Tuesday, February 25, 2014

History's Greatest Aircraft Carrier

USS Enterprise (CV-6) making 20 knots during post-overhaul trials in Puget Sound, Washington, 13 September 1945. Wikipedia

The Five Greatest Aircraft Carriers of All Time -- James Holmes, National Interest

Anyone who's tried to compare one piece of kit—ships, aircraft, weaponry of various types—to another will testify to how hard this chore is. Ranking aircraft carriers is no exception. Consulting the pages of Jane's Fighting Ships or Combat Fleets of the World sheds some light on the problem. For instance, a flattop whose innards house a nuclear propulsion plant boasts virtually unlimited cruising range, whereas a carrier powered by fossil fuels is tethered to its fuel source. As Alfred Thayer Mahan puts it, a conventional warship bereft of bases or a coterie of logistics ships is a "land bird" unable to fly far from home.

Or, size matters. The air wing—the complement of interceptors, attack planes and support aircraft that populate a carrier's decks—comprise its main battery or primary armament. The bigger the ship, the bigger the hangar and flight decks that accommodate the air wing.

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My Comment: No disagreement on the choice. For more info on this great aircraft carrier's history, go here.

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