Full Answer
What is the military advantage of having an aircraft carrier?
- Unparalleled Flexibility. A nuclear surface ship brings optimum capability to bear. ...
- High-Power Density. ...
- Real-Time Response. ...
- Energy Independence. ...
- Survivability. ...
- Force Enhancement. ...
- Superiority on the Seas. ...
- Environmentally Clean Source of Energy. ...
What makes an aircraft carrier a super carrier?
Supercarrier is an unofficial descriptive term for the largest type of aircraft carrier, usually displacing over 65,000 long tons. The U.S. Navy currently has 10 such ships. In comparison, a few countries operate what are, by today's standards, medium carriers (fleet carrier) of around 42,000 tons, such as the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle (R91). The size and configuration of the ...
What does aircraft carrier mean?
If we were to describe aircraft carriers very briefly, we would say that aircraft carrier is a warship that serve as mobile seaborne airfields, designed primarily for the purpose of conducting combat operations by Carrier-based aircraft which engage in attacks against airborne, surface, sub-surface and shore targets.
What is the height and width of an aircraft carrier?
What Is the Height and Width of an Aircraft Carrier? The height and width of an aircraft carrier varies according to its class, but this type of ship can be as tall as 200 feet and 120 to 250 feet wide.
What was the first aircraft carrier?
A Japanese carrier, the Hosyo, which entered service in December 1922, was the first carrier designed as such from the keel up.
What was the purpose of the light carrier?
Subsequent design modifications produced such variations as the light carrier, equipped with large amounts of electronic gear for the detection of submarines, and the helicopter carrier, intended for conducting amphibious assault. Another development was the substitution of missile armament for much of the former antiaircraft firepower. Carriers with combined capabilities are classified as multipurpose carriers.
What was the role of the aircraft carrier in the Pearl Harbor attack?
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor by carrier-based planes on December 7, 1941, dramatically demonstrated the potential of the aircraft carrier, which thereafter was the dominant combat vessel of the war. The carrier played leading roles in the sea battles of the Pacific theatre, such as Midway Island, Coral Sea, and Leyte Gulf.
What is the name of the ship that the Royal Navy carries?
HMS Invincible, a light aircraft carrier of The Royal Navy.
When was the first nuclear powered aircraft carrier launched?
The first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier was the Enterprise, launched by the United States on September 24, 1960.
Where are the control centres of a carrier located?
The control centres of a carrier are situated in the superstructure (the “island”), at one side of the flight deck. Aircraft landings are guided by radio and radar and by visual signals from the deck. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Subscribe Now.
Who was the first pilot to fly a plane off a specially built platform?
American civilian Eugene Ely was the first pilot to fly a plane off a specially built platform on the deck of the U.S. cruiser Birmingham at Hampton Roads, Virginia, in November 1910. These experimental platforms led to the development of true aircraft carriers.
What is an aircraft carrier?
An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft.
How are aircraft carriers classified?
Aircraft carriers may be classified according to the type of aircraft they carry and their operational assignments. Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope, RN, former First Sea Lord (head) of the Royal Navy, has said, "To put it simply, countries that aspire to strategic international influence have aircraft carriers.".
What is a STOVL aircraft?
STOVL aircraft, such as the Harrier Jump Jet family and Yakovlev Yak-38 generally have limited payloads, lower performance, and high fuel consumption when compared with conventional fixed-wing aircraft; however, a new generation of STOVL aircraft, currently consisting of the F-35B, has much improved performance.
Which country has the largest fleet of carriers?
The US Navy has the largest fleet of carriers in the world, and currently has eleven supercarriers in service. The UK has two STOVL carriers in service. China has two STOBAR carriers in service. The navies of France, India, and Russia each operate a single medium-size carrier. The US also has nine similarly sized Amphibious Warfare Ships. There are three small light carriers in use capable of operating both fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, Italy operates two, and Spain one.
How many categories of aircraft carriers are there?
Aircraft carriers today are usually divided into the following four categories based on the way that aircraft take off and land:
Why do carriers have angled decks?
The primary function of this angled deck is to allow aircraft that miss the arresting wires, referred to as a bolter, to become airborne again without the risk of hitting aircraft parked forward . The angled deck allows the installation of one or two "waist" catapults in addition to the two bow cats. An angled deck also improves launch and recovery cycle flexibility with the option of simultaneous launching and recovery of aircraft.
How many aircraft carriers are there in the world in 2021?
Comparison of aircraft carriers. As of July 2021, there are 45 active aircraft carriers in the world operated by fourteen navies.
What is the Air Carrier Fitness Division?
The Air Carrier Fitness Division analyzes and evaluates all applications for NEW economic authority to determine if the airline applicant is "fit, willing, and able" to conduct commercial airline operations and that the applicants are U.S. citizens as defined by the transportation statute. The Division also monitors on a regular basis the operations and financial conditions of all licensed U.S. airlines to ensure that they continue to be fit to hold their operating authority and to serve the U.S. public.
What happens if an air carrier does not institute air transportation operations?
If an air carrier does not institute air transportation operations within one year of being found fit by the Department to do so, its economic authority will be terminated for reason of dormancy as provided in section 204.7 (a) of the Department’s Regulations. On the other hand, if an air carrier starts its air service within one year ...
How long does it take for an air carrier to resume service?
Any air carrier proposing to resume service within the one-year period must file with the Department’s Dockets Section, at least 45 days before the date on which service is expected to resume, a notice of such intent and updated fitness information as required by section 204.3.
How long does it take to complete an air carrier progress report?
Once an air carrier is granted the authority for which it seeks, it is required to submit a detailed progress report, within 45 days following the end of the first year of actual flight operations, to the Air Carrier Fitness Division. The report should include a description of the air carrier’s current operations (number and type of aircraft, principle markets served, total number of full-time employees), a summary of how its operations have changed during the year, a discussion of any changes it anticipates from its current operations during its second year, current financial statements, and a listing of current senior management and key technical personnel. If any substantial changes in personnel have been made since the air carrier was found fit, the Department requires the air carrier to provide updated resumes.
What is FAA 135?
As noted above, the economic authority issued to air carriers by the Department is separate from the safety authority (commonly referred to as Part 135 or Part 121 Operations Specifications) granted to them by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). For safety authority application procedures and related questions, air carriers should contact the appropriate FAA flight standard district office based upon the geographical location of the air carrier.
Overview
An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a naval force to project air power worldwide without depending on local bases for staging aircraft operations. Carriers have evolved since their inception in the early twentieth ce…
Types of carriers
• Speed is an important asset for aircraft carriers, as they need to be deployed anywhere in the world quickly, and must be fast enough to evade detection and targeting by enemy forces. High speed provides additional "wind over the deck," increasing the lift available for fixed-wing aircraft to carry fuel and munitions. To avoid nuclear submarines, they should be faster than 30 knots.
History
The 1903 advent of the heavier-than-air fixed-wing airplane with the Wright brothers' first flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, was closely followed on 14 November 1910, by Eugene Burton Ely's first experimental take-off of a Curtiss Pusher airplane from the deck of a United States Navy ship, the cruiser USS Birmingham anchored off Norfolk Navy Base in Virginia. Two months later, on 1…
Description
Carriers are large and long ships, although there is a high degree of variation depending on their intended role and aircraft complement. The size of the carrier has varied over history and among navies, to cater to the various roles that global climates have demanded from naval aviation.
Regardless of size, the ship itself must house their complement of aircraft, wit…
National fleets
The US Navy has the largest fleet of carriers in the world, with eleven supercarriers currently in service. The UK has two STOVL carriers in service. China and India have two STOBAR carriers in service. The navies of France and Russia each operate a single medium-size carrier. The US also has nine similarly sized Amphibious Warfare Ships. There are three small light carriers in use ca…
Aircraft carriers in preservation
A few aircraft carriers have been preserved as museum ships. They are:
• USS Yorktown (CV-10) in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina
• USS Intrepid (CV-11) in New York City
• USS Hornet (CV-12) in Alameda, California
See also
• Airborne aircraft carrier
• Aviation-capable naval vessels
• Carrier-based aircraft
• Lily and Clover
• Merchant aircraft carrier
Bibliography
• Friedman, Norman (1983). U.S. Aircraft Carriers: An Illustrated Design History. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 9780870217395. Archived from the original on 25 July 2020. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
• Hobbs, David (2009). A Century of Carrier Aviation: The Evolution of Ships and Shipborne Aircraft. Barnsley, S Yorkshire: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1783466986. Archived from the original on 6 January 2022. Retrieved 15 December 2021.