Carrier

An aircraft carrier (often called simply a carrier) is a type of warship used as a mobile airbase for military aircraft. Aircraft carriers can project military force over very large areas and have become elements of modern US military warfare since the second world war.

Real World Carriers

• HMS Ark Royal (91)
• USS Langley (CV-1/AV-3)
• USS Ranger (CV-04)
• USS Enterprise (CV-06)
• USS Saratoga (CV-03)
• USS Essex (CV-09)
• HMS Triumph (R16)
• USS Forrestal (CV-59)
• USS Enterprise (CVN-65)
• USS Nimitz (CVN-68)
• USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78)
• IJN Akagi
• Admiral Kuznetsov
• HMCS Warrior (R31)
• HMCS Magnificent (CVL 21)
• HMCS Bonaventure (CVL 22)
• HMS Eagle (R05)
• HMS Ark Royal (R09)
• HMS Queen Elizabeth (Under construction)
• Charles de Gaulle (R91)

Carriers in Science Fiction

Alongside traditional aircraft carriers, in science fiction it is quite common to have spacecraft filling a similar role, mainly carrying starfighters limited to STL speeds.

Examples

• Colonial Battlestars and Cylon Basestars from Battlestar Galactica are primarily starfighter carriers.
• Omega-class destroyers from Babylon 5 are multi-role warships that carry starfighters for support.
• Imperial Star Destroyers from Star Wars are multi-role warships that carry starfighters.
• The BC-303 and Daedalus-class from Stargate also serve as carriers alongside their battlecruiser role. Ha'tak-class ships, Ori motherships, Wraith Hiveships, and Cruisers also serve in the carrier role.
• The Systems Alliance from Mass Effect includes dedicated fighter carriers in its fleet.

Gallery

• 

  The HMS Ark Royal, the world's first dedicated aircraft carrier.

• 

  The USS Langley (CV-01), the the first dedicated US carrier.

• 

  USS Ranger (CV-04). One of only three pre-WWII US carriers to survive the war.

• 

  USS Saratoga (CV-03) one of two ships of the Lexington-class carriers.

• 

  The Big E, the greatest carrier of WWII.

• 

  The USS Yorktown (CV-05)

• 

  The USS Hornet (CV-08), The ship that refused to die.

• 

  The USS Wasp (CV-07)

• 

  The USS Essex (CV-09)

• 

  HMS Triumph. The first carrier with an angled deck. This image is before the refit.

• 

  The USS Forrestal (CV-59), the world's first supercarrier.

• 

  The USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63).

• 

  The USS Constellation (CV 64)

• 

  The USS Enterprise (CVN-65), the world's first nuclear powered supercarrier.

• 

  The USS John F. Kennedy (CV 67).

• 

  The USS Nimitz (CVN-68); a nuclear powered supercarrier.

• 

  The USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) and its airwing.

• 

  The HMCS Magnificent (CVL 21), a Canadian aircraft carrer.

• 

  The HMCS Bonaventure (CVL 22), the last Canadian aircraft carrier.

• 

  The HMS Queen Elizabeth which is currently under construction.

• 

  The French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle (R91). It is the only non USN nuclear powered aircraft carrier in existance currently.

• 

  The Soviet aircraft carrier Ulyanovsk under construction at Nikolayev.