; this UAV is supposed to also be recoverable and presumably reusable

Airborne aircraft carrier

The Akron in flight, November 1931

F9C Sparrowhawk inside Akron's hangar

F9C Sparrowhawk successfully hooks on to Akron trapeze, May 1932.

TB-3-4AM-34FRN in Zveno-SPB configuration with Polikarpov I-16 fighters armed with FAB-250 bombs.

The XF-85 Goblin was designed to be a parasite fighter for the Convair B-36 bombers.

The Boeing X-43 being dropped from under the wing of a B-52 Stratofortress.

Airborne aircraft carriers are aircraft which can launch other aircraft. These typically are large aircraft that launch fighter-interceptor planes.

List of airborne aircraft carriers

Dirigible aircraft carriers

Several plans were drawn up to outfit Zeppelin-type dirigible airships to launch and recover fighters. These are also the typical airborne aircraft carriers found in fiction.

• R33
• USS Akron (ZRS-4)
• USS Macon (ZRS-5)

Bomber aircraft carriers

Early days of the jet age had fighter aircraft that could not fly long distances and still match point defence fighters or interceptors in dogfighting. The solution was long range bombers that would carry or tow their escort fighters. This is similar in concept to cruisers that carried escort fighters, or the merchant aircraft carrier.

Several bombers have been used by NASA as launch platforms for experimental aircraft.

• FICON project
• Project Tom-Tom

• B-36 Peacemaker
• B-29 Superfortress
• Zveno project
  • Tupolev TB-1
  • Tupolev TB-3

Transport aircraft carriers

A few specific aircraft have been built or modified to transport other aircraft; the most famous of these, a pair of modified Boeing 747s known as the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) belonging to the United State's National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and are now used only to transport the US Space Shuttle Orbiter vehicle, though one was used by the Space Shuttle Enterprise to actually launch the orbiter for atmospheric approach and landing tests. The Soviet Union created a similar vehicle (the Antonov An-225) to support the Buran spacecraft.

More recently, White Knight has been used to launch the Space Ship One privately owned space craft, and is slated to be used for a follow design.

• Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) - launched flight testing of Enterprise
• White Knight - launched SpaceShipOne
• White Knight Two - designed to launch SpaceShipTwo
• White Knight Three - anticipated to launch SpaceShipThree

Balloon carrier

The Union Army balloon Washington aboard the George Washington Parke Custis, towed by the tug Coeur de Leon.

The Russian captive balloon carrier Russ in 1904.

Balloon carriers, or Balloon tenders were a type of ships equipped with balloon (usually captive, and usually used for observations), during the second half of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. Their development resulted from the inherent need for ships to have as broad as possible a vision of the surrounding waters, and the opportunity provided by the expansion of lighter than air technology. After several experiments, the type became formalized in the early 1900s, but was soon to be superseded by the developments of seaplane carriers and regular aircraft carriers at the beginning of World War I.

Early history

The first known usage of balloons from a ships goes back to July 12, 1849, when the Austrian Navy ship Vulcano launched a manned hot air balloon in order to drop bombs on Venice, although the attempt failed due to contrary winds.

Later, during the American Civil War, about the time of the Peninsula Campaign, gas-filled balloons were being used to perform reconnaissance on Confederate positions, the battles turned inland into the heavily forested areas of the Peninsula where balloons could not travel. A coal barge, the George Washington Parke Custis, was cleared of all deck rigging to accommodate the gas generators and apparatus of balloons. From the GWP Prof. Thaddeus S. C. Lowe, Chief Aeronaut of the Union Army Balloon Corps, made his first ascents over the Potomac River and telegraphed claims of the success of the first aerial venture ever made from a water-borne vessel. Other barges were converted to assist with the other military balloons transported about the eastern waterways. It is only fair to point out in deference to modern aircraft carriers that none of these Civil War crafts had ever taken to the high seas.

Types

Balloons launched from ships led to the formal development of balloon carriers, or balloon tenders, during the World War I, by the navies of Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, and Sweden.

About 10 such "balloon tenders" were built, their main objective were being aerial observation posts. These ships were either decommissioned or converted to seaplane tenders after the War.

Seaplane tender

The first seaplane carrier, the French La Foudre in 1912, with plane hangar and cranes.

A seaplane tender (or seaplane carrier) is a ship that provides facilities for operating seaplanes. These ships were the first aircraft carriers and appeared just before the First World War.

The first seaplane tender appears in 1911 with the French Navy La Foudre, following the invention of the seaplane in 1910 with the French Le Canard. La Foudre carried float-equipped planes under hangars on the main deck, from where they were lowered on the sea with a crane. La Foudre was further modified in November 1913 with a 10 meters flat deck to launch her seaplanes. Another early seaplane carrier was the HMS Hermes, an old cruiser converted and commissioned in 1913.

The Japanese seaplane carrier Wakamiya conducted the world's first naval-launched air raids in September 1914.

In the Battle of Tsingtao, from September 5, 1914 the Imperial Japanese Navy seaplane carrier Wakamiya conducted the world's first naval-launched air raids from Kiaochow Bay. The four Maurice Farman seaplanes bombarded German-held land targets (communication centers and command centers) and damaged a German minelayer in the Tsingtao peninsula from September to November 6th, 1914 when the Germans surrendered.

These carriers had hangars for storing and maintaining the aircraft, but no flight deck as in a true aircraft carrier. Instead they used cranes to lower the aircraft into the sea for takeoff and to recover them after landing. The ships were normally converted merchant vessels rather than specially constructed for the task. As aircraft improved the problems of using seaplanes became more of a handicap. The aircraft could only be operated in a smooth sea and the ship had to stop for launching or recovery, both of which would take around 20 minutes. The tender was often stationed ten miles or so in front of the main battle fleet with the cruiser screen so that it would not fall hopelessly behind when it launched its aircraft. Seaplanes also had poorer performance than other aircraft because of the drag and weight of the floats. Seaplane tenders had largely been superseded by aircraft carriers in the battle fleet by the end of the First World War, although aircraft were still of minor importance compared to the firepower of naval artillery.

The Australian seaplane tender HMAS Albatross with one of her aircraft overhead (AWM 300122)

In the inter-war years, it was common for cruisers and battleships to be equipped with catapult-launched reconnaissance seaplanes. A few navies, especially those which lacked true aircraft carriers, also acquired catapult-equipped seaplane carriers for fleet reconnaissance purposes.

During the Second World War both the United States Navy and the Imperial Japanese Navy built a number of seaplane tenders to supplement their aircraft carrier fleets; however these ships often had their catapults removed, and were used usually as support vessels which operated seaplanes from harbours rather than in a seaway. These aircraft were generally for long range reconnaissance patrols. The tenders allowed the aircraft to be rapidly deployed to new bases because their runways did not have to be constructed, and support facilities were mobile much like supply ships for submarines or destroyers.

Seaplane tenders became obsolete at the end of the Second World War. A few remained in service after the war but by the late-1950s most had been scrapped or converted to other uses such as helicopter repair ships.

An amphibious assault ship is a type of warship employed to land and support ground forces on enemy territory by an amphibious assault. The largest fleet of these types is operated by the United States Navy, including the Tarawa class dating back to the 1970s and the newer and larger Wasp class ships that debuted in 1989. While often resembling aircraft carriers, the role of an amphibious assault ship is fundamentally different: its aviation facilities have the primary role of hosting helicopters to support forces ashore rather than to support strike aircraft. However, they are capable of serving in the sea-control role, embarking Harrier fighters and ASW helicopters.

History

The two nations that have made by far the most amphibious assaults during the past century are the United States and the United Kingdom. From the great assaults of World War II to the recent attack on the Al-Faw Peninsula in Iraq, both countries have been at the forefront of developing amphibious assault doctrine and shipping.

World War II developments

In the Pacific theatre, the escort carriers would often escort the landing ships and troop carriers during the island hopping campaign. In this role, they would provide air cover for the troopships as well as fly the first wave of attacks on the beach fortifications in amphibious landing operations. On occasion they would even escort the large carriers, serving as emergency airstrips and providing fighter cover for their larger brothers while these were busy readying or refueling their own planes. In addition to this, they would also transport aircraft and spare parts from the US to the remote island airstrips.

Early Cold War developments

Despite all the progress that was seen during World War II, there were still fundamental limitations in the types of coastline that were suitable for assault. Beaches had to be relatively free of obstacles, and have the right tidal conditions and the correct slope. However, the development of the helicopter fundamentally changed the equation.

The Valley Forge was built during World War 2 as CV-45, and finished her life as LPH-8

The USS Iwo Jima (LPH-2) off the coast of South Vietnam in 1965

The first use of helicopters in an amphibious assault came during the Anglo-French-Israeli invasion of Egypt in 1956 (the Suez War). Two British light fleet carriers were pressed into service to carry helicopters, and a battalion-sized airborne assault was made. One of these, Bulwark, was commissioned in the late 50s as a dedicated "commando carrier". The techniques were developed further by American forces in the Vietnam War and refined during training exercises. The modern amphibious assault can take place at virtually any point of the coast, making defending against them extremely difficult.

Earlier ships which played a similar role to the current vessels as the heart of an amphibious assault included five Iwo Jima class Landing Platform Helicopter vessels, built in the 1950s and 1960s and various converted fleet and escort carriers. The first of the type envisaged was the escort aircraft carrier USS Block Island (CVE-106/LPH-1), which never actually saw service as an amphibious assault ship. Delays in the construction of the Iwo Jima class saw other conversions made as a stopgap measure; three Essex-class aircraft carriers (USS Boxer (CV-21/LPH-4), USS Princeton (CV-37/LPH-5), and USS Valley Forge (CV-45/LPH-8)) and one Casablanca-class escort carrier (USS Thetis Bay (CVE-90/CVHA-1/LPH-6)) were converted into amphibs, the Boxer and Thetis Bay classes.

The Tarawa and Wasp types and their Iwo Jima class forebears resemble aircraft carriers.

List of amphibious assault ship types

• LHA: Landing Helicopter Assault (Tarawa class)
• LHD: Landing Helicopter Dock (Wasp class)
• LPH: Landing Platform Helicopter (Iwo Jima class)

Navies currently operating amphibious assault ships

Bâtiment de Projection et de Commandement (BPC) Mistral, French Navy

HMS Ocean of the Royal Navy

France

• Marine Nationale
  • Mistral - LPH (2 in service)

Republic of Korea

• Republic of Korea Navy
  • ROKS Dokdo - LPH (Launched in 2005, Commissioned in 3 July 2007)

Spain

• Spanish Navy
  • Juan Carlos I (LHD1) - LHD (2008)

United Kingdom

• Royal Navy
  • HMS Ocean (L12) - LPH (1995)

United States

• United States Navy
  • Wasp-class - LHD
    • USS Wasp (LHD-1)
    • USS Essex (LHD-2)
    • USS Kearsarge (LHD-3)
    • USS Boxer (LHD-4)
    • USS Bataan (LHD-5)
    • USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6)
    • USS Iwo Jima (LHD-7)
    • USS Makin Island (LHD-8)
  • Tarawa-class - LHA
    • USS Tarawa (LHA-1)
    • USS Nassau (LHA-4)
    • USS Peleliu (LHA-5)

Supercarrier

A supercarrier is a ship belonging to the largest class of aircraft carrier, and generally has a displacement greater than 75,000 tons. Most countries that have carriers operate ones that have a displacement of less than 40,000 tons (such as Charles de Gaulle, INS Vikramaditya), and more often closer to 20,000 (such as HMS Invincible, INS Viraat). Supercarriers currently hold the world record of the largest warships ever built; however, they are not the largest ships ever built, as the world’s largest supertankers are larger and heavier than supercarriers. Supercarrier is not an official designation.

History

The 81,000-ton USS Forrestal was the first operational supercarrier, though USS United States would have been in service earlier, had it been completed; its cancellation triggered the "Revolt of the Admirals". United States would have had a nuclear strategic bombing role, rather than the multipurpose role that all subsequent supercarriers have had, carrying tactical fighters only for defense. The 72,000-ton armored Japanese carrier Shinano of the World War II era was almost heavy enough to be considered a supercarrier, but lacked several defining features, such as catapults, arrestor wires, and angled flight decks, and also did not possess the sheer size of modern supercarriers. Because of the angled deck and large deck area, supercarriers can have a far larger island than conventional carriers, greatly improving both their aviation capabilities and their capability as flagships.

The U.S. Navy is now the only major sea power building large aircraft carriers, of which the 100,000-ton Nimitz class is the most prolific. All completed supercarriers are American, although the Soviet Union did begin construction of Ulyanovsk, an 85,000-ton nuclear carrier comparable in size to earlier American supercarriers. Ulyanovsk was 40% complete when canceled, along with a follow-on vessel, due to lack of funding after the end of the Cold War in 1991. Admiral Kuznetsov was completed, but, while considerably larger than the earlier Kiev class, it is still too small to be considered a true supercarrier.

While not supercarriers as defined above, the two Queen Elizabeth class vessels will provide the United Kingdom with capabilities much closer to United States Navy carriers than their current Invincible class vessels. Indeed, they will be the second largest carriers in service, with a displacement of 65,000 tonnes possibly rising to 75,000 tonnes near end of service in the 2050 (due to refits and extra equipment fits) period. Giving evidence to the House of Commons Defence Committee, the First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Alan West explained that interoperability with the United States Navy was as much a deciding factor of the size of the carriers as the firepower of the carrier's airwing:

I have talked with the CNO (Chief of Naval Operations) in America. He is very keen for us to get these because he sees us slotting in with his carrier groups. He really wants us to have these, but he wants us to have the same sort of clout as one of their carriers.

Light aircraft carrier

Light aircraft carrier

A light aircraft carrier is an aircraft carrier that is smaller than the standard carriers of a navy. The precise definition of the type varies by country; light carriers typically have half to two thirds of the aircraft complement of a full-sized carrier.

In World War II, the United States Navy produced a number of light carriers by converting cruiser hulls. The Independence class aircraft carriers, converted from Cleveland-class light cruisers, were unsatisfactory ships for aviation with their narrow, short decks and slender, high-sheer hulls; in virtually all respects the escort carriers were superior aviation vessels. The Independence class ships, however, had the virtue of being available at a time when available carrier decks had been reduced to Enterprise and Saratoga in the Pacific and Ranger in the Atlantic. In addition, unlike escort carriers, they had enough speed to take part in fleet actions with the larger carriers. Late in the war, a follow on design to the Independence class, the Saipan-class light carrier, was designed. Two vessels in this class, USS Saipan (CVL-48) and USS Wright (CVL-49), were completed after the war's end. After very brief lives as carriers, the Saipans were converted to command and communication ships.

In the post war period, the British Royal Navy also operated a force of light aircraft carriers, all of which were born out of wartime designs.

Some modern references call the French Charles de Gaulle a "light carrier," though at 40,000 tons and nuclear powered she dwarfs the vast majority of the world's aircraft carriers with the exception of the American supercarriers and the Russian Admiral Kuznetsov. By the standards of U.S. nuclear aircraft carriers, however, the primary example of which is the 100,000 ton Nimitz class, CdG is indeed "light."

Helicopter carrier

Helicopter carrier is a term for an aircraft carrier whose primary purpose is to operate helicopters. The term is sometimes used for both ASW carriers and amphibious assault ships.

Helicopter carriers can either have a full-length aircraft deck like HMS Ocean, or have a large helicopter deck, usually aft, as in Soviet Navy's Moskva class. The latter is becoming less common, as such a design represents a compromise.{{{1}}} A full-length deck maximises deck space for helicopter landing spots. Such a design also allows for a hangar deck.

Pure helicopter carriers are difficult to find in the 21st century. The advent of STOVL aircraft such as the BAE Harrier have complicated the classification; the U.S. Navy's Wasp class, for instance, carries 6-8 Harriers as well as 30 helicopters. Only smaller carriers unable to operate the Harrier and older pre-Harrier-era carriers can be regarded as true helicopter carriers. In many cases, other carriers, able to operate STOVL aircraft, are classified as "light aircraft carriers".

HMS Hermes and two of her sisters were 22,000 ton fleet carriers converted to operate helicopters only as "commando carriers". Hermes was later converted to a STOVL carrier.

Escort carrier

The escort aircraft carrier or escort carrier, was a small aircraft carrier utilized by the Royal Navy, the Imperial Japanese Navy and the United States Navy in World War II. In the Atlantic the escort carriers were employed to deal with the U-boat crisis of the Battle of the Atlantic, while in the Pacific they provided air support to ground forces during amphibious operations, served as backup aircraft transports for fleet carriers, and transported aircraft of all military services to points of delivery.

World War II

The first escort carrier was HMS Audacity which was converted from the captured German merchant ship MV Hannover and commissioned in July 1941. She was followed by additional Royal Navy merchant ship conversions. Similarly, Audacity became the model for U.S. built escort carriers, the first example of which was the USS Long Island (AVG-1).

In US service, they were initially referred to as auxiliary aircraft escort vessels (hull classification symbol AVG) and then auxiliary aircraft carrier (ACV) before the Navy settled on the type description escort aircraft carrier (CVE). They were informally known as "Jeep carriers" or "baby flattops." It was quickly found that the escort carriers were better aircraft platforms than the light carriers, which tended to pitch badly in moderate to high seas, and as a result, many more of them were ordered.

CVE was sarcastically said to stand for "Combustible, Vulnerable, and Expendable". This was borne out to an extent by the fact that three escort carriers — USS St. Lo, USS Ommaney Bay and USS Bismark Sea — were destroyed by kamikazes, the largest ships to meet such a fate.

Allied escort carriers were typically around 500 ft (150 m) long, not much more than half the length of the almost 900 ft (300 m) fleet carriers of the same era, but actually less than one-third of the size: a typical escort carrier displaced about 8,000 tons, as compared to almost 30,000 tons for a full-size fleet carrier. The aircraft hangar typically ran only a third of the way under the flight deck and housed a combination of 24 to 30 fighters and bombers organized into one single 'composite squadron'. (A late Essex class fleet carrier could carry a total of 103 aircraft organized into separate fighter, bomber and torpedo-bomber squadrons)

The island on these ships was small and cramped, and located well forward of the funnels (unlike on a normal-sized carrier where the funnels were integrated into the island). Although the first escort carriers had only one aircraft elevator, two elevators, one fore and one aft, quickly became standard, so did the one aircraft catapult. The carriers employed the same system of arresting cables and tailhooks as on the big carriers, and procedures for launch and recovery were the same as well.

The crew size was less than a third of that of a large carrier, but this was still a bigger complement than most naval vessels. It was large enough to justify the existence of facilities such as a permanent canteen or snack bar, called a gedunk bar, in addition to the mess. The bar was open for longer hours than the mess and sold several flavors of ice cream, along with cigarettes and other consumables. There were also several vending machines, which made a "gedunk" sound when operated.

Originally developed at the behest of the United Kingdom to operate as part of a North Atlantic convoy escort rather than as part of a naval strike force, many of the escort carriers produced were assigned to the Royal Navy for the duration of the war under the Lend-lease act. They supplemented and then replaced the converted merchant aircraft carriers which were put into service by the British and Dutch as an emergency measure until the escort carriers became available. As convoy escorts, they were used by the Royal Navy to provide air scouting, to ward off enemy long-range scouting aircraft and, increasingly, to spot and hunt submarines. Often additional escort carriers also joined convoys, not as fighting ships but as transporters, ferrying aircraft from the US to Britain. In this case the aircraft cargo could be doubled by storing aircraft on the flight deck as well as in the hangar.

The ships sent to the Royal Navy were slightly modified, partly to suit the traditions of that service. Among other things the ice cream making machines were removed, since they were considered unnecessary luxuries on ships which served grog and other alcoholic beverages. The heavy duty washing machines of the laundry room were also removed since "all a British sailor needs to keep clean is a bucket and a bar of soap" (quoted from Warrilow).

Other modifications were due to the need for a completely enclosed hangar when operating in the North Atlantic and in support of the Arctic convoys.

Meanwhile the US discovered their own use for the escort carriers. In the North Atlantic, they would supplement the escorting destroyers by providing air support for their anti-submarine warfare. One of these escort carriers, the USS Guadalcanal, was instrumental in the capture of the German submarine (U-boat) U-505 off North Africa in 1944. The Guadalcanal and her task force were commanded by Captain (later Admiral) Daniel V. Gallery. (In 1955 the U-505 was moved to Chicago, restored, and made a permanent exhibit at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry.)

In the Pacific theatre, the escort carriers would often escort the landing ships and troop carriers during the island hopping campaign. In this role, they would provide air cover for the troopships as well as fly the first wave of attacks on the beach fortifications in amphibious landing operations. On occasion they would even escort the large carriers, serving as emergency airstrips and providing fighter cover for their larger brothers while these were busy readying or refueling their own planes. In addition to this, they would also transport aircraft and spare parts from the US to the remote island airstrips.

Perhaps the finest moment for these escort carriers was the Battle of Leyte Gulf's Battle off Samar, where three escort carrier groups, along with their escort destroyers, fended off the battleships of the Japanese Combined Fleet, allowing General Douglas MacArthur's Army to complete the liberation of Leyte. The hero of the battle was Rear Admiral Clifton "Ziggy" Sprague.

In all, 130 escort carriers were launched or converted during the war. Of these, six were British conversions of merchant ships: HMS Audacity, HMS Nairana, HMS Campania, HMS Activity, HMS Pretoria Castle and HMS Vindex. The remaining escort carriers were US-built. Like the British, the first US escort carriers were converted merchant vessels (or in the Sangamon class, converted military oilers). Later carriers were built using the hulls of Liberty Ships not yet finished but already in various stages of construction. The last 69 escort carriers of the Casablanca and Commencement Bay classes were purpose-designed and purpose-built carriers drawing on the experience gained with the previous classes.

ASW carrier

An ASW carrier (Anti-Submarine Warfare carrier) is a type of small aircraft carrier whose primary role is to hunt and destroy submarines. This type of ship came into existence during the Cold War as an development of the escort carriers used in the ASW role in the North Atlantic during World War II.

The three ships of the Invincible class, were originally designed for the ASW role. Following the Falklands War, however, the role of these ships was reconsidered, and they were used as conventional, albeit light, fleet aircraft carriers, in the power projection role.

Future aircraft carriers

Several nations which currently possess aircraft carriers are in the process of planning new classes to replace current ones. The world's navies still generally see the aircraft carrier as the main future capital ship, with developments such as the arsenal ship, which have been promoted as an alternative, seen as too limited in terms of flexibility.

Military experts such as John Keegan have noted that in any future naval conflict between reasonably evenly matched powers, all surface ships - including aircraft carriers - would be at extreme and disproportionate risk, mainly due to the advanced capabilities of satellite reconnaissance and anti-ship missiles. Contrary to the thrust of most current naval spending, Keegan therefore postulates that eventually, most navies will move to submarines as their main fighting ships, including in roles where submarines play only a minor or no role at the moment.

Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy

In June 2005, reports from boxun.com that the People's Republic of China would build a US$ 362 million aircraft carrier with a displacement of 78,000 tonnes were denied by Chinese defence official Zhang Guangqin.

China bought the unfinished Soviet aircraft carrier Varyag in 2001 from the Ukraine, supposedly to be turned into a floating casino. Pictures taken while in port suggest this plan has been abandoned and show that work is being carried out to maintain its military function. There is no conclusive evidence as to what role it would play in the Chinese Navy.

In 2007, it was announced that China was working on a plan for producing its own aircraft carrier.

French Navy

Future French aircraft carrier

The French Navy has set in motion plans for a second CTOL aircraft carrier, to supplement Charles de Gaulle. The design is to be much larger, in the range of 65-74,000 tonnes, and will not be nuclear-powered like Charles de Gaulle. There are plans to buy the third carrier of the current Royal Navy design for CATOBAR operations (the Thales/BAE Systems design for the Royal Navy is for a STOVL carrier which is reconfigurable to CATOBAR operations).

Indian Navy

An artist's rendering of the Vikrant class aircraft carrier set to join the Indian Navy in 2012.

India started the construction of a 37,500 tonne, 252 meter-long Vikrant class aircraft carrier in April 2005. The new carrier will cost US$762 million and will operate MiG 29K 'Fulcrum', Naval HAL Tejas and Sea Harrier aircraft along with the Indian-made helicopter HAL Dhruv. The ship will be powered by four turbine engines and when completed will have a range of 7,500 nautical miles (14,000 km), carrying 160 officers, 1400 sailors, and 30 aircraft. The carrier is being constructed by a state-run shipyard in Cochin.

In 2004, India also bought Admiral Gorshkov from Russia for US$1.5 billion. It is most likely to be named the INS Vikramaditya, and is expected to join the Indian Navy in 2008 after a refit. However, this date now seems overly optimistic, as delays in INS Vikramaditya refit were announced in the middle of July 2007. Eduard Borisov, an acting director of Sevmash plant responsible for refit, stated that production capabilities of the plant were overestimated for current funding level, and the refit will approximately take one or two years more. Vladimir Pastuhov, Sevmash director, had to step down, along with two other top managers of large defence contractors, in a largest scandal in Russian defence industry in recent years.

Italian Navy

The construction of the conventional powered Marina Militare STOVL aircraft carrier Cavour began in 2001. It is being built by Fincantieri of Italy. After much delay, Cavour is expected to enter service in 2008 to complement the Marina Militare aircraft carrier Giuseppe Garibaldi. A second aircraft carrier in the 25-30,000 tonne range is much desired by the Italian Navy, to replace the already decommissioned helicopter carrier Vittorio Veneto, but for budgetary reasons all further development is on hold. It is provisionally called Alcide de Gasperi.

Royal Navy (United Kingdom)

The Royal Navy is currently planning two new larger STOVL aircraft carriers (the Queen Elizabeth class) to replace the three Invincible class carriers. These two ships are to be named HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales. They will be able to operate up to 48 aircraft and will have a displacement of around 65,000 tonnes. The two ships are due to enter service in 2014 and 2016 respectively. Their primary aircraft complement will be made up of F-35B Lightning IIs, and their ship's company will number around 1000.

The two ships will be the largest warships ever built for the Royal Navy. Initially to be configured for STOVL operations, the carriers are to be adaptable to allow any type of future generation of aircraft to operate from them.

Russian Navy

Russian Navy Commander-in-Chief Admiral Vladimir Masorin officially stated on June 23, 2007, that Navy is currently considering a specifications of a new nuclear aircraft carrier design, for the class that was first announced about a month earlier. Production of the carriers is believed to start around 2010 at Zvezdochka plant in Severodvinsk, where the large drydock, capable of launching vessels with more than 100,000 ton displacement, is now being built.

In his statement Admiral Masorin stated that general dimensions of the project are already determined. The projected carrier is to have a nuclear propulsion, to displace about 50,000 tons and to carry an air wing of 30-50 air superiority aircraft and helicopters, which makes her roughly comparable to French Charles de Gaulle carrier. "The giants that the US Navy builds, those that carry 100-130 aircraft, we won't build anything like that", said Admiral Masorin.^[20] The planned specs reflects the role of aircraft carriers as an air support platforms for guided missile cruisers and submarines, traditional for the Russian Navy.

Russian naval establishment had long agreed that since the decommissioning of Kiev class carriers the only operational carrier Admiral Kuznetsov was insufficient, and that three or four carriers were necessary to meet the Navy's air support requirements. However financial and organisational turmoil of the 1990s made even maintenance of Admiral Kuznetsov a difficult undertaking. The recent improvement in Russia's economic situation has allowed a major increase in defence spending, and at least two new carriers were believed to be in planning, one each for Northern and Pacific fleets.

Spanish Navy

The project for the 231 meter-long, 25,000-30,000-tonne conventionally powered Buque de Proyección Estratégica (Strategic projection vessel) for the Spanish navy was approved in 2003, and its construction started in August 2005, with the shipbuilding firm Navantia in charge of the project. The Buque de proyección estratégica is a vessel designed to operate both as amphibious assault vessel and as VSTOL aircraft carrier, depending on the mission assigned. The design was made keeping in mind the low-intensity conflicts in which the Spanish Navy is likely to be involved in the future. When it is configured to operate as VSTOL aircraft carrier, the operating range will be about 25,000 tonnes, and it will operate a maximum of 30 Matador AV-8B+, F-35 or a mixed force of both aircraft. The ship is provided with a Ski-Jump and a tri-dimensional radar based combat system, and she will be the second operating aircraft carrier of the Spanish navy after Príncipe de Asturias.

Australia is also purchasing two of these vessels for their own naval fleet, rechristened as "Canberra Class" Amphibious Assault Carriers.

US Navy

Virtual depiction of the new US Navy Gerald R. Ford-Class carrier

The current US Fleet of Nimitz class carriers are to be followed into service (and in some cases replaced) by the Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) class. It is expected that the ships will be larger than the Nimitz, and will also be designed to be less detectable by radar. The United States Navy is also looking to make these new carriers more automated in an effort to reduce the amount of funding required to maintain and operate its supercarriers.

With the decommissioning of the USS John F. Kennedy in March, 2007, the US fleet has been reduced to 11 supercarriers; thus creating major discussions between the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Congress. The House Armed Services Seapower subcommittee on July 24, 2007 is recommending 7, maybe 8 new carriers (1 every 4 years). However, the debate is deepened over budgeting for the $12-14.5 billion (plus $12 billion for development and research) for the Gerald Ford-class carrier (estimated service 2015). And, comparing these expenditures for a smaller $2 billion 45,000-ton class big-deck amphibious assault ships for squadrons of the new F-35Bs

Aircraft carriers today

Aircraft carriers are generally the largest ships operated by navies; a Nimitz class carrier powered by two nuclear reactors and four steam turbines is 1092 feet (333 m) long and costs about $4.5 billion. The United States has the majority of aircraft carriers with eleven in service, one under construction, and one on order. Its aircraft carriers are a cornerstone of American power projection capability.

Nine countries maintain a total of 20 aircraft carriers in active service: United States, United Kingdom, France, Russia, Italy, India, Spain, Brazil, and Thailand. In addition the People's Republic of China's People's Liberation Army Navy possesses the former Soviet aircraft carrier Varyag, but most naval analysts believe that they have no intention to operate it, but instead are using Varyag to learn about carrier operations for future Chinese aircraft carriers. The United States, South Korea, United Kingdom, Canada, the People's Republic of China, India, Japan, Australia, Chile, Singapore and France also operate vessels capable of carrying and operating multiple helicopters.

Aircraft carriers are generally accompanied by a number of other ships, to provide protection for the relatively unwieldy carrier, to carry supplies, and to provide additional offensive capabilities. This is often termed a battle group or carrier group, sometimes a carrier battle group.

In the early 21st century, worldwide aircraft carriers are capable of carrying about 1250 aircraft. US carriers account for over 1000 of these. The United Kingdom and France are both undergoing a major expansion in carrier capability (with a common ship class), but the United States will still maintain a very large lead.

Flight deck

As "runways at sea," modern aircraft carriers have a flat-top deck design that serves as a flight deck for take-off and landing of aircraft. Aircraft take off to the front, into the wind, and land from the rear. Carriers steam at speed, for example up to 35 knots (65 km/h), into the wind during take-off in order to increase the apparent wind speed, thereby reducing the speed of the aircraft relative to the ship. On some ships, a steam-powered catapult is used to propel the aircraft forward assisting the power of its engines and allowing it to take off in a shorter distance than would otherwise be required, even with the headwind effect of the ship's course. On other carriers, aircraft do not require assistance for take off — the requirement for assistance relates to aircraft design and performance. Conversely, when landing on a carrier, conventional aircraft rely upon a tailhook that catches on arrestor wires stretched across the deck to bring them to a stop in a shorter distance than normal. Other aircraft — helicopters and V/STOL (Vertical/Short Take-Off and Landing) designs — utilize their hover capability to land vertically and so require no assistance in speed reduction upon landing.

Conventional ("tailhook") aircraft rely upon a landing signal officer (LSO) to control the plane's landing approach, visually gauging altitude, attitude, and speed, and transmitting that data to the pilot. Before the angled deck emerged in the 1950s, LSOs used colored paddles to signal corrections to the pilot. From the late 1950s onward, visual landing aids such as mirrors provided information on proper glide slope, but LSOs still transmit voice calls to landing pilots by radio.

Since the early 1950s it has been common to direct the landing recovery area off to port at an angle to the line of the ship. The primary function of the angled deck landing area is to allow aircraft who miss the arresting wires, referred to as a "bolter", to become airborne again without the risk of hitting aircraft parked on the forward parts of the deck. The angled deck also allows launching of aircraft at the same time as others land.

The above deck areas of the warship (the bridge, flight control tower, and so on) are concentrated to the starboard side of the deck in a relatively small area called an "island". The starboard side of the ship is used for the island because early carrier pilots showed a tendency to veer left in a crash situation. Very few carriers have been designed or built without an island and such a configuration has not been seen in a fleet sized carrier. The "flush deck" configuration proved to have very significant drawbacks, complicating navigation, air traffic control and numerous other factors.

A more recent configuration, used by the British Royal Navy, has a 'ski-jump' ramp at the forward end of the flight deck. This was developed to help launch VTOL (or STOVL) aircraft (aircraft that are able to take off and land with little or no forward movement) such as the Sea Harrier. Although the aircraft are capable of flying vertically off the deck, using the ramp is more fuel efficient. As catapults and arrestor cables are unnecessary, carriers with this arrangement reduce weight, complexity, and space needed for equipment. The disadvantage of the ski jump — and hence, the reason this configuration has not appeared on American supercarriers — is the penalty that it exacts on aircraft size, payload and fuel load (and hence, range): Large, slow planes such as the E-2 Hawkeye and heavily-laden strike fighters like the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet cannot use a ski jump because their high weight requires either a longer takeoff roll than is possible on a carrier deck, or catapult assistance.

Post-World War II conflicts

UN carrier operations in the Korean War

The United Nations command began carrier operations against the North Korean Army on July 3, 1950 in response to the invasion of South Korea. Task Force 77 consisted at that time of the carriers USS Valley Forge and HMS Triumph. Before the armistice of July 27, 1953, 12 U.S. carriers served 27 tours in the Sea of Japan as part of the Task Force 77. During periods of intensive air operations as many as four carriers were on the line at the same time (see Attack on the Sui-ho Dam), but the norm was two on the line with a third "ready" carrier at Yokosuka able to respond to the Sea of Japan at short notice.

A second carrier unit, Task Force 95, served as a blockade force in the Yellow Sea off the west coast of North Korea. The task force consisted of a Commonwealth light carrier (HMS Triumph, Theseus, Glory, Ocean, and HMAS Sydney) and usually a U.S. escort carrier (USS Badoeng Strait, Bairoko, Point Cruz, Rendova, and Sicily).

Over 301,000 carrier strikes were flown during the Korean War: 255,545 by the aircraft of Task Force 77; 25,400 by the Commonwealth aircraft of Task Force 95, and 20,375 by the escort carriers of Task Force 95. United States Navy and Marine Corps carrier-based combat losses were 541 aircraft. The Fleet Air Arm lost 86 aircraft in combat, and the Fleet Air Arm of Australia 15.

U.S. carrier operations in Southeast Asia

The United States Navy fought "the most protracted, bitter, and costly war" (René Francillon) in the history of naval aviation from August 2, 1964 to August 15, 1973 in the waters of the South China Sea. Operating from two deployment points (Yankee Station and Dixie Station), carrier aircraft supported combat operations in South Vietnam and conducted bombing operations in conjunction with the U.S. Air Force in North Vietnam under Operations Flaming Dart, Rolling Thunder, and Linebacker. The number of carriers on the line varied during differing points of the conflict, but as many as six operated at one time during Operation Linebacker.

Twenty-one aircraft carriers (all operational attack carriers during the era except John F. Kennedy) deployed to Task Force 77 of the U.S. Seventh Fleet, conducting 86 war cruises and operating 9,178 total days on the line in the Gulf of Tonkin. 530 aircraft were lost in combat and 329 more in operational accidents, causing the deaths of 377 naval aviators, with 64 others reported missing and 179 taken prisoner-of-war. 205 officers and men of the ship's complements of three carriers (Forrestal, Enterprise, and Oriskany) were killed in major shipboard fires.

Falklands War

During the Falklands War the United Kingdom was able to win a conflict 8,000 miles (13,000 km) from home in large part due to the use of the light fleet carrier HMS Hermes and the smaller "through deck cruiser" HMS Invincible. The Falklands showed the value of a VSTOL aircraft — the Hawker Siddeley Harrier (the RN Sea Harrier and press-ganged RAF Harriers) in defending the fleet and assault force from shore based aircraft and for attacking the enemy. Sea Harriers shot down 21 fast attack jets and suffered no aerial combat losses, although six were lost to accidents and ground fire. Helicopters from the carriers were used to deploy troops, medevac, SAR and ASW.

Operations in the Persian Gulf

The US has also made use of carriers in the Persian Gulf, Afghanistan and to protect its interests in the Pacific. During the 2003 invasion of Iraq US aircraft carriers served as the primary base of US air power. Even without the ability to place significant numbers of aircraft in Middle Eastern airbases, the United States was capable of carrying out significant air attacks from carrier-based squadrons. Recently, US aircraft carriers, such as the USS Ronald Reagan provided air support for counter-insurgency operations in Iraq.