In 1910 the first aircraft was successfully launched from a small wooden platform on a stationary ship. Just four years later, seaplane-carrying warships were being used to launch the first naval air raids, and by 1918 the first aircraft carrier to feature a full-length flight deck was in service. High quality artwork and historical photographs help author Mark Lardas tell the fascinating story of the pioneering years of naval aviation, covering such historic clashes as the Japanese siege of Tsingtao, the British raid against German Zeppelin bases at Cuxhaven and the Battle of Jutland, which saw the first airplane take part in a naval battle. Through detailed analysis he explores their development from hastily adapted merchant ships to the launch of HMS Argus, the first aircraft carrier to have a full-length flight deck, and shows how they paved the way for the aircraft carriers of the future.

"An illustrated history of the aircraft carrier, from World War I through World War II, the Cold War, and today"--

During World War I, the navies of the opposing forces discovered the value of aerial reconnaissance and many experiments were made to allow larger warships to carry one or sometimes two aircraft aboard. In the early days these were float planes that were lowered by crane into the sea and then lifted back aboard upon their return. This was a lengthy affair and when a speedy departure was necessary, time was of the essence. A new system was devised so that a powerful catapult system and a short ramp could, with the added speed of the ship, get an aircraft airborne in a fraction of the time previously required. Thus was born a highly specialised type of aircraft. This book includes all the major designs that went to war in the First and Second World Wars and includes aircraft used by all the combatants. It looks at how the aircraft evolved and how the warships were modified to accommodate the aircraft and the catapult system. The use of these fixed-wing aircraft was abandoned when the invention of the helicopter was made in the early post WW II years.

The Imperial Japanese Navy was a pioneer in naval aviation, having commissioned the world's first built-from-the-keel-up carrier, the Hosho. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, it experimented with its carriers, perfecting their design and construction. As a result, by the time Japan entered World War II and attacked the United States at Pearl Harbor in 1941, it possessed a fantastically effective naval aviation force. This book covers the design, development and operation of IJN aircraft carriers built prior to and during World War II. Pearl Harbor, Midway and the first carrier vs carrier battle, the battle of the Coral Sea, are all discussed.

A guide to aircraft carriers, from zeppelin and seaplane carriers to V/STOL and nuclear-powered carriers. It examines the evolution of the aircraft carrier, from the first flights from ships in World War I, developments during the inter-war years and World War II battles such as Pearl Harbor, through to modern carriers used in the Falklands.

Russian/Soviet Aircraft Carrier & Carrier Aviation Design & Evolution Volume 1 In 2016, there were five Russian/Soviet designed and built aircraft carriers in existence, three of which were in operational service; the Project 1143.5 Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union, Kuznetsov in Russian Federation naval service, the INS Vikramaditya (formerly the Project 1143.4 Heavy Aircraft Carrying Cruiser Baku/Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union, Gorshkov) in Indian naval service and the incomplete former Soviet Project 1143.6 Varyag in service with the Peoples Liberation Army Navy of China as the Liaoning. The other two carriers, the Project 1143 Kiev and Minsk Heavy Aircraft Carrying Cruisers had been decommissioned and formed museum exhibits in China. This two volume series sets out to detail the stable of Russian/Soviet designed and built significant aircraft carrying vessels and their integral shipborne aviation assets. While Volume 2 will focus on the stable of conventional take-off carriers in service and projected future vessels, this first volume, Volume 1, focusses predominantly on the operational design genesis of the major aircraft carrying vessels of the Soviet era, the Project 1123 Moskva Class Anti-Submarine Warfare helicopter carrying Cruisers and the Project 1143-1143.4 Kiev and Improved Kiev Class Heavy Aircraft Carrying Cruisers. Space is allocated to early aviation carrying projects commencing with the Seaplane Carriers of World War 1 to aircraft carrier concepts of the 1930's and 1940's and the German Graf Zeppelin aircraft carrier that fell into Soviet hands at the end of World War II in Europe. An overview of other helicopter carrying vessels of the Soviet and Russian Federation eras is provided, including the Project 1174 Ivan Rogov Class Amphibious Assault Ships and the unbuilt Project 11780 helicopter carrying Assault Ship design of the early 1980's. The development of the Moskva Class, and subsequently the Kiev Class, was intrinsically linked with the development of ballistic and cruise missile submarines. These ships were in effect the first and second generation of Soviet aircraft varying vessels that, with the introduction of the fourth of the Kiev Class, extended into the third generation. The various elements of the ships, such as major defensive and offensive weapon systems are covered in detail as is the operational doctrine that led to such ships coming into being. A separate chapter deals with the various aviation assets that would make up the air groups of the Moskva and Kiev Class's - helicopter and vertical/short take-off and landing fixed wing. All technical information regarding the warships, systems and weapons has been provided by the respective design houses, developers and builder/manufacturers, as has much of photograph and graphic material used throughout the volume, which is also supported by photograph and graphic material from third party sources such as the Defence and intelligence service Departments of various NATO nations.

This book is a meticulously detailed history of British aircraft-carrying ships from the earliest experimental vessels to the Queen Elizabeth class, currently under construction and the largest ships ever built for the Royal Navy. Individual chapters cover the design and construction of each class, with full technical details, and there are extensive summaries of every ship's career. Apart from the obvious large-deck carriers, the book also includes seaplane carriers, escort carriers and MAC ships, the maintenance ships built on carrier hulls, unbuilt projects, and the modern LPH. It concludes with a look at the future of naval aviation, while numerous appendices summarise related subjects like naval aircraft, recognition markings and the circumstances surrounding the loss of every British carrier. As befits such an important reference work, it is heavily illustrated with a magnificent gallery of photos and plans, including the first publication of original plans in full colour, one on a magnificent gatefold.??Written by the leading historian of British carrier aviation, himself a retired Fleet Air Arm pilot, it displays the authority of a lifetime's research combined with a practical understanding of the issues surrounding the design and operation of aircraft carriers. As such British Aircraft Carriers is certain to become the standard work on the subject.