The Invention Of The Aircraft Carrier Essay

, Research Paper

The Invention of Aircraft Carrier

The Invention of the Aircraft Carrier was a great event in U.S.

Maritime history. The Aircraft Carrier battle group has become a critical

element of United States foreign policy and acts as the central force in the

nation’s forward deployed presence around the globe. The Aircraft Carrier is

of great strategical importance around the world. Aircraft Carriers provide a

wide range of possible response for the National Command Authority. The

Carrier’s mission is to provide a credible , sustainable, independent forward

presence and conventional deterrence in peacetime, To operate as the

cornerstone of joint/allied maritime expeditionary forces in times of crisis,

and to operate and support aircraft attacks on enemies, protect friendly forces

and engage in sustained independent operations in war.

Aircraft Carriers are deployed worldwide in support of U.S. interests

and commitments. They can respond to global crises in ways ranging from

peacetime presence to full-scale war. Together with their on-board air wings,

the carriers have vital roles across the full spectrum of conflict. Since the

Earth is covered by 70% water, the Aircraft Carrier does not need to make a

base in foreign countries. All it needs is one land base, this is true because

when the Carrier is out to sea and needs fuel, a fuel-ship will come along and

refuel it. This is a huge advantage over air fields.

The Aircraft Carrier is a ship with a long, unobstructed flight deck that

permits takeoffs and landings by high-performance airplanes. A carrier is in

effect a mobile air base. Planes are stored below deck and brought up and

down on elevators. They take off under their own power or may be launched

by catapults, which are explained in the next paragraph. Decks are angled so

that pilots missing the arresting gear will be able to go around again without

hitting other aircraft. Carriers, equipped with or capable of carrying missiles,

are the heart of modern striking forces, accompanied by a variety of support

vessels: destroyers and cruisers for protection and supply ships bearing fuel,

ammunition, and food. The following few paragraphs will be telling you

about the parts of the Aircraft Carrier and its uses.

Each carrier-based aircraft has a tailhook, a hook bolted to an 8-foot

bar extending from the after part of the aircraft. It is with the tailhook that the

pilot catches one of the four steel cables stretched across the deck, bringing

the plane, traveling at 150 miles per hour, to a complete stop in about 320

feet. The cables are set to stop each aircraft at the same place on the deck,

regardless of the size or weight of the plane. There are also the Catapults that

launch the planes off of the ship. The four steam-powered catapults thrust a

48,000 Pound aircraft 300 feet, from zero to 165 miles per hour in 2 seconds!

On each plane’s nose gear is a T-bar which locks into the catapult’s shuttle

which pulls the plane down the catapult. The flight deck crew can launch 2

aircraft and land one every 37 seconds in daylight, and one per minute at

night.

The Bridge is the Primary control position for every ship when the ship

is underway, and the place where all orders and commands affecting the ship,

her movements, and routine originate.

The earliest flight from a ship was made off an improvised platform on

the U.S. cruiser Birmingham in 1910. The first true carrier designed to permit

takeoffs and landings was the British merchant ship HMS Argus, completed

in 1918. The first U.S. carrier, the Langley, a converted collier, joined the

fleet in 1922, and in 1927 the Lexington and Saratoga were converted from

battle cruisers.

After World War I, major carrier fleets were built by the United States,

Japan, and Britain; in the 1930s tactical exercises were held by the U.S. Navy

to study and improve efficiency of its carrier operations. By World War II,

however, Japan’s carrier fleet was numerically and qualitatively superior to

the American and British fleets in the Pacific. The use of six aircraft carriers

by Japan to attack Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, opened the war in the

Pacific. No American carriers were present during the attack. The major

carrier battle of Midway of June 3-6, 1942, cost the Japanese four carriers;

America lost one, the Yorktown. This victory gained the U.S. mastery of the

skies and of the seas and turned the tide of the war. By 1944 the Japanese

navy had been destroyed primarily by carrier-based aircraft assault, in

addition to submarine action. In the European theater, England used carriers

in support of operations in Norway and for convoy support in the Atlantic

and Mediterranean. Carriers were also part of the British Eastern Fleet.

Since World War II, carriers have been designated by size and mission