Post-war developments

Three major post-war developments came from the need to improve operations of jet-powered aircraft, which had higher weights and landing speeds than their propeller-powered forbears. The first jets were tested as early as 3 December 1945; a de Havilland Vampire and jets were operating by the early 1950s from carriers.

Angled decks

During the Second World War, aircraft would land on the flight deck parallel to the long axis of the ship's hull. Aircraft which had already landed would be parked on the deck at the bow end of the flight deck. A crash barrier was raised behind them to stop any landing aircraft which overshot the landing area because its landing hook missed the arrestor cables. If this happened, it would often cause serious damage or injury and even, if the crash barrier was not strong enough, destruction of parked aircraft.

An important development of the early 1950s was the British invention of the angled deck, where the runway was canted at an angle of a few degrees across the ship. If an aircraft misses the arrestor cables, the pilot only needs to increase engine power to maximum to get airborne again (referred to as "bolting") and will not hit the parked aircraft because the angled deck points out over the sea.

Steam catapults

The modern steam-powered catapult, powered by steam from the ship's boilers or reactors, was invented by Commander C.C. Mitchell of the British RNVR. It was widely adopted following trials on HMS Perseus between 1950 and 1952 which showed it to be more powerful and reliable than the compressed air catapults which had been introduced in the 1940s.

Landing system

Another British invention was the glide-slope indicator (also known as a "meatball"). This was a gyroscopically-controlled lamp (which used a Fresnel lens) on the port side of the deck which could be seen by the aviator who was about to land, indicating to him whether he was too high or too low in relation to the desired glidepath. It also took into account the effect of the waves on the flight deck. The device allowed the pilot to land without direction from the ship, previously provided by a signalman with flags or lighted wands, or an air controller using a radio. It became a necessity as the landing speed of aircraft increased.

Nuclear age

The US Navy attempted to become a strategic nuclear force in parallel with the USAF long range bombers with the project to build United States, which was termed CVA, with the "A" signifying "atomic". This ship would have carried long range twin-engine bombers, each of which could carry an atomic bomb. The project was canceled under pressure from the newly-created United States Air Force, and the letter "A" was re-cycled to mean "attack." But this only delayed the growth of carriers. (Nuclear weapons would be part of the carrier weapons load despite Air Force objections beginning in 1955 aboard USS Forrestal, and by the end of the fifties the Navy had a series of nuclear-armed attack aircraft.) (see USS Franklin D. Roosevelt (CV-42))

The US Navy also built the first aircraft carrier to be powered by nuclear reactors. USS Enterprise is powered by eight nuclear reactors and was the second surface warship (after USS Long Beach) to be powered in this way. Subsequent supercarriers starting with USS Nimitz took advantage of this technology to increase their endurance utilizing only two reactors. The only other nation to have followed the US lead is France with Charles de Gaulle although nuclear power is used for submarine propulsion by France, Great Britain, China and the former Soviet Union.

Helicopters

The post-war years also saw the development of the helicopter, with a variety of useful roles and mission capability aboard aircraft carriers. Whereas fixed-wing aircraft are suited to air-to-air combat and air-to-surface attack, helicopters are used to transport equipment and personnel and can be used in an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) role, with dipping sonar, air-launched torpedoes, and depth charges; as well as anti-surface vessel warfare, with air-launched anti-ship missiles.

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the UK and the U.S. converted some of their older carriers into Commando Carriers; sea-going helicopter airfields like HMS Bulwark. To mitigate against the expensive connotations of the term "aircraft carrier", the new Invincible class carriers were originally designated as "through deck cruisers" and were initially helicopter-only craft to operate as escort carriers. The arrival of the Sea Harrier VTOL/STOVL fast jet meant they could carry fixed-wing aircraft, despite their short flight deck.

The U.S. used conventional carriers initially as pure ASW carriers, embarking helicopters and fixed-wing ASW aircraft like the S-2 Tracker. Later, specialized LPH helicopter carriers for the transport of United States Marine Corps troops and their helicopter transports were developed. These were evolved into the LHA and later into the LHD classes of amphibious assault ships, similar to the UK model even to the point of embarking Harrier aircraft, though much larger.

Ski-jump ramp

Still another British invention was the ski-jump ramp as an alternative to contemporary catapult systems. As the Royal Navy retired or sold the last of its World War II-era carriers, they were replaced with smaller ships designed to operate helicopters and the VTOL Sea Harrier fast jet; ships such as HMS Invincible. The ski-jump allowed Harriers to take off with heavier loads, a STOVL option allowing them to take off with a heavier payload despite its usage of space for aircraft parking. It has since been adopted by the navies of several nations.