Battles & Wars › Between the wars › World War II
Aircraft carrier
1918 (HMS Argus); 1922 (Hōshō)· Invention or discovery· Weapons, armor & warships
Well documentedSolid records, physical evidence or scientific consensus.
A warship with a full-length flight deck that launches and recovers planes, carrying air power across oceans.
See it on the Battles & Wars map →What happened
Planes first flew off ships in 1910–11. In 1918 Britain's HMS Argus became the first carrier with an unobstructed flight deck, and Japan's Hōshō (1922) was the first purpose-built carrier to enter service. The 1922 Washington Naval Treaty capped battleships, so the US and Japan converted unfinished capital ships into big carriers. In World War II, carriers struck Pearl Harbor and fought the Battle of Midway, where the fleets never saw each other.
Why it matters
It replaced the battleship as the main measure of naval power. Today it is how countries, above all the US, project force far from home.
Think of it like
A movable airfield: instead of building a runway near the target, you sail the runway there.
How we know
Naval records and ship plans, the text of the 1922 Washington Naval Treaty, and battle reports from Pearl Harbor and Midway.
Still debated
Some analysts argue modern anti-ship missiles make big carriers too vulnerable; navies still disagree about their future.
Connections (6)
▸Aircraft carrier launched the planes that carried out the Attack on Pearl HarborWell documented
The connection
Japan's six fleet carriers, Akagi, Kaga, Soryu, Hiryu, Shokaku and Zuikaku, carried the strike force across the North Pacific and launched about 350 planes in two waves. Massing six carriers in one force was new, and the raid proved that naval air power could hit a fleet far beyond the reach of any gun.
When and how
Launched about 400 km north of Oahu on the morning of December 7, 1941, by Admiral Chuichi Nagumo's carrier striking force.
How we know
Japanese and US records detail the force and the attack; Britain's smaller 1940 carrier raid on the Italian fleet at Taranto had shown the idea could work.
Debates and open questions
How much the Taranto raid inspired the plan, which Yamamoto had begun considering in 1940, is uncertain.
▸Aircraft carrier decided Battle of MidwayWell documented
The connection
Midway was fought almost entirely by carrier aircraft; the opposing surface ships never fired on each other. US dive-bombers from Enterprise and Yorktown wrecked three Japanese carriers in minutes on June 4, and a fourth that afternoon. With its carriers gone, Japan's battleships were useless, and Yamamoto withdrew.
When and how
Waters north of Midway Atoll, central Pacific, June 4–7, 1942: three US carriers and Midway's airfield against four Japanese fleet carriers.
How we know
Action reports from both sides and modern surveys of the carrier wrecks confirm the course of the battle.
Debates and open questions
How much flawed Japanese carrier doctrine and damage control, rather than US skill or luck, explains the scale of the loss is debated.
▸Aircraft carrier replaced the battleship type launched by HMS Dreadnought and the naval arms raceWell documented
The connection
From Dreadnought in 1906, the big-gun battleship measured naval power. Carrier planes could strike far beyond any gun's range. At Taranto in 1940 and Pearl Harbor in 1941 they sank battleships in port, and land-based planes sinking Prince of Wales and Repulse off Malaya showed ships at sea were vulnerable too. Carriers became the capital ship.
When and how
Taranto, Italy, November 1940; Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941; off Malaya, December 10, 1941; the Coral Sea and Midway, 1942.
How we know
Battle records show the big Pacific naval battles were decided by aircraft; after 1945 battleships were retired while carriers became the core of major fleets.
Debates and open questions
Some argue battleships were already in decline before aircraft proved it; others note they stayed useful for shore bombardment as late as 1991.
▸Falklands War hinged on two small British examples of the Aircraft carrierMostly agreed
The connection
Britain's only carriers, the old HMS Hermes and the new light carrier HMS Invincible, carried Harrier jump jets and helicopters 8,000 miles south. Without them there was no air cover for the landings, and losing either to an Exocet might have ended the campaign. Argentina's own carrier stayed in port after the Belgrano sinking.
When and how
South Atlantic, April–June 1982; the carrier group was commanded by Rear Admiral Sandy Woodward.
How sure are we?
British and Argentine records, and Woodward's memoir 'One Hundred Days', describe the carriers' central role and Argentine efforts to hit them.
Debates and open questions
Argentina claimed it hit Invincible on May 30; Britain denies it, and the ship returned undamaged. Whether Britain could have won after losing a carrier is debated.
▸Warplanes (military aircraft) went to sea on the Aircraft carrierWell documented
The connection
Planes' short range meant navies needed floating airfields. Eugene Ely flew off a US cruiser in 1910. In July 1918 British planes from HMS Furious bombed Zeppelin sheds at Tondern, the first carrier strike. Flat-decked HMS Argus and Japan's purpose-built Hōshō followed, and by 1942 carriers had replaced battleships as the core of a fleet.
When and how
Hampton Roads, Virginia, November 1910; Tondern, Germany, July 19, 1918; Britain and Japan, 1918–22; Pearl Harbor and Midway, 1941–42.
How we know
Naval records, photographs of the early flights, and ship histories.
Debates and open questions
Which ship was the 'first' carrier depends on definition: Furious, Argus, or Hōshō, the first designed as a carrier from the start and commissioned.
▸Henry J. Kaiser and the Kaiser shipyards built 50 small escort versions of the Aircraft carrierWell documented
The connection
Kaiser pitched President Roosevelt on mass-producing small 'escort carriers' when the Navy was reluctant. His Vancouver, Washington, yard then built 50 Casablanca-class carriers in under two years, about one a week at peak. They hunted U-boats, ferried planes and supported landings; several fought at Leyte Gulf.
When and how
Vancouver, Washington, November 1942 – July 1944, for the US Navy.
How we know
Navy ship registers and yard records list all 50, from USS Casablanca to USS Munda.
Debates and open questions
Navy leaders doubted these thin-skinned ships, and sailors joked that CVE stood for 'Combustible, Vulnerable, Expendable,' though most proved their worth.