This is about the warships. For the television program, see Supercarrier (TV series).

USS Enterprise, the first and still longest supercarrier (93,284 long tons (94,781 t)), and the medium-sized carrier Charles de Gaulle (R 91) (37,085 tonnes (standard) 42,000 tonnes (full load)).

The 100,000t USS Nimitz, a supercarrier, and the medium-sized 43,000t carrier HMS Ark Royal, ca. 1978

Comparison of four different aircraft carriers

Supercarrier is an unofficial descriptive term for the largest type of aircraft carrier, usually displacing over 70,000 long tons.^[1] The U.S. Navy currently has 11 such ships.^[2] In comparison, a few countries operate what are by today's standards medium carriers (fleet carrier) of around 42,000 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 which did the heavy lifting in WWII after 1943 when they entered service. Internationally, light carriers closer to 20,000 tons (such as HMS Illustrious) are more typical. Supercarriers are the largest warships ever built eclipsing even the largest battleship classes laid down by all countries.

History [link]

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, it was designed to carry 72 aircraft.^[4][5] In 1943, the superlative was transferred to the 45,000-ton carriers of the Midway class as a step-up from the 27,000-ton Essex class.^[6] 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 dubbed by the American press.^[9] The similarly-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.

The United States is no longer alone in building supercarriers, with the United Kingdom building two 65,600-ton carriers Queen Elizabeth class, and France considering building one vessel, possibly based on the same design. These ships are routinely referred to as supercarriers by British legislators^{[10][11][12][13]} and the media.^{[14][15][16][17][18][19][20]} The two Queen Elizabeth-class vessels 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, the then 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:

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.^[21]

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 [link]

The United States maintains eleven of these ships. Given their vulnerability to conventional and asymmetrical threats, more and smaller carriers have been suggested over the years, such as Elmo Zumwalt's Sea Control Ship, and carriers the size of USS America (LHA-6) carrying STOVL and UCAV aircraft.^[22][23][24] However, supercarriers' advocates consider them to be more cost effective than smaller carriers.^[25]

The mobile offshore base (MOB) is a concept for 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 [link]

• United States class (1950s): Single-unit laid down, cancelled along with four others
• 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 still active
• CVA-01 (United Kingdom 1960s): Two-unit class, both cancelled
• Project 1153 Orel (1970s): Cancelled
• Nimitz class (1975): 10 unit class, all active.
• Ulyanovsk class (1990s): Two units cancelled after partial completion
• Gerald R. Ford class (2015): Two units in construction, one ordered, further seven planned
• Queen Elizabeth class (2016-2018): Two units under construction
• Future French aircraft carrier (projected 2017): One unit proposed

See also [link]

• List of aircraft carrier classes of the United States Navy

References [link]

External links [link]

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 1913–2001, with photo gallery.
• Aircraft carriers of the USN