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Thursday 14 July 2011

Aircraft Carrier

Aviator Eugene Burton Ely performed the first take off from a ship in Hampton Roads, Virginia on November 14, 1910. His Curtiss pusher airplane took off from a makeshift 83-foot deck erected over the bow of the light cruiser USS Birmingham.

The airplane plunged downward as soon as it cleared the platform runway and the aircraft wheels dipped into the water before rising. Ely's goggles were covered with spray, and the aviator promptly landed on a beach rather than circling the harbor and landing at the Norfolk Navy Yard as planned.

Ely takes off from the USS Birmingham, November 14, 1910

Two months later, on January 18, 1911, Eugene Ely made the first successful shipboard landing of an aircraft. He landed his Curtiss Pusher airplane on a platform on the armored cruiser USS Pennsylvania anchored in San Francisco Bay.

The USS Langley holds a special place in naval history. Not only was it the United States Navy's first aircraft carrier, but it also started its life as the collier USS Jupiter, the Navy's first ever turbo-electric powered ship. In 1920, Jupiter underwent a dramatic transformation, becoming the platform that would launch countless naval aircraft.

Hōshō was the world's first first purpose built aircraft carrier to be commissioned in the world, Commissioned on December 27, 1922 by the Imperial Japanese Navy, the ship was used for testing carrier aircraft operations equipment, techniques, such as take-offs and landings, and carrier aircraft operational methods and tactics.

Japanese aircraft carrier Hōshō in Tokyo Bay

The USS Ranger was launched on February 25, 1933. It was the first US Navy ship to be designed from the start of construction as an aircraft carrier. Prior to the Ranger, the Navy had converted several existing ships into aircraft carriers, but the Ranger was specifically designed to operate as a carrier. It had a flush deck, which made takeoffs and landings easier, and it could carry up to 86 aircraft. 

The Ranger served in the Atlantic during World War II, taking part in several important campaigns, including the invasion of North Africa in 1942. After the war, it was decommissioned and ultimately sold for scrap in 1947.

The Royal Navy launched the first aircraft carrier-launched airstrike in history on November 11, 1940. The attack was launched from HMS Illustrious and took place on the Italian fleet during the World War II Battle of Taranto.

When the Imperial Japanese Navy engaged Allied naval forces at the Battle of the Coral Sea in 1942, it was the first fleet action in which aircraft carriers engaged each other.

The last time the United States had an aircraft carrier sunk by an antagonistic military was the Battle of Leyte Gulf in 1944.

The British aircraft maintenance carrier HMS Unicorn was the only aircraft carrier ever to conduct a shore bombardment during wartime when she shelled North Korean positions during the Korean War.

The keel for the aircraft carrier USS United States was laid down at Newport News Drydock and Shipbuilding on April 18, 1949. However, construction was canceled five days later, leading to a number of retired and active-duty United States Navy admirals publicly disagreeing with President Harry S. Truman and Secretary of Defense James Forrestal in their emphasis on strategic nuclear bombing executed by the United States Air Force as the primary means by which the nation and its interests were defended. The incident became known as the Revolt of the Admirals.

USS United States, pictured in drydock with her keel laid

Australia decommissioned its only aircraft carrier in 1985, and sold it for scrap to a Chinese company. It was towed to China where, before scrapping, it was studied extensively by the military to help design China's first aircraft carrier.

The world’s first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier was launched on September 24, 1960 — the USS Enterprise had a team of 915 designers and cost $451.3 million to build.

Enterprise underway in the Atlantic Ocean during Summer Pulse 2004.

All U.S. aircraft carriers are Nuclear Powered, meaning they can continuously sail for up to 25 years without needed to refuel.

America has 19 aircraft carriers—the rest of the world has 12 combined.

The only other country to have an active nuclear powered aircraft carriers apart from America is France.

US aircraft carriers are so large they each have their own designated zip code.


The aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth has a reverse osmosis system capable of producing more than 500 tonnes of fresh, drinkable water from sea water per day.

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