With the advent of the atomic bomb in 1945 and its impact on strategic thinking, the future of naval aviation looked bleak. Rapid demobilization after the war eliminated many carriers, and most policy makers believed that future wars would be fought with nuclear weapons delivered by land-based aircraft. In Nuclear Weapons and Aircraft Carriers, Jerry Miller traces the struggle of respected naval leaders to promote a different vision and the innovations in the design and engineering of carriers and aircraft that resulted. He argues that the Navy's hard-won nuclear capability played a significant role in ending the Cold War.

This pictorial history of US aircraft carriers illustrates the many classes and types of carriers used by the navy from before WWII to the present day. In 1922 the US Navy commissioned its first small experimental aircraft carrier. This was followed into service by two much larger carriers in 1927 with five more being built— including three large Yorktown class—prior to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Then, to take the offensive against the Japanese Navy, the American Congress funded by far the largest carrier-building program in history. Since 1975, when the first of a fleet of ten nuclear-powered Nimitz class carriers was commissioned, The United States Navy’s fleet of carriers has optimized its superpower status and worldwide power projection. Yet these are due to be replaced in the decades to come with the even more sophisticated nuclear-powered Gerald R. Ford class. Compiled and written by Michael Green, Aircraft Carriers of the United States Navy contains superb images of all the different types of classes of carriers employed by the US Navy since 1922. These and its highly informative text and captions give the reader a broad overview of this fascinating subject.

"U.S. Aircraft Carriers Revised Edition is one of the most comprehensive references available on the entire development of U.S. Aircraft Carriers, starting in 1920, with USS Langley CV-1, continuing to Enterprise, the mass-produced Essex-class, and the large Midway-class of post-World War II. Friedman authoritatively analyzes the design and performance histories of this popular type. The long careers of the Nimitz-class and the new Ford-class are also included. Like Friedman's other design history books, U.S. Aircraft Carriers is based largely on formerly classified internal U.S. Navy records"--

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

The Forrestal class (Forrestal, Saratoga, Ranger, and Independence) was the first completed class of US Navy supercarriers, so-named for their 25 percent size increase over the World War II-era carriers such as the Midway class, and the strength of their air wings (80–100 aircraft, compared to 65–75 for the Midway, and fewer than 50 for the Essex class). Design-wise, the Forrestals were a huge improvement over their predecessors, being more stable and comfortable, while maintaining advancements such as the armored flight decks that had been introduced with the Midway. The Kitty Hawk class was an improvement on the Forrestal-class designs, and four were built in the 1960s – Kitty Hawk, Constellation, America and John F. Kennedy. These were even longer than the Forrestals, and fitted with advanced defensive weapons systems and an improved elevator layout. All nine of the carriers covered by this volume are icons, and hold a much-respected place in US naval history. They are also some of the more well-known vessels outside of the military, for their long service histories, as well as for some of the more unfortunate events that seem to follow them.

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.