List of aircraft carriers of the Second World War

This is a list of aircraft carriers of the Second World War.

An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying and recovering aircraft.^[1] Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a naval force to project air power worldwide without depending on local bases for staging aircraft operations. Aircraft carriers are expensive to build and are critical assets. By the Second World War aircraft carriers had evolved from converted cruisers to purpose built vessels of many classes and roles. Fleet carrier's were the largest type, operated with the main fleet and usually provided offensive capability. Light aircraft carrier's were fast enough to operate with the fleet but smaller and fewer aircraft. By comparison, escort carriers were smaller and slower with few aircraft, and provided defense for convoys. Most of the latter were built from mercantile hulls or, in the case of merchant aircraft carrier, bulk cargo ships with a flight deck added on top. catapult aircraft merchant ship's, were cargo-carrying merchant ships that could launch (but not retrieve) a single fighter aircraft from a catapult, to defend a convoy from long range enemy aircraft.

The aircraft carrier dramatically changed naval combat in the war, as air power itself became an increasingly significant factor in warfare. The versatility of the carrier was demonstrated in November 1940 when HMS Illustrious launched a long-range strike on the Italian fleet in Taranto. This signalled the beginning of effective and highly mobile aircraft carrier borne air strikes. The 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was illustrated the power projection afforded by a large force of modern carriers. Concentrating six carriers in a single unit turned naval history about, as no other nation had fielded anything comparable. However, carriers proved vulnerable when forced into gun-range of capital ships, as with the sinking of HMS Glorious by German battleships during the Norwegian campaign in 1940.

With the increasing capacity of naval aviation, the belligerents in the war built carriers in an effort to quickly provide air superiority for every major fleet and led to the development several new 'light' carriers. Escort aircraft carriers, such as USS Bogue, were sometimes purpose-built, but most were converted from merchant ships as a stop-gap measure to provide anti-submarine air support for convoys and amphibious invasions. Light aircraft carriers were a larger, stronger and faster version of the escort carrier. The British 1942 Design Light Fleet Carrier was designed for rapid construction by civilian shipyards. They became the template for nearly all aircraft carrier equipped navies after the war, up to the 1980s. Emergencies also spurred the creation or conversion of highly unconventional aircraft carriers. CAM ships, were cargo-carrying merchant ships that could launch (but not retrieve) a single fighter aircraft from a catapult to defend the convoy from long range German aircraft.^{[2] [3][4][5][6][7]}

Dates are year_month_day to allow ordering. Click on headers to sort column alphabetically.

Ship	Country	Class	Type	Displacement (tons)	First commissioned	Fate
Akagi	Imperial Japanese Navy	Amani	aircraft carrier	36,500	27 March 1927	Sunk 5 June 1942
Amagi	Imperial Japanese Navy	Unryū	aircraft carrier	17,150	10 August 1944	Sunk 27 July 1945
Antietam	United States Navy	Ticonderoga	aircraft carrier	30,800	28 January 1945	Decommissioned 8 May 1963, scrapped 1974
Aquila	Regia Marina		aircraft carrier	23,500	not completed	Scrapped 1952
Argus	Royal Navy		aircraft carrier	14,860	September 1918	Scrapped 1946
Ark Royal	Royal Navy		aircraft carrier	22,000	16 December 1938	Sunk 14 November 1941
Bataan	United States Navy	Independence	light aircraft carrier	11,000	17 November 1943	decommissioned 9 April 1954, scrapped 1960
Béarn	French Navy  Free French Naval Forces		aircraft carrier	22,150	May 1927	stricken November 1966, scrapped March 1967
Belleau Wood	United States Navy	Independence	light aircraft carrier	11,000	31 March 1943	decommissioned 13 January 1947, scrapped 1961
Bennington	United States Navy	Essex	aircraft carrier	30,800	6 August 1944	decommissioned 15 January 1970, scrapped 1994
Bon Homme Richard	United States Navy	Essex	aircraft carrier	30,800	26 November 1944	decommissioned 2 July 1971, scrapped 1992
Boxer	United States Navy	Ticonderoga	aircraft carrier	30,800	16 April 1945	decommissioned 1 December 1969, scrapped 1971
Bunker Hill	United States Navy	Essex	aircraft carrier	30,800	24 May 1943	decommissioned 9 January 1947, scrapped 1973
Cabot	United States Navy	Independence	light aircraft carrier	11,000	24 July 1943	decommissioned 21 January 1955, scrapped 2002
Chitose	Imperial Japanese Navy	Chitose	aircraft carrier	11,190	25 July 1938	sunk 25 October 1944
Chiyoda	Imperial Japanese Navy	Chitose	aircraft carrier	11,190	15 December 1938	sunk 25 October 1944
Colossus	Royal Navy	Collossus	aircraft carrier	13,200	16 December 1944	transferred to France, renamed Arromanches 6 August 1946
Courageous	Royal Navy	Glorious	aircraft carrier	22,500	4 November 1916	sunk 17 September 1939
Cowpens	United States Navy	Independence	light aircraft carrier	11,000	28 May 1943	decommissioned 13 January 1947, scrapped 1960
Eagle	Royal Navy		aircraft carrier	22,600	26 February 1924	sunk 11 August 1942
Enterprise	United States Navy	Yorktown	aircraft carrier	25,100	12 May 1938	decommissioned 1947,scrapped 1959
Essex	United States Navy	Essex	aircraft carrier	30,800	31 December 1942	decommissioned 30 June 1969, scrapped 1975
Formidable	Royal Navy	Illustrious	aircraft carrier	23,000	24 November 1940	scrapped 1953
Franklin	United States Navy	Essex	aircraft carrier	30,800	31 January 1944	Decommissioned 17 February 1947, scrapped 1964
Furious	Royal Navy	Glorious	aircraft carrier	22,400	14 October 1917	scrapped 1948
Glorious	Royal Navy	Glorious	aircraft carrier	22,500	20 April 1916	sunk 8 June 1940[8]
Glory	Royal Navy	Collossus	aircraft carrier	13,200	2 April 1945	scrapped August 1961
Graf Zeppelin	Kriegsmarine		aircraft carrier	23,200		launched 8 December 1938, not completed, scuttled 16 August 1947[9]
Hancock	United States Navy	Ticonderoga	aircraft carrier	27,100	15 April 1944	30 January 1976
Hayatake	Imperial Japanese Navy		aircraft carrier	24,150	3 May 1942	scrapped 1946
Hermes	Royal Navy		aircraft carrier	10,850	7 July 1923	sunk 9 April 1942
Hiryū	Imperial Japanese Navy	Sōryū	aircraft carrier	17,300	5 July 1939	sunk 5 June 1942
Hiyō	Imperial Japanese Navy	Hiyō	aircraft carrier	24,140	31 July 1942	sunk 20 June 1944
Hornet (I)	United States Navy	Yorktown	aircraft carrier	26,500	25 October 1941	sunk 27 October 1942
Hornet (II)	United States Navy	Essex	aircraft carrier	27,100	29 November 1943	decommissioned 26 June 1970; museum ship
Hōshō	Imperial Japanese Navy		aircraft carrier	7,470	27 December 1922	scrapped 1947
Illustrious	Royal Navy	Illustrious	aircraft carrier	23,000	25 May 1940	scrapped 1956
Implacable	Royal Navy	Implacable	aircraft carrier	23,825	28 August 1944	scrapped 1955
Indefatigable	Royal Navy	Implacable	aircraft carrier	23,825	3 May 1944	scrapped 1956
Independence	United States Navy	Independence	light aircraft carrier	11,000	14 January 1943	decommissioned 28 August 1946, target ship scuttled 1951
Indomitable	Royal Navy	Illustrious	aircraft carrier	23,000	10 October 1941	scrapped 1955
Intrepid	United States Navy	Essex	aircraft carrier	27,100	16 August 1943	decommissioned 15 March 1974, museum ship
Junyō	Imperial Japanese Navy	Hiyō	aircraft carrier	26,949	5 May 1942	scrapped 1947
Kaga	Imperial Japanese Navy		aircraft carrier	38,200	1 November 1929	sunk 4 June 1942
Katsuragi	Imperial Japanese Navy	Unryū	aircraft carrier		15 October 1944	Scrapped 1947
Lake Champlain	United States Navy	Ticonderoga	aircraft carrier	27,100	3 June 1945	decommissioned 2 May 1966, scrapped 1972
Langley	United States Navy	Independence	light aircraft carrier	11,000	31 August 1943	decommissioned 11 February 1947, scrapped 1964
Lexington (I)	United States Navy	Lexington	aircraft carrier	33,000	14 December 1927	sunk 8 May 1942
Lexington (II)	United States Navy	Essex	aircraft carrier	27,100	17 February 1943	decommissioned 8 November 1991; museum ship
Monterey	United States Navy	Independence	light aircraft carrier	11,000	17 June 1943	decommissioned 16 January 1956, scrapped 1971
Ocean	Royal Navy	Collossus	aircraft carrier	13,200	8 August 1945	scrapped May 1962
Princeton	USA	Independence	light aircraft carrier	11,000	25 February 1943	sunk 24 October 1944
Randolph	United States Navy	Essex	aircraft carrier	27,100	29 June 1944	decommissioned 13 February 1969, scrapped 1975
Ranger	United States Navy		aircraft carrier	14,500	4 June 1934	decommissioned 18 October 1946, scrapped 1947
Ryūhō	Imperial Japanese Navy	Ryūhō	light aircraft carrier	13,360	31 March 1934	struck 30 November 1945, scrapped 1946
Ryūjō	Imperial Japanese Navy		aircraft carrier	10,600	9 May 1933	sunk 24 August 1942
San Jacinto	USA	Independence	light aircraft carrier	11,000	15 November 1943	decommissioned 1 March 1947, scrapped 1972
Saratoga	United States Navy	Lexington	aircraft carrier	33,000	16 November 1927	sunk as a target 1946
Shangri-La	United States Navy	Essex	aircraft carrier	30,800	15 September 1944	decommissioned 30 July 1971, scrapped 1988
Shinano	Imperial Japanese Navy		aircraft carrier	64,800	19 November 1944	sunk 29 November 1944
Shin'yō	Imperial Japanese Navy		aircraft carrier	17,500	15 November 1943	sunk 17 November 1944
Shōhō	Imperial Japanese Navy	Zuihō	aircraft carrier	11,260	30 November 1941	sunk 8 May 1942
Shōkaku	Imperial Japanese Navy	Shōkaku	aircraft carrier	25,675	8 August 1941	sunk 19 June 1944
Sōryū	Imperial Japanese Navy		aircraft carrier	15,900	29 January 1937	sunk 4 June 1942
Taihō	Imperial Japanese Navy	Taihō	aircraft carrier	29,300	7 March 1944	Sunk 19 June 1944
Ticonderoga	United States Navy	Essex	aircraft carrier	30,800	8 May 1944	decommissioned 1 September 1973, scrapped 1975
Unicorn	Royal Navy		maintenance aircraft carrier	16,510	12 March 1943	paid off 17 November 1953
Unryū	Imperial Japanese Navy	Unryū	aircraft carrier	17,150	6 August 1944	sunk 19 December 1944
Venerable	Royal Navy	Collossus	aircraft carrier	13,200	17 January 1945	paid off April 1947
Vengeance	Royal Navy	Collossus	aircraft carrier	13,200	15 January 1945	paid off 1952
Victorious	Royal Navy	Illustrious	aircraft carrier	23,000	29 May 1941	scrapped 1969
Warrior	Royal Navy	Collossus	aircraft carrier	18,300	2 April 1945	paid off 1970, scrapped 1971
Wasp (I)	United States Navy		aircraft carrier	14,700	25 April 1940	sunk 15 September 1942
Wasp (II)	United States Navy	Essex	aircraft carrier	30,800	24 November 1943	decommissioned 1 July 1972
Zuihō	Imperial Japanese Navy	Zuihō	aircraft carrier	11,260	January 1941	sunk 25 October 1944
Zuikaku	Imperial Japanese Navy	Shōkaku	aircraft carrier	29,800	25 September 1941	25 October 1944

References

1. "Aircraft carrier", Dictionary, Reference
2. Robbins, Guy (2001). The Aircraft Carrier Story: 1908–1945. London: Cassel. p. 91. ISBN 978-0-30435-308-8.
3. Naval Vessel Register Index
4. "US Navy Inactive Classification Symbols". Naval Vessel Register. NAVSEA Shipbuilding Support Office. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
5. Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships Index
6. Wise
7. Archives, The National. "Royal Navy operations in the Second World War - The National Archives". The National Archives. Retrieved 2016-03-29.
8. Asmussen, John. "Scharnhorst - The History; Operation "Juno"". Retrieved 19 October 2012.
9. http://german-navy.de/kriegsmarine/ships/carrier/grafzeppelin/index.html

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