With the advent of heavier-than-air flight, the
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 ...
has become a decisive weapon at sea.
[Bishop & Chant, p. 1] In 1911 aircraft began to be successfully launched and landed on ships with the successful flight of a
Curtiss Pusher
The 1911 Curtiss Model D (or frequently "Curtiss Pusher") was an early United States pusher aircraft with the engine and propeller behind the pilot's seat. It was among the first aircraft in the world to be built in any quantity, during an era ...
aboard .
[Bishop & Chant, p. 8] The
British 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 ...
pioneered the first aircraft carrier with floatplanes, as flying boats under performed compared to traditional land based aircraft.
[Bishop & Chant, p. 9] The first true aircraft carrier was ,
[Polmar, p. 30] launched in late 1917 with a complement of 20 aircraft and a flight deck long and wide.[ The last aircraft carrier sunk in wartime was the , in Kure Harbour in July 1945. The greatest loss of life was the 2,046 killed on —a converted passenger liner with a small flight deck, carrying the ]Imperial Japanese Army
The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...
's 64th Infantry Regiment.
France
Germany
Italy
Japan
United Kingdom
United States
See also
* List of sunken battleships
* List of sunken battlecruisers
* List of sunken nuclear submarines
Nine nuclear submarines have sunk, either by accident or scuttling. The Soviet Navy has lost five (one of which sank twice), the Russian Navy two, and the United States Navy (USN) two.
Three were lost with all hands - the two from the United Sta ...
* List of aircraft carriers
This list of aircraft carriers contains aircraft carriers listed alphabetically by name. An aircraft carrier is a warship with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft, that serves a ...
* Timeline for aircraft carrier service
* List of aircraft carriers by country
This list of aircraft carriers contains aircraft carriers listed alphabetically by name. An aircraft carrier is a warship with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft, that serves ...
Footnotes
References
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*
*
External links
British escort carriers in WW2
Italian carriers in WW2
US carriers in WW2
{{Lists of aircraft carriers
Sunken
Aircraft carriers
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 ...