Aircraft Carrier

An aircraft carrier is a military ship whose main function is to deploy and recover aircraft. They are generally deployed as part of a carrier battle group which allows a nation to project power great distances without having to depend on local bases for land-based aircraft.

Aircraft carriers are generally the largest ships operated by navies; a Nimitz-class carrier powered by two nuclear reactors and four steam turbines is over 1,000 feet long and costs about $4.5 billion. Only nine countries maintain aircraft carriers: France, India, Russia, Spain, Brazil, Italy, Thailand, the United Kingdom and the United States. The People's Republic of China's People's Liberation Army Navy possesses the former Soviet aircraft carrier Varyag and may have acquired the former Brazilian carrier Minas Gerais, but most naval analysts believe that they have no intention to operate either.

US Navy aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman alongside Military Sealift Command Oiler USNS John Lenthall in the Mediterranean Sea.
Larger version

USS Harry S. Truman anchors outside Portsmouth, England, while her crew
enjoy a port visit.
Larger version

Aircraft carriers have two basic configurations. The most common has a flat top deck that serves as a take-off and landing area for airplanes. A steam-powered catapult accelerates an aircraft under full throttle, from 0 to 165 mph in 2 seconds during take-off to help it reach take-off speed. To land on the carrier, incoming airplanes moving at 150 mph are equipped with tailhooks to engage one of up to four arresting cables stretched across the deck, stopping the aircraft within 320 feet after engaging a cable.

The second configuration, developed for the Royal Navy, has a 'ski-jump' at one end of the flat deck, that helps launch the aircraft. This arrangement is designed for use with VTOL or STOVL aircraft that are able to take off and land with little or no forward movement. These aircraft do not require catapult facilities or arrestor cables to be deployed across the flight deck.

In either case the ship steams at up to 30 knots (56 km/h) straight into the wind during take-off and landing operations in order to increase the apparent wind speed, thereby reducing the required speed of the plane relative to the ship.

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.

Cruisers and other ships of the early twentieth century often carried a few catapult launched seaplanes that could be recovered by crane after landing on the water. These planes were often used for reconnaissance. Many modern warships have helicopter landing capability and helicopter assault ships represent a new form of aircraft carriers.

Eugene Ely was the first pilot launch from a stationary ship in November 1910. He took off from the US 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 of from the Tanforan racetrack and landed on the USS Pennsylvania achored on the San Francisco waterfront.

Commander Charles Samson became the first airman to take off from a moving warship on May 2, 1912 He took off in a Shorts S27 from the battleship HMS Hibernia while she steamed at 10.5 knots in during the Royal Fleet Review at Weymouth.

The first strike from a carrier against a land target took place on July 19, 1918. Seven Sopwith Camels launched from HMS Furious attacked the German Zeppelin base at Tondern. Several airships and balloons were destroyed.

The first ship to have a full length flat deck was HMS Argus the conversion of which was completed in September 1918.

The first ship to be designed specifically as an aircraft carrier was the second HMS Hermes which was commissioned in July 1923.

Aircraft carriers played a large role in World War II including the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The Battle of Midway where 4 Japanese carriers were sunk by planes from 3 American carriers is often considered the turning point of the war in the Pacific.

More modern uses of aircraft carriers include the Falklands War, where the United Kingdom was able to win a conflict some 8,000 miles from home in large part due to the use of the carriers HMS Hermes and HMS Invincible. The US has also made use of carriers in the Persian Gulf, Afghanistan and to protect its interests in the Pacific.

In the early 21st century, worldwide aircraft carriers were capable of carrying about 1250 aircraft. US carriers accounted for over 1000 of these; the second leading country, the United Kingdom fielded over 50 planes.

List of aircraft carriers

See also: Escort aircraft carrier; amphibious assault ship

External link

Haze Gray & Underway, World Aircraft Carrier Lists:
- http://www.hazegray.org/navhist/carriers/
  - The World Aircraft Carriers Lists are comprehensive and detailed listings (and photo gallery) of all the world's aircraft carriers and seaplane tenders from 1913-2001.

Synonyms within Context: Aircraft Carrier

Context	Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus).
Combatant	Man-of-war; destroyer; submarine; minesweeper; torpedo-boat, torpedo-destroyer; patrol torpedo boat, PT boat; torpedo-catcher, war castle, H.M.S.; battleship, battle wagon, dreadnought, line of battle ship, ship of the line; aircraft carrier, carrier. flattop; helicopter carrier; missile platform, missile boat; ironclad, turret ship, ram, monitor, floating battery; first-rate, frigate, sloop of war, corvette, gunboat, bomb vessel; flagship, guard ship, cruiser; armored cruiser, protected cruiser; privateer.
Ship	Ship, bark, barque, brig, snow, hermaphrodite brig; brigantine, barkantine; schooner; topsail schooner, for and aft schooner, three masted schooner; chasse-maree; sloop, cutter, corvette, clipper, foist, yawl, dandy, ketch, smack, lugger, barge, hoy, cat, buss; sailer, sailing vessel; windjammer; steamer, steamboat, steamship, liner, ocean liner, cruisp, flap, dab, pat, thump, beat, blow, bang, slam, dash; punch, thwack, whack; hit hard, strike hard; swap, batter, dowse, baste; pelt, patter, buffet, belabor; fetch one a blow; poke at, pip, ship of the line; destroyer, cruiser, frigate; landing ship, LST; aircraft carrier, carrier, flattop, nuclear powered carrier; submarine, submersible, atomic submarine.
Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus.

Modern Usage: Aircraft Carrier

Commercial Usage: Aircraft Carrier

Image Slideshow: Aircraft Carrier

Photo Album: Aircraft Carrier

Thumbnail	Description & Credit	Thumbnail	Description & Credit
	An aircraft carrier in San Francisco Bay fills the field of view.Credit: Coast & Geodetic Survey Historical Image Collection.		Aircraft carrier in San Francisco Bay.Credit: Coast & Geodetic Survey Historical Image Collection.
	Band concert under the battleship's after 16"/50 guns, while she was operating at sea with the Pacific Fleet, circa 1945. An aircraft carrier is faintly visible in the right distance. Sailor in right foreground has name J.C. Smith stencilled on his working jacket.Credit: NAVY.		Brazilian Sailors working on one of the ship's 40mm twin gun mounts, at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania, 27 March 1951. Previously USS Philadelphia (CL-41), transferred to Brazil in January 1951, Barroso was then undergoing a pre-commissioning overhaul. USS Tuscaloosa (CA-37) and an escort aircraft carrier are laid up in the background.Credit: NAVY.
	Diorama by Norman Bel Geddes, depicting the attack by USS Nautilus (SS-168) on a burning Japanese aircraft carrier during the early afternoon of 4 June 1942, as seen through the submarine's periscope. Nautilus thought she had attacked Soryu, and that her torpedoes had exploded when they hit the target. Most evidence, however, is that the ship attacked was Kaga, and that the torpedoes failed to detonate. The ship shown in this wartime diorama does not closely resemble either of those carriers.Credit: NAVY.		The burning Japanese aircraft carrier Hiryu, photographed by a plane from the carrier Hosho shortly after sunrise on 5 June 1942. Hiryu sank a few hours later. Note collapsed flight deck over the forward hangar.Credit: NAVY.
	Photographed from a British ship, possibly in Chinese waters, circa the late 1930s. Closest ship at right (beyond the British ship's jackstaff) is the aircraft carrier Ryujo. More distant ships are (from right center to right): carrier Kaga; unidentified ship (carrier?); Kongo class battleship; Nachi class heavy cruiser.Credit: NAVY.		Bombs burst near the Japanese aircraft carrier Shokaku as she was attacked by USS Yorktown (CV-5) planes in the morning of 8 May 1942. Note anti-aircraft shell burst in left center, with fragments splashing below and further left.Credit: NAVY.
	View taken from a Torpedo Squadron Five (VT-5) TBD-1 torpedo plane, from USS Yorktown (CV-5) during attacks on the Japanese aircraft carrier Shokaku, during the morning of 8 May 1942. Shokaku is visible in the left center distance. Anti-aircraft shell bursts are also visible.Credit: NAVY.		Ready for takeoff from a Japanese aircraft carrier, 1942. This view was probably taken on board Shokaku as she prepared to launch aircraft in the morning of 26 October 1942, during the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands. Japanese writing in lower right states that the image was reproduced by authorization of the Navy Ministry.Credit: NAVY.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Non-Fiction Usage: Aircraft Carrier

Expression: Aircraft Carrier

Frequency of Internet Keywords: Aircraft Carrier

Modern Translations: Aircraft Carrier

Language		Translations for "aircraft carrier"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.
Albanian		aeroplanmbajtës (aeroplane carrier). (various references)

Arabic		‏حاملة طائرات. (various references)

Bulgarian		самолетоносач (aeroplane carrier, carrier-plane). (various references)

Chinese		航空母艦 . (various references)

Czech		letadlová loï. (various references)

Danish		hangarskib. (various references)

Dutch		vliegkampschip (aircraft-carrier), vliegdekschip (aircraft-carrier). (various references)

Finnish		emälaiva (mother ship). (various references)

French		porte-avions, porte-avion, navire porte-avions. (various references)

German		Flugzeugträger (flattop, flattops). (various references)

Greek		αεροπλανοφόρο. (various references)

Hebrew		א� י�" � ושאת מטוסים, � ושאת מטוסים (carrier, flattop). (various references)

Hungarian		repülőgép-anyahajó (flattop). (various references)

Italian		portaerei. (various references)

Japanese Kanji		航空母艦 , 空母 . (various references)

Japanese Katakana		くうぼ, �"うくうぼか�". (various references)

Manx		lhong etlan. (various references)

Pig Latin		aircraftay arriercay

Portuguese		porta-aviões (aerocarrier, aeroplane carrier, flatulence). (various references)

Russian		авианосец (aerocarrier, aeroplane carrier, carrier, flattop). (various references)

Serbo-Croatian		nosač aviona (aerocarrier, aeroplane carrier, carrier-plane). (various references)

Spanish		portaaviones (carrier, flat-top). (various references)

Swedish		hangarfartyg (aerocarrier, aeroplane carrier, carrier). (various references)

Turkish		uçak gemisi (airplane carrier, flattop). (various references)

Vietnamese		t� u sân bay (aerocarrier). (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

Domain	Definitions
Military & Defense	A ship specially built for the housing, launching, recovery and servicing of aircraft. Source: European Union. (references)
	Marine craft, traditionally large surface vessel, designed to act as mobile base for military aircraft. Source: European Union. (references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Domain	Usage
Screenplays	Oh, I don't know; not any more than the average aircraft carrier. (The Monkees; writing credit: Dee Caruso; Gerald Gardner)
Movie/TV Titles	Aircraft Carrier (1944)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Domain	Title
Books	American & British Aircraft Carrier Development, 1919-1941 (reference) Dark Sky, Black Sea: Aircraft Carrier Night and All-Weather Operations (reference) Escort Carrier WW II: War in the Pacific on the aircraft carrier USS Petrof Bay (reference) The Aircraft Carrier Story 1908-1945 (reference) The German Aircraft Carrier Graf Zeppelin (reference) (more book examples)

Theater & Movies	The Big Aircraft Carrier (reference) (more DVD examples; more video examples)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Subject	Topic	Quote
Business		The United States dispatched two aircraft carrier battle groups to the region. (references)
Economic History	India	The navy is much smaller, but it is relatively well-armed among Indian Ocean navies, operating one aircraft carrier, 41 surface combatants, and 18 submarines. (references)
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

Expression	Frequency per Day	Expression	Frequency per Day
aircraft carrier	1,959	aircraft carrier pic	7
us aircraft carrier	42	aircraft carrier intrepid	7
aircraft carrier picture	28	aircraft carrier german	7
aircraft carrier sale	21	aircraft carrier history	6
aircraft carrier model	21	nimitz class aircraft carrier	6
us navy aircraft carrier	19	enterprise aircraft carrier	6
world war 2 aircraft carrier	17	aircraft carrier landing	6
aircraft carrier japanese	17	aircraft carrier uss	6
aircraft carrier photo	16	aircraft carrier state united	6
aircraft carrier russian	15	aircraft carrier museum	6
aircraft carrier french	13	aircraft carrier enterprise uss	6
navy aircraft carrier	13	aircraft carrier graf zeppelin	5
aircraft carrier catapult	12	aircraft carrier largest	5
the british aircraft carrier	11	aircraft carrier charles de gaulle	5
aircraft carrier toy	10	essex class aircraft carrier	5
aircraft carrier future	9	aircraft carrier navy u.s	5
aircraft carrier u.s	9	aircraft carrier nuclear	5
yorktown aircraft carrier	8	aircraft carrier fs2002	5
aircraft carrier design	7	abraham aircraft carrier lincoln	5
aircraft carrier wallpaper	7	aircraft carrier nimitz	5
		world war ii aircraft carrier	5
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Expression using "aircraft carrier": attack aircraft carrier. Additional references.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Aircraft Carrier

Definition: Aircraft Carrier