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A 'supercarrier' is a ship belonging to the largest class of aircraft carrier, and generally has a displacement greater than 75,000 tons. Most countries that have carriers operate carriers with a displacement of less than 40,000 tons (such as ''Charles de Gaulle'', INS Vikramaditya), and more often closer to 20,000 (such as HMS ''Invincible'', INS Viraat). Supercarriers currently hold the world record of the largest warships ever built; however, they are not the largest ships ever built, as the world’s largest supertankers are larger and heavier than supercarriers. ''Supercarrier'' is not an official designation.

Contents

History

Classes

References

See also

External links

History

The 81,000-ton USS ''Forrestal'' was the first operational supercarrier, though USS ''United States'' would have been in service earlier, had it been completed; its cancellation triggered the "Revolt of the Admirals". ''United States'' would have had a nuclear strategic bombing role, rather than the multipurpose role that all subsequent supercarriers have had, carrying tactical fighters only for defense. The 72,000-ton armored Japanese carrier ''Shinano'' of the World War II era was almost heavy enough to be considered a supercarrier, but lacked several defining features, such as catapults, arrestor wires, and angled flight decks, and also did not possess the sheer size of modern supercarriers. Because of the angled deck and large deck area, supercarriers can have a far larger island than conventional carriers, greatly improving both their aviation capabilities and their capability as flagships.
The U.S. Navy is now the only major sea power building large aircraft carriers, of which the 100,000-ton ''Nimitz'' class is the most prolific. All completed supercarriers are American, although the Soviet Union did begin construction of ''Ulyanovsk'', an 85,000-ton nuclear carrier comparable in size to earlier American supercarriers. ''Ulyanovsk'' was 40% complete when canceled, along with a follow-on vessel, due to lack of funding after the end of the Cold War in 1991. ''Admiral Kuznetsov'' was completed, but, while considerably larger than the earlier ''Kiev'' class, it is still too small to be considered a true supercarrier.
While not supercarriers as defined above, the two ''Queen Elizabeth'' class vessels will provide the United Kingdom with capabilities much closer to United States Navy carriers than their current ''Invincible'' class vessels. Indeed, they will be the second largest carriers in service, with a displacement of 65,000 tonnes possibly rising to 75,000 tonnes near end of service in the 2050 (due to refits and extra equipment fits) period. Giving evidence to the House of Commons Defence Committee, the First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Alan West explained that interoperability with the United States Navy was as much a deciding factor of the size of the carriers as the firepower of the carrier's airwing:

Classes

★ ''United States'' (USA, 1950s): ''Single-unit laid down, cancelled along with four others''

★ ''Forrestal'' class (USA, 1955): ''Four-unit class, all decommissioned''

★ ''Kitty Hawk'' class (USA, 1961): ''Three-unit class, two decommissioned, one active''

★ ''Enterprise'' (USA, 1961): ''Single-unit class, still active''

★ ''John F. Kennedy'' (USA, 1968): ''Single-unit class, a modified'' Kitty Hawk ''design, decommissioned

★ ''Orel'' (USSR, 1970s): ''cancelled''

★ ''Nimitz''-class (USA, 1975): ''Final unit (of ten) scheduled for completion in 2008, all units still active''

★ ''Ulyanovsk'' (USSR, 1990s): ''Two units cancelled after partial completion''

★ ''Gerald R. Ford'' class (USA, 2013): ''One unit in construction, two pending, construction of more units likely over coming decades''

References

See also

★ Aircraft carrier

★ List of aircraft carrier classes of the United States Navy

External links

★ Haze Gray & Underway, World Aircraft Carrier Lists comprehensive and detailed listings of all the world's aircraft carriers and seaplane tenders from 1913-2001, with photo gallery.

★ Aircraft carriers of the USN