Supercarrier

USS Enterprise (rear), the first nuclear-powered supercarrier (94,781 tons), and Charles de Gaulle (R91) (front), a medium-sized nuclear-powered carrier (37,085 metric tons).

The 100,000 ton USS John C. Stennis, a modern-day supercarrier (left), alongside the 22,000 metric ton light carrier HMS Illustrious (right).

Nimitz and Queen Elizabeth, both super carriers compared with Charles de Gaulle, a medium-sized carrier, and Invincible, a light carrier.

Supercarrier is an unofficial descriptive term for the largest type of aircraft carrier, typically those displacing over 70,000 tons (64,000 metric tons).^[1] Supercarriers are the largest warships ever built, larger than the largest battleship class laid down by any country. The United States Navy has ten supercarriers as of 2015.^[2]

A few countries operate medium-sized fleet carriers of around 40,000 tons, such as the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle (R91). The size and configuration of the Charles de Gaulle corresponds closely with the 45,000-ton Midway class the United States built at the end of World War II as a successor class to the much more numerous 27,000-ton Essex-class aircraft carrier, mainstay vessels of WWII after 1943 when they entered service. Outside the US, there are more light carriers closer to 30,000 tons, such as Italy's Cavour. In 2009 the United Kingdom cut the first steel for construction of two Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers, with the first ship to be delivered in early 2017 and expected to become fully operational by 2020. Their displacement is expected to be 70,600 metric tons, making them the third largest supercarrier class in service, after the United States' Gerald R. Ford (first expected in 2015) and Nimitz classes.

History

The first ship to be described by The New York Times as a supercarrier was HMS Ark Royal in 1938,^[3] with a length of 685 ft and a displacement of 22,000 tons, designed to carry 72 aircraft.^[4][5] In 1943 the superlative was transferred to the 45,000-ton Midway class carriers as a step-up from the 27,000-ton Essex-class aircraft carrier.^[6] The Japanese aircraft carrier Shinano, launched in 1944, was the first aircraft carrier with a standard displacement of over 65,000 metric tons.

The post-war standard for supercarriers was set by the proposed USS United States and USS Forrestal.^[7] Forrestal displaced 60,000 tons standard and 78,000 tons in deep load^[8] and is considered the first operational supercarrier in the present-day sense, as used by the US press.^[9] The similar-sized United States would have been in service earlier, had it been completed; its cancellation triggered the "Revolt of the Admirals".

The Soviet Union's 85,000-ton nuclear carrier Ulyanovsk, closely comparable in size to earlier American supercarriers, was 40% complete when it and a follow-on vessel were canceled in 1991 during post-Cold War funding cuts.

As of 2014 the United Kingdom has two 70,000-ton Queen Elizabeth class carriers being built, ^[10] and France had until 2013 been considering building one vessel based on the same design. These ships are referred to as supercarriers by British legislators^{[11][12][13][14]} and the news media.^{[15][16][17][18][19][20][21]} The two Queen Elizabeth class carriers will provide the Royal Navy with capabilities much closer to United States Navy carriers than its current Invincible-class vessels. Giving evidence to the House of Commons Defence Committee in 2004, the First Sea Lord Alan West, Baron West of Spithead 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:

I have talked with the CNO (Chief of Naval Operations) in America. He is very keen for us to get these because he sees us slotting in with his carrier groups. He really wants us to have these, but he wants us to have the same sort of clout as one of their carriers.^[22]

Future plans for supercarriers in the United States involve the construction of the U.S. Navy's next generation of carriers, the Gerald R. Ford class, which will have a 100,000-ton displacement.

Alternatives

The United States maintains ten of these ships. Given carriers' vulnerability in combat and to peacetime asymmetrical warfare attacks, the use of more and smaller carriers rather than large vessels has been suggested over the years, such as Elmo Zumwalt's Sea Control Ship, and carriers the size of USS America (LHA-6) carrying STOVL aircraft and Unmanned combat aerial vehicle.^[23][24][25] However, supercarrier advocates consider them to be more cost-effective than a larger number of smaller carriers.^[26] An American carrier strike group costs $25 million per week for routine operations, rising to $40 million during combat operations.^[27]

The mobile offshore base (MOB) is an extension of the supercarrier concept, a modular floating military base as large as 10 aircraft carriers. If realized, it could be moved anywhere throughout the world's oceans, obviating the need to seek permission from allied nations for use of land bases. The concept was studied in the 1990s by the U.S. government but was abandoned in 2001 as cost prohibitive.

Classes

• Forrestal class (1955): Four unit class, all decommissioned
• Kitty Hawk class (1961): Four unit class, all decommissioned
• Enterprise class (1961): Six unit class, five cancelled, one decommissioned
• Nimitz class (1975): 10 unit class, all active
• Gerald R. Ford class (2015): 10 unit class, two under construction, one ordered, 7 planned
• Queen Elizabeth class (2016): Two unit class, all under construction

Cancelled

• United States class (1950s): Five planned, one laid down, all cancelled
• Project 1153 OREL (1970s): Cancelled
• Ulyanovsk class (1990s): Two planned, one partially completed, all cancelled
• Porte-Avions 2 (2010s): One planned, cancelled

Supercarriers in service

Country	Name (Hull number)	Length	Tonnage (mt)	Class	Propulsion	Type	Commission
US	Nimitz (CVN-68)	333 333 m (1,093 ft)	100020 100,020 mt	Nimitz	Nuclear	CATOBAR	1975-05-03 3 May 1975
US	Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69)	333 333 m (1,093 ft)	103200 103,200 mt	Nimitz	Nuclear	CATOBAR	1977-10-18 18 October 1977
US	Carl Vinson (CVN-70)	333 333 m (1,093 ft)	102900 102,900 mt	Nimitz	Nuclear	CATOBAR	1982-03-13 13 March 1982
US	Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71)	333 333 m (1,093 ft)	106300 106,300 mt	Nimitz	Nuclear	CATOBAR	1986-10-25 25 October 1986
US	Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72)	333 333 m (1,093 ft)	105783 105,783 mt	Nimitz	Nuclear	CATOBAR	1989-11-11 11 November 1989
US	George Washington (CVN-73)	333 333 m (1,093 ft)	105900 105,900 mt	Nimitz	Nuclear	CATOBAR	1992-07-04 4 July 1992
US	John C. Stennis (CVN-74)	333 333 m (1,093 ft)	105000 105,000 mt	Nimitz	Nuclear	CATOBAR	1995-12-09 9 December 1995
US	Harry S. Truman (CVN-75)	333 333 m (1,093 ft)	105600 105,600 mt	Nimitz	Nuclear	CATOBAR	1998-07-25 25 July 1998
US	Ronald Reagan (CVN-76)	333 333 m (1,093 ft)	103000 103,000 mt	Nimitz	Nuclear	CATOBAR	2003-07-12 12 July 2003
US	George H.W. Bush (CVN-77)	333 333 m (1,093 ft)	104000 104,000 mt	Nimitz	Nuclear	CATOBAR	2009-01-10 10 January 2009

Supercarriers under construction

Country	Name (Hull number)	Length	Tonnage	Class	Propulsion	Type	Commission date	Status
UK	HMS Queen Elizabeth (R08)[28]	280 280 m (920 ft)	07060070,600 mt[29]	Queen Elizabeth	Conventional	STOVL	2017 (expected)	Being fitted out
UK	HMS Prince of Wales (R09)[28]	280 280 m (920 ft)	07060070,600 mt	Queen Elizabeth	Conventional	STOVL	2018 (expected)	Under construction
US	USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78)[30]	337 337 m (1,106 ft)	102000 102,000 mt	Gerald R. Ford	Nuclear	CATOBAR	2016 (expected)	Under construction
US	USS John F. Kennedy (CVN-79)[31]	337 337 m (1,106 ft)	102000 102,000 mt	Gerald R. Ford	Nuclear	CATOBAR	2020 (expected)	Under construction

See also

• List of aircraft carrier classes of the United States Navy
• Japanese aircraft carrier Shinano
• Project Habakkuk

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Aircraft carriers.

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