Aircraft Carrier History

The aircraft carrier is a symbol of the might and flexibility of many navies, including the United States Navy. A carrier is large and complex, and the ship fulfills a vital role in projecting military power. While almost anyone can identify an aircraft carrier on sight, few people know the history of this important seagoing vessel. The aircraft carrier is not yet a century old, but its history is filled with interesting facts and technological innovations that have pushed the envelope of both nautical and aeronautical possibilities.

History

The the first naval craft to launch an aircraft was the USS Birmingham, a cruiser, in 1910. The Birmingham used an improvised launching pad to allow a single aircraft to take off from sea. Still, the Birmingham was not a true aircraft carrier. In 1918, the HMS Argus, a converted British merchant vessel, became the first true aircraft carrier---it allowed both takeoffs and landings of multiple aircraft. In the 1920s, the USS Langley, USS Lexington and USS Saratoga (all converted cruisers) became the first true American aircraft carriers.

Significance

Aircraft carriers represented a shift in naval strategy in the 1930s. Prior to the outbreak of World War II, battleships with their large guns and heavy armor were the ultimate naval vessel. Unlike battleships, aircraft carriers were relatively lightly armored and could project their power far beyond the horizon, deploying torpedo-bombers and intercepting aircraft for miles beyond sight and radar range.
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 utilized the airpower of Aircraft Carriers to devastating effect, destroying the majority of the American Pacific Fleet in a matter of hours. By 1942, however, the numerically and technologically superior Japanese carriers had been devastated at the battle of Midway Island, with four Japanese carriers sunk to only one American.

Importance

Aircraft carriers proved to be important staging platforms for strategic maneuvers throughout World War II and were a symbol of American naval might throughout the Cold War era. By 1989, the United States had 15 aircraft carriers (of two different classes) operating in the world's oceans. The Soviet Union had floated four, and the British navy fielded three.
Aircraft carriers became the centerpiece of mixed flotillas of ships that included carriers, destroyers and battleships, which became known as "Carrier Groups" and represented a flexibility of mission capabilities unlike any pre-World War II naval power.

Size

Aircraft carriers were relatively large ships prior to and during World War II but have continued to grow ever since.
The oldest class of Aircraft carriers, the "Yorktown" class, built in the 1920s, displaced about 25,000 tons when fully loaded.
The newest class of Aircraft carriers, the "Nimitz" class, displaces slightly more than 90,000 tons when fully loaded.
Each successive class of carrier (Essex, Midway, Forrestal, Kitty Hawk and Enterprise classes) has been heavier and larger than its predecessor, because of the variety and size of aircraft and equipment loaded onboard.

Takeoffs and Landings

The most important technological problem facing seaborne launching and landing of airplanes is the limited runway space. Whereas on land, runways can be several hundred yards long, aircraft carriers have a small fraction of that length at their disposal. One solution was to turn the ship into the wind, to assist in providing lift for the aircraft, but this can be impractical at best. Therefore a system of "catapults" and catch wires were installed as early as the 1920s to assist in takeoffs and landings, respectively.
A catapult is a mechanism housed below the flight deck with a hook protruding above the flight deck. The hook latches onto the aircraft and helps propel it to high velocity in a short period of time, thus attaining the necessary lift for takeoff.
Landing conventional aircraft (that is, non-helicopter and non-VTOL [vertical takeoff and landing] aircraft) requires that the landing craft deploy a hook from its tail or midsection. As the pilot lowers the craft toward a designated area on the flight deck, the hook catches the wire and arrests the forward momentum of the aircraft.
Both of these technologies are used on aircraft carriers today.