Argentina Retired: Australia Retired: Brazil Retired: Canada Retired: China Active: Under construction: •
Type 004: a
nuclear-powered aircraft carrier under construction.
France • • •
Planned: •
France Libre: a planned nuclear-powered aircraft carrier
Never completed: • :
Friponne-class sloop planned for conversion but not completed • :
Valliante-class sloop planned for conversion but not completed • Flugzeugträger D: Planned
Graf Zeppelin class carrier cancelled in 1938. •
Elbe: Converted from the passenger liner
SS Gneisenau (1935). Laid down in 1934 but never completed. Survived the war but was seized by Great Britain on 20 June 1946. and
INS Vikramaditya in a exercise
India •
Planned: • : 65,000 ton carrier. Yet to start, planned to enter service in 2030. It will be conventionally powered.
Italy Active: Never completed: • (1927) (converted liner
Augustus, not completed as carrier) – Sunk 5 October 1944 • (1926) (converted liner
Roma) – BU 1951–1952
Japan Sunk: (IJN) • (1921) – sunk, Battle of Midway, June 1942 • • (1925) – sunk, Battle of Midway, June 1942 • (1931) – sunk, Battle of the Eastern Solomons, August 1942 • (1935) – sunk, Battle of Midway, June 1942 • (1937) – sunk, Battle of Midway, June 1942 • • (1935) – sunk, Battle of the Coral Sea, May 1942 • (1936) – sunk, Battle of Leyte Gulf, October 1944 • • (1936) – seaplane tender from 1934 to 1942, rebuilt as light carrier and sunk at Battle of Leyte Gulf in October 1944 • (1937) – sunk at Battle of Leyte Gulf, October 1944 • • (1939) – sunk by U.S. submarine , Battle of Philippine Sea, June 1944 • (1939) – sunk, Battle of Leyte Gulf, October 1944 • • (1939) – sunk, Battle of Philippine Sea, June 1944 • (1943) – sunk by U.S. submarine , Battle of Philippine Sea, June 1944 • • (1943) – used as anti-aircraft platform and sunk in July 1945 • (1943) – sunk by U.S. submarine , December 1944 • (1944) – sunk by U.S. submarine , November 1944
Hōshō, ''Jun'yō
, Katsuragi
, and Ryūhō'' survived the war. These were scrapped by 1948.
Never completed: (IJN) • •
Amagi (not completed); damaged beyond economical repair in the
Great Kantō earthquake of September 1923, scrapped 1924 • • 5x Improved , project G-15 (cancelled 1944) • • Hull 5002, 3rd unit of Unryū class (cancelled 1943); materials used for Shinano conversion • , 5th unit of Unryū class (not completed); dismantled post-war • Hull 5005, 6th unit of Unryū class (cancelled 1943); materials used for Shinano conversion • , 7th unit of Unryū class (not completed); sunk as weapon test target and scrapped postwar • , 8th unit of Unryū class (not completed); dismantled post-war •
Kurama, 9th unit of Unryū class (cancelled 1944) • – heavy cruiser conversion (not completed); dismantled post-war
Netherlands Russia (and USSR) The Russian Navy was reestablished in December 1991, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union (USSR), most Soviet aircraft carriers were transferred over to Russia (with the exception of
Varyag which was transferred to Ukraine.
Ulyanovsk was scrapped before the Soviet Union was dissolved).
Inactive: • • (Russia: 1991–present / USSR: 1985–1991); Undergoing overhaul and repairs since 2017.
Proposed: •
Project 23000 aircraft carrier • Project 11430E aircraft carrier • Project 23000KM aircraft carrier
Retired: • • (Russia: 1991–1993, USSR: 1972–1991); converted to a theme park (later hotel) in China • (Russia: 1991–1993, USSR: 1975–1991); converted to a theme park in China • (Russia: 1991–1993, USSR: 1978–1991); scrapped • (Russia: 1991–1995, USSR: 1982–1991); sold to India, modified, rebuilt by India and renamed
Never completed: •
Project 1153 Orel • •
Varyag (not commissioned) – to Ukraine (1991); rebuilt, tested and commissioned by the Chinese PLAN as
Liaoning •
Ulyanovsk class • (not commissioned) – scrapped (1991)
Spain Active: Retired: Never completed: •
Spanish conversion for refloated Italian heavy cruiser
Trieste, cancelled in 1951.
Thailand Role changed: • (1996)* Commissioned in 1997, but by 1999, only one used AV-8S Matador/Harrier was still operable due to lack of spare parts and age. Since 2006 is solely operated as a helicopter carrier.
Turkey Active: Under construction: •
MUGEM-class aircraft carrier United Kingdom Active: • ,
STOVL ship of 80,600 tonnes • •
Retired: • (1916) – scrapped 1946 • (1916) – decommissioned 1945 • (1918) – converted to aircraft carrying cruiser 1925, sold for scrap 1946 • fleet maintenance carrier (1943) – sold for scrap 1959 • • (1939) • (1939) • (1939) • (1940) • • (1942) • (1942) • • (ex-
Audacious) (1946) – decommissioned 1972 • (ex-
Irresistible) (1950) – decommissioned 1979 •
Colossus class • (1943), to
France 1946 as • (1943) • (1944) • (1944) • (1944) • (1944) – to
Netherlands 1948 as , to
Argentina 1968 as • (1944) – to Brazil 1956 as • (1944) – to Canada 1946–1948, to Argentina 1958 as • (1944) • (1944) •
Majestic class • (1945) – to
Australia 1955 as • (1945) – to
India 1957 as • HMS
Magnificent (1944) – sold to Canada as • (1945) – to
Canada 1952 as • (1944) – to Australia in 1948 as • • (1947) • (1947) • (1948) • (ex-
Elephant) (1953), to India 1986 as • • (1977) • (1982) • (1985)
Sunk: •
Glorious class • (1916), sunk by
Scharnhorst and
Gneisenau 8 June 1940 • (1916), sunk by
U-29 17 September 1939 • (1918), sunk by
U-73 11 August 1942 • (1923) – first purpose-designed aircraft carrier, sunk by Japanese aircraft 9 April 1942 • (1938), sunk 14 November 1941 after being torpedoed by
U-81 on 13 November 1941
Never completed: • •
Eagle – cancelled 1946 •
Africa – to
Malta class then cancelled •
Majestic class • (1945) – was never completed • – second batch of four cancelled •
Hermes – cancelled •
Arrogant – cancelled •
Monmouth – cancelled •
Polyphemus – cancelled • – ordered 1943, not laid down, cancelled 1945 •
Malta •
New Zealand •
Gibraltar •
Africa •
CVA-01 – cancelled 1966 • Initial four ships planned, reduced to two (likely to have been named
Queen Elizabeth and
Duke of Edinburgh), reduced to one ship in 1963. No building started.
United States The
United States Navy is a
blue-water navy that is the world's largest navy by tonnage and has the world's largest fleet of
nuclear powered aircraft carriers. The carrier fleet currently comprises the (
CATOBAR) and (CATOBAR/
EMALS)
supercarriers. These carriers serve as the centerpieces and
flagships for the Navy's
Carrier Strike Groups, with their embarked
carrier air wings and accompanying ships and submarines, which strongly contribute to the US ability to
project force around the globe. The following is a complete list of all the US Navy's carriers and classes to date, and their status:
Active • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Under construction • • • •
Planned • • • • CVN-84 (planned) • CVN-85 (planned) • CVN-86 (planned) • CVN-87 (planned)
Reserve • (
none currently in reserve)
Retired (preserved as museum ships) • • – (
Charleston, South Carolina) • – (
New York City, New York) • – (
Alameda, California) • – (
Corpus Christi, Texas) • • – (
San Diego, California)
Retired (other) • • – (awaiting dismantling) • • – (awaiting dismantling)
Retired (scrapped) • • • • • (‡ extended bow) • • • ‡ • ‡ • • • ‡ • • ‡ • • ‡ • ‡ • ‡ • ‡ • ‡ • ‡ • ‡ • ‡ • ‡ • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Retired (scuttled) • • – scuttled as part of
Operation Crossroads, 1946 • • – scuttled on 29 January 1951 after
nuclear weapons testing in 1946 • • (extended bow) – scuttled as
artificial reef on 17 May 2006 • • – scuttled on 14 May 2005 after live-fire testing
Sunk • • – scuttled after Japanese air attack off Java coast, 27 February 1942 • • – sunk, Battle of the Coral Sea, May 1942 • • – sunk, Battle of Midway, June 1942 • – sunk, Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, October 1942 • • – scuttled after attack by the Japanese submarine
I-19, 15 September 1942 • • – sunk, Battle of Leyte Gulf, October 1944
Cancelled before completion • (‡ extended bow) • ‡ • ‡ • No name assigned (CV-50) • No name assigned (CV-51) • No name assigned (CV-52) • No name assigned (CV-53) • No name assigned (CV-54) • No name assigned (CV-55) • • No name assigned (CV-44) • No name assigned (CVB-56) • No name assigned (CVB-57) • •
Escort aircraft carrier The United States Navy also had a sizable fleet of
escort aircraft carriers during
World War II and the era that followed. These ships were both quicker and cheaper to build than larger fleet carriers and were built in great numbers to serve as a stop-gap measure when fleet carriers were too few. However, they were usually too slow to keep up with
naval task forces and would typically be assigned to amphibious operations, often seen in the
Pacific War's
island hopping campaign, or to
convoy protection in the
war in the Atlantic. To that end, many of these ships were transferred to the Royal Navy as part of the
US-UK lend-lease program. While some of these ships were kept for a time in reserve after the war, none survive today, as they have all since been sunk or retired and scrapped. The following are the classes and stand-alone ships of the US Navy's escort carriers; • (45 ships, 33 went to the RN) • (4 ships) • (50 ships) • (19 ships went into service, 4 were cancelled) • Stand-alone ships; • No
USN name given (AVG-1/BAVG-1) – went to the RN as
HMS Archer (D78) • No USN name given (AVG-2/BAVG-2) – went to the RN as HMS
Avenger (D14) • No USN name given (AVG-3/BAVG-3) – went to the RN as HMS
Biter (D97), then later to the French Navy as
Dixmude • No USN name given (AVG-4/BAVG-4) – went to the RN as HMS
Charger (D27), later returned to USN as • No USN name given (AVG-5/BAVG-5) – went to the RN as HMS
Dasher (D37) • No USN name given (BAVG-6) – went to the RN as HMS
Tracker (D24) •
Amphibious assault ship The United States Navy also has several full-deck,
amphibious assault ships, which are larger than many of the aircraft carriers of other navies today. These ships are
STOVL-capable and can carry full squadrons of fixed-wing aircraft, such as the
V/STOL AV-8B Harrier II and the STOVL
F-35 Lightning II, along with numerous rotary-wing aircraft. Their primary purpose though, is usually to serve as the centerpiece and
flagship for an
Expeditionary Strike Group or
Amphibious Ready Group, carrying
US Marine Corps Expeditionary Units and their equipment close to shore for amphibious landings and departures. The following are ships and classes of US Navy amphibious assault ships;
Active • (LHD) (843 ft, 40,500 tons) • • • • • • • • (LHA) (844 ft, 45,000 tons) • •
Under construction • • •
Planned • (11 total) • (ordered) • LHA-11 (planned) • LHA-12 (planned) • LHA-13 (planned) • LHA-14 (planned) • LHA-15 (planned) • LHA-16 (planned)
Retired • • • (LHA) • – (On donation hold) • • • – (On donation hold) • – (In Reserve) • (LPH) • • • • • – (Converted to missile trial platform with the
National Defense Reserve Fleet in 2006, scrapped in 2018) • • • Stand-alone amphibious assault ships (all LPH, numbered in with the
Iwo Jima class); • – (converted
Commencement Bay-class escort carrier) • – (converted
Essex-class aircraft carrier) • – (converted
Essex-class aircraft carrier) • – (converted
Casablanca-class escort carrier) • – (converted
Essex-class aircraft carrier) ==List of all aircraft carriers==