Aircraft carrier Totally Explained

Everything about Aircraft Carriers totally explained

An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a sea-going airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power great distances without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations. They have evolved from wooden vessels used to deploy a balloon into nuclear powered warships that carry dozens of fixed and rotary wing aircraft. Balloon carriers were the first ships to deploy manned aircraft, used during the 19th and early 20th century, mainly for observation purposes. The 1903 advent of fixed wing airplanes was followed in 1910 by the first flight of such an aircraft from the deck of a US Navy cruiser. Seaplanes and seaplane tender support ships, such as HMS Engadine, followed. The development of flat top vessels produced the first large fleet ships. This evolution was well underway by the mid 1920s, resulting in ships such as the HMS Hermes, Hōshō, and the Lexington class aircraft carriers. World War II saw the first large scale use and further refinement of the aircraft carrier, spawning several types. Escort aircraft carriers, such as USS Barnes, were built only during World War II. Although some were purpose built, most were converted from merchant ships, and were a stop-gap measure in order to provide air support for convoys and amphibious invasions. Light aircraft carriers, such as USS Independence represented a larger, more "militarized" version of the escort carrier concept. Although the light carriers usually carried the same size air groups as escort carriers, they'd the advantage of higher speed as they'd been converted from cruisers under construction rather than civilian merchant ships. Wartime emergencies also saw the creation or conversion of other, unconventional aircraft carriers. CAM ships, like the SS Michael E, were cargo carrying merchant ships which could launch but not retrieve fighter aircraft from a catapult. These vessels were an emergency measure during World War II as were Merchant aircraft carriers (MACs), such as MV Empire MacAlpine, another emergency measure which saw cargo-carrying merchant ships equipped with flight decks. Battlecarriers were created by the Imperial Japanese Navy to partially compensate for the loss of carrier strength at Midway. Two of them were made from Ise class battleships during late 1943. The aft turrets were removed and replaced with a hangar, deck and catapult. The heavy cruiser Mogami concurrently received a similar conversion. This "half and half" design was an unsuccessful compromise, being neither one thing nor the other. Submarine aircraft carriers, such as the French Surcouf, or the Japanese I-400 class submarines, which were capable of carrying 3 Aichi M6A Seiran aircraft, were first built in the 1920s, but were generally unsuccessful at war. Modern navies that operate such ships treat aircraft carriers as the capital ship of the fleet, a role previously played by the battleship. The change, part of the growth of air power as a significant part of warfare, took place during World War II. This change was driven by the superior range, flexibility and effectiveness of carrier-launched aircraft.
Following the war, the scope of carrier operations continued to increase in size and importance. The Supercarrier, typically displacing 75,000 tonnes or greater has been the pinnacle of carrier development since their introduction. Most are powered by nuclear reactors and form the core of a fleet designed to operate far from home. Amphibious assault carriers, such as USS Tarawa or HMS Ocean, which serve the purpose of carrying and landing Marines and operate a large contingent of helicopters for that purpose. They have a secondary capability to operate VSTOL aircraft. Also known as "commando carriers" or "helicopter carriers". Lacking the firepower of other warships, carriers by themselves are considered vulnerable to attack by other ships, aircraft, submarines or missiles and therefore travel as part of a carrier battle group (CVBG) for their protection. Unlike other types of capital ships in the 20th century, aircraft carrier designs since World War II have been effectively unlimited by any consideration save budgetary, and the ships have increased in size to handle the larger aircraft: The large, modern Nimitz class of United States Navy carriers has a displacement nearly four times that of the World War II-era USS Enterprise yet its complement of aircraft is roughly the same, a consequence of the steadily increasing size of military aircraft over the years.

History and milestones

Though aircraft carriers are given their definition with respect to fixed-wing aircraft, the first known instance of using a ship for airborne operations occurred in 1806, when the British Royal Navy's Lord Thomas Cochrane launched kites from the 32-gun frigate HMS Pallas in order to drop propaganda leaflets on the French territory.

Balloon carriers

On July 12, 1849, 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 soon turned inland into the heavily forested areas of the Peninsula, however, where balloons couldn't 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.
Balloons launched from ships led to the development of balloon carriers, or balloon tenders, during World War I, by the navies of Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, and Sweden. About ten such "balloon tenders" were built, their main objective being aerial observation posts. These ships were either decommissioned or converted to seaplane tenders after the war.

Seaplane carriers

The invention of the seaplane in March 1910 with the French Le Canard led to the earliest development of a ship designed to carry airplanes, albeit equipped with floats: in December 1911 appears the French Navy La Foudre, the first seaplane carrier, and the first known carrier of airplanes. Commissioned as a seaplane tender, and carrying float-equipped planes under hangars on the main deck, from where they were lowered on the sea with a crane, she participated in tactical exercises in the Mediterranean in 1912. La Foudre was further modified in November 1913 with a 10 meter long flat deck to launch her seaplanes. HMS Hermes, temporarily converted as an experimental seaplane carrier in April-May 1913, is also one of the first seaplane carriers, and the first experimental seaplane carrier of the British Navy. She was originally laid down as a merchant ship, but was converted on the building stocks to be a seaplane carrier for a few trials in 1913, before being converted again to a cruiser, and back again to a seaplane carrier in 1914. She was sunk by a German submarine in October 1914. The first seaplane tender of the US Navy was the USS Mississippi, converted to that role in December 1913.
Many cruisers and capital ships of the inter-war years often carried a catapult launched seaplane for reconnaissance and spotting the fall of the guns. It was launched by a catapult and recovered by crane from the water after landing. These were highly successful during World War II; there were many notable successes early in the war as shown by HMS Warspite’s float equipped Swordfish during operations in the Norwegian fjords in 1940. The Japanese Rufe floatplane derived from the Zero was a formidable fighter with only a slight loss in flight performance, one of their pilots scored 26 kills in the A6M2-N Rufe; a score only bettered by a handful of American pilots throughout WW2. Other Japanese seaplanes launched from tenders and warships sank merchant ships and small-scale ground attacks. The culmination of the type was the American 300+ mph Curtiss SC Seahawk which was actually a fighter aircraft like the Rufe in addition to a two-seat gunnery spotter and transport for an injured man in a litter. Spotter seaplane aircraft on U.S. Navy cruisers and battleships were in service until 1949. Seaplane fighters were considered poor combat aircraft compared to their carrier-launched brethren; they were slower due to the drag of their pontoons or boat hulls. Contemporary propeller-driven, land-based fighter aircraft were much faster (/ as opposed to / and more heavily armed. The Curtiss Seahawk only had two 0.50 inch calibre machine guns compared to four cannon in the Grumman F8F Bearcat or four 0.50 cal machine guns plus two cannon in the Vought F4U Corsair. Jet aircraft of just a few years later were faster still (500+ mph) and still better armed, especially with the development of air to air missiles in the early to mid 1950s.seb

Genesis of the flat-deck carrier

"An airplane-carrying vessel is indispensable. These vessels will be constructed on a plan very different from what is currently used. First of all the deck will be cleared of all obstacles. It will be flat, as wide as possible without jeopardizing the nautical lines of the hull, and it'll look like a landing field."

Clément Ader, "L'Aviation Militaire", 1909

As heavier-than-air aircraft developed in the early 20th century various navies began to take an interest in their potential use as scouts for their big gun warships. In 1909 the French inventor Clément Ader published in his book "L'Aviation Militaire" the description of a ship to operate airplanes at sea, with a flat flight deck, an island superstructure, deck elevators and a hangar bay. That year the US Naval Attaché in Paris sent a report on his observations. A number of experimental flights were made to test the concept. Eugene Ely was the first pilot to launch from a stationary ship in November 1910. He took off from a structure fixed over the forecastle of the US armored cruiser USS Birmingham at Hampton Roads, Virginia and landed nearby on Willoughby Spit after some five minutes in the air.
On January 18 1911 he became the first pilot to land on a stationary ship. He took off from the Tanforan racetrack and landed on a similar temporary structure on the aft of USS Pennsylvania anchored at the San Francisco waterfront—the improvised braking system of sandbags and ropes led directly to the arrestor hook and wires described above. His aircraft was then turned around and he was able to take off again. Commander Charles Samson, RN, became the first airman to take off from a moving warship on May 2 1912. He took off in a Short S27 from the battleship HMS Hibernia while she steamed at 10.5 knots during the Royal Fleet Review at Weymouth.

World War I

The first strike from a carrier against a land target as well as a sea target took place in September 1914 when the Imperial Japanese Navy seaplane carrier Wakamiya conducted the world's first naval-launched air raids from Kiaochow Bay during the Battle of Tsingtao in China. 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 until November 6 1914, when the Germans surrendered. On the Western front the first naval air raid occurred on December 25 1914 when twelve seaplanes from HMS Engadine, Riviera and Empress (cross-channel steamers converted into seaplane carriers) attacked the Zeppelin base at Cuxhaven. The attack wasn't a complete success, although a German warship was damaged; nevertheless the raid demonstrated in the European theatre the feasibility of attack by ship-borne aircraft and showed the strategic importance of this new weapon. HMS Ark Royal was arguably the first modern aircraft carrier. She was originally laid down as a merchant ship, but was converted on the building stocks to be a hybrid airplane/seaplane carrier with a launch platform. Launched September 5 1914, she served in the Dardanelles campaign and throughout World War I.
Other carrier operations were mounted during the war the most successful taking place on 19 July 1918 when seven Sopwith Camels launched from HMS Furious attacked the German Zeppelin base at Tondern, with two bombs each. Several airships and balloons were destroyed, but as the carrier had no method of recovering the aircraft safely, two of the pilots ditched their aircraft in the sea alongside the carrier while the others headed for neutral Denmark.

Inter-war years

The Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 placed strict limits on the tonnages of battleships and battlecruisers for the major naval powers after World War I, as well as limits not only on the total tonnage for carriers, but also an upper limit on 27,000 tonnes for each ship. Although exceptions were made regarding the max ship tonnage (fleet units counted, experimental units did not), the total tonnage couldn't be exceeded. However, while all of the major navies were over-tonnage on battleships, they were all considerably under-tonnage on aircraft carriers. Consequently, many battleships and battlecruisers under construction (or in service) were converted into aircraft carriers. The first ship to have a full length flat deck was HMS Argus the conversion of which was completed in September 1918, with the U.S. Navy not following suit until 1920, when the conversion of USS Langley (an experimental ship which didn't count against America's carrier tonnage) had completed. The first American fleet carriers wouldn't join the service until November, 1927 when the USS Saratoga was commissioned. (USS Lexington was commissioned in December of that year.)
Subsequently the US was able to build up large numbers of aircraft aboard a mixture of fleet, light and (newly commissioned) escort carriers, primarily with the introduction of the Essex class in 1943. These ships, around which were built the fast carrier task forces of the Third and Fifth Fleets, played a major part in winning the Pacific war. The reign of the battleship as the primary component of a fleet ended when U.S. carrier-borne aircraft sunk the largest battleships ever built, the Japanese super battleships Musashi in 1944 and Yamato in 1945. Japan also built the largest aircraft carrier of the war, Shinano, which was a Yamato class ship converted mid-way through construction after the disastrous loss of four fleet carriers at Midway. She was sunk by the patrolling US submarine Archerfish while in transit shortly after commissioning, but before being fully outfitted or operational in November 1944.

Important innovations just before and during World War II

Hurricane bow

A hurricane bow is a completely enclosed hangar deck, first seen on the American Lexington class aircraft carriers which entered service in 1927. Combat experience proved it to be by far the most useful configuration for the bow of the ship among others that were tried; including second flying-off decks and an anti-aircraft battery (the latter was the most common American configuration during World War II). This feature would be re-incorporated into American carriers post-war. The Japanese carrier Taihō was the first of their ships to incorporate it.

Light aircraft carriers

The loss of three major carriers in quick succession in the Pacific led the US Navy to develop the light carrier (CVL) from light cruiser hulls that had already been laid down. They were intended to provide additional fast carriers, as escort carriers didn't have the requisite speed to keep up with the fleet carriers and their escorts. The actual U.S. Navy classification was small aircraft carrier (CVL), not light. Prior to July 1943, they were just classified as aircraft carriers (CV).
The British Royal Navy made a similar design which served both them and Commonwealth countries after World War II. One of these carriers, India's INS Viraat, formerly HMS Hermes, is still being used.

Escort carriers and merchant aircraft carriers

To protect Atlantic convoys, the British developed what they called Merchant Aircraft Carriers, which were merchant ships equipped with a flat deck for half a dozen aircraft. These operated with civilian crews, under merchant colors, and carried their normal cargo besides providing air support for the convoy. As there was no lift or hangar, aircraft maintenance was limited and the aircraft spent the entire trip sitting on the deck.
These served as stop-gap until dedicated escort carriers could be built in the US (US classification CVE). About a third of the size of a fleet carrier, it carried about two dozen aircraft for anti-submarine duties. Over one hundred were built or converted from merchantmen.
Escort carriers were built in the US from two basic hull designs: one from a merchant ship, and the other from a slightly larger, slightly faster tanker. Besides defending convoys, these were used to transport aircraft across the ocean. Nevertheless, some participated in the battles to liberate the Philippines, notably the Battle off Samar in which six escort carriers and their escorting destroyers briefly took on five Japanese battleships and bluffed them into retreating.

Catapult aircraft merchantmen

As an emergency stop-gap before sufficient merchant aircraft carriers became available, the British provided air cover for convoys using Catapult aircraft merchantman (CAM ships) and merchant aircraft carriers. CAM ships were merchant vessels equipped with an aircraft, usually a battle-weary Hawker Hurricane, launched by a catapult. Once launched, the aircraft couldn't land back on the deck and had to ditch in the sea if it wasn't within range of land. Over two years, fewer than 10 launches were ever made, yet these flights did have some success: 6 bombers for the loss of a single pilot.

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 jet landing was made as early as 3 December 1945; by a de Havilland Vampire piloted by Eric "Winkle" Brown- who is also notable for being the all-time record holder on the number of carrier landings (2,407)]].
After these successful tests 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 wasn't 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 "boltering") and won't hit the parked aircraft because the angled deck points out over the sea. the first carrier to employ the angled flight deck was the USS Antietam (CV-36) 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 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

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 won't 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

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 was expected to join the Indian Navy in 2008 after a refit. However, this date now seems overly optimistic, as delays in the 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 be completed only in 2011. Vladimir Pastuhov, Sevmash director, had to step down, along with two other top managers of large defence contractors, in the largest scandal in the 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 2009 to complement the Marina Militare aircraft carrier Giuseppe Garibaldi.

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 STOBAR or CATOBAR configurations 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.

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