Aircraft Carrier
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Aircraft carrier
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Pictured from bottom to top: Spanish light V/STOL carrier Príncipe de Asturias, amphibious assault ship USS Wasp, USS Forrestal and light V/STOL carrier HMS Invincible, showing size differences of late 20th century carriers
From foreground to background: HMS Illustrious, USS Harry S. Truman, and USS Dwight D. Eisenhower
An aircraft carrier is a warship with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase.[1] Aircraft carriers allow a naval force to project airpower worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations. They have evolved from converted cruisers to nuclear-powered warships that can carry many fighters, strike aircraft, helicopters and other types. There is no single definition of an "aircraft carrier".[2] Within modern navies, many variants are in use. These are sometimes classed as sub-types of aircraft carrier[3] and sometimes as distinct types of aviation-capable ship.[2][4] They may be classified according to the type of aircraft they carry and the operational emphasis they are assigned.
An aircraft carrier is typically the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a naval force to project airpower worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations, and is extremely expensive to build and important to protect. Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope, former head of the Royal Navy, has said that "To put it simply, countries that aspire to strategic international influence have aircraft carriers".[5]
Carriers have evolved since their inception in the early 20th century, from wooden vessels used to deploy balloons to nuclear-powered warships that carry dozens of aircraft, including fighter jets and helicopters. There are 36 aircraft carriers of all types in use world-wide with 12 navies. The US Navy has 10 large nuclear-powered carriers,...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Pictured from bottom to top: Spanish light V/STOL carrier Príncipe de Asturias, amphibious assault ship USS Wasp, USS Forrestal and light V/STOL carrier HMS Invincible, showing size differences of late 20th century carriers
From foreground to background: HMS Illustrious, USS Harry S. Truman, and USS Dwight D. Eisenhower
An aircraft carrier is a warship with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase.[1] Aircraft carriers allow a naval force to project airpower worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations. They have evolved from converted cruisers to nuclear-powered warships that can carry many fighters, strike aircraft, helicopters and other types. There is no single definition of an "aircraft carrier".[2] Within modern navies, many variants are in use. These are sometimes classed as sub-types of aircraft carrier[3] and sometimes as distinct types of aviation-capable ship.[2][4] They may be classified according to the type of aircraft they carry and the operational emphasis they are assigned.
An aircraft carrier is typically the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a naval force to project airpower worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations, and is extremely expensive to build and important to protect. Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope, former head of the Royal Navy, has said that "To put it simply, countries that aspire to strategic international influence have aircraft carriers".[5]
Carriers have evolved since their inception in the early 20th century, from wooden vessels used to deploy balloons to nuclear-powered warships that carry dozens of aircraft, including fighter jets and helicopters. There are 36 aircraft carriers of all types in use world-wide with 12 navies. The US Navy has 10 large nuclear-powered carriers,...