A helicopter carrier is a type of
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. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...
whose primary purpose is to operate
helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...
s, and has a large flight deck that occupies a substantial part of the deck, which can extend the full length of the ship like
of the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
(RN), or extend only partway, usually aft, as in the
Soviet Navy's or in the
Chinese Navy
The People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN; ), also known as the People's Navy, Chinese Navy, or PLA Navy, is the maritime service branch of the People's Liberation Army.
The PLAN traces its lineage to naval units fighting during the Chine ...
's
Type 0891A. It often also has a
hangar
A hangar is a building or structure designed to hold aircraft or spacecraft. Hangars are built of metal, wood, or concrete. The word ''hangar'' comes from Middle French ''hanghart'' ("enclosure near a house"), of Germanic origin, from Frankish ...
deck for the storage of aircraft.
Pure helicopter carriers are difficult to define in the 21st century. The advent of
STOVL
A short take-off and vertical landing aircraft (STOVL aircraft) is a fixed-wing aircraft that is able to take off from a short runway (or take off vertically if it does not have a heavy payload) and land vertically (i.e. with no runway). The ...
aircraft such as the
Harrier jump jet
The Harrier, informally referred to as the Harrier jump jet, is a family of jet-powered attack aircraft capable of vertical/short takeoff and landing operations (V/STOL). Named after a bird of prey, it was originally developed by British ma ...
, and now the
F-35
The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is an American family of single-seat, single-engine, all-weather stealth multirole combat aircraft that is intended to perform both air superiority and strike missions. It is also able to provide elect ...
, have complicated the classification; the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
's , for instance, carries six to eight Harriers as well as over 20 helicopters. Only smaller carriers unable to operate the Harrier and older pre-Harrier-era carriers can be regarded as true helicopter carriers. In many cases, other carriers, able to operate STOVL aircraft, are classified as "
light aircraft carriers". Other vessels, such as the ''Wasp'' class, are also capable of embarking troops such as
marines
Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refle ...
and landing them ashore; they are classified as
amphibious assault ship
An amphibious assault ship is a type of amphibious warfare ship employed to land and support ground forces on enemy territory by an amphibious assault. The design evolved from aircraft carriers converted for use as helicopter carriers (and, a ...
s.
Helicopter carriers have been used as
anti-submarine warfare carrier
An anti-submarine warfare carrier (ASW carrier) (US hull classification symbol CVS) is a type of small aircraft carrier whose primary role is as the nucleus of an anti-submarine warfare hunter-killer group. This type of ship came into existenc ...
s and amphibious assault ships.
and two of her sisters were 22,000 ton fleet carriers converted to "commando carriers" only able to operate helicopters. ''Hermes'' was later converted to a STOVL carrier.
Helicopter carriers by country
Helicopter carriers
Helicopter carriers currently in use
Retired helicopter carriers
* (
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
) – helicopter carrier of the 1960s–1980s
* (
Italian Navy
"Fatherland and Honour"
, patron =
, colors =
, colors_label =
, march = ( is the return of soldiers to their barrack, or sailors to their ship after a ...
) – an
helicopter cruiser
The aircraft cruiser (also known as aviation cruiser or cruiser-carrier) is a warship that combines the features of the aircraft carrier and a surface warship such as a cruiser or battleship.
Early types
The first aircraft cruiser was origina ...
active from 1964 to 1992
* (
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
) –
landing helicopter dock
A landing helicopter dock (LHD) is a multipurpose amphibious assault ship which is capable of operating helicopters and has a well deck. The United States Navy (USN) and the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) use the term as a hull classification symbo ...
, active 1998–2020
* (Royal Navy) – helicopter carrier of the 1960s–1980s
* (Italian Navy) - an ''Andrea Doria''-class helicopter cruiser active from 1964 to 1989
* (
US Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and maritime law enforcement, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...
), decommissioned in 1946 – world's first helicopter carrier.
* (Royal Navy) – an light aircraft carrier, which operated as a helicopter carrier when HMS ''Ocean'' was being refitted.
* (United States Navy) – lead of the seven-ship , active from the early 1960s to the early 2000s
* (
French Navy
The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...
), decommissioned in 2010
* (
Soviet Navy) – second of the two-ship - active 1969–1991
* (Soviet Navy) – lead of the two-ship ''Moskva'' class, active 1967–1991
* ex- (Royal Navy) – helicopter carrier 1998–2018, decommissioned March 2018.
**
Sold to Brazil in February 2018, renamed ''Atlântico''
* (Italian Navy) – a helicopter cruiser active from 1969 to 2003
See also
*
Amphibious transport dock
An amphibious transport dock, also called a landing platform dock (LPD), is an amphibious warfare ship, a warship that embarks, transports, and lands elements of a landing force for expeditionary warfare missions. Several navies currently opera ...
*
Amphibious warfare ship
An amphibious warfare ship (or amphib) is an amphibious vehicle warship employed to land and support ground forces, such as marines, on enemy territory during an amphibious assault.
Specialized shipping can be divided into two types, most cr ...
*
Aviation-capable naval vessel
Many present-day naval vessels, aside from aircraft carriers and full-length deck amphibious assault ships, are capable of carrying aircraft. A majority of United States Navy ships have at least a helipad, capable of landing medium-sized h ...
*
Landing helicopter assault
*
Landing platform helicopter
*
List of STOVL carriers
References
External links
{{Warship types of the 19th & 20th centuries
Aircraft carriers
Aircraft carriers by type