American Aircraft Carriers

The first Aircraft Carrier commissioned by the United States was the USS Langley (CV-1). Like the following Class of Fleet Carriers, the Lexington Class, Langley was a conversion. The first American Aircraft Carrier built from the ground up as one was the USS Ranger (CV-4). Shortly before Ranger was commissioned, work started on the Yorktown Class, these were the last Fleet Carriers built by the United States before World War 2. All of the Fleet Carriers built so far (except Ranger, which was based in the Atlantic Ocean) played a major role in the Pacific Theater of World War 2. During the War, the United States started mass-producing the Essex Class, while originally 32 Fleet Carriers of the Class were planned, only 24 were built. Most of them came online by 1945 and served well into the 1960s. Shortly after the War, the Midway Class came online, the biggest Fleet Carriers so far. The United States looked at several designs during the 1950s, favoring some more than others, eventually building the Forrestal, and Kitty Hawk Classes, these were Supercarriers and served well into the 1990s and early 2000s. However, a new innovation would change American Aircraft Carriers forever. Beginning with USS Enterprise (CVN-65), all Fleet Carrier Classes after her would be Nuclear-Powered. The Nimitz Class was built beginning in the early 1970s, however, the last Fleet Carrier of the Class was commissioned in 2009, they are the backbone of the current US Fleet, and are some of the most powerful Aircraft Carriers ever built. Nevertheless, the United States Navy designed and started to build the Gerald R. Ford Class, the most powerful Aircraft Carriers in the world. The lead ship was commissioned in 2017, and the rest are planned to be commissioned in the coming years.

During the early months of World War 2, the United States began to face an Aircraft Carrier shortage, so they selected 9 Light Cruisers already under construction to become Light Carriers. They became the Independence Class and assisted in many battles along with the Fleet Carriers. During the war, the United States encountered a few issues with the Independence Class, and they fixed them with the Saipan Class, designed from the ground up as Aircraft Carriers.

Before and in the early months of World War 2, the United States began looking to create a type of Aircraft Carrier that would be quick to build, the Escort Carriers were built as a result. Escort Carriers were built on Merchant Ship hulls, which were quickly converted. The first Escort Carrier was the USS Long Island (CVE-1), commissioned in 1941. Several Escort Carriers of the Long Island, Charger, and Bogue Classes were transferred over to Great Britain as part of the Lend-Lease Act. The Escort Carriers of those Classes that were left in the United States, as well as the Casablanca and Commencement Bay Classes, served a convoy escort role, proving deadly against enemy Submarines. Primarily based in the Atlantic Theater of the War, although some Escort Carriers did participate in the Pacific Theater. Most Escort Carriers were decommissioned by 1947 and were either scrapped or sold to be turned into Merchant Ships.