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List of aircraft carriers

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List of aircraft carriers
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This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

This list of aircraft carriers contains aircraft carriers listed alphabetically by name. An aircraft carrier is a warship with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft, that serves as a seagoing airbase.

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  Countries currently operating fixed-wing aircraft carriers (8)
  Countries currently operating solely helicopter carriers (7)
  Historical operators of carriers (4)
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Various aircraft carriers from around the world
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Four modern aircraft carriers of various types; USS John C. Stennis (United States Navy), Charles de Gaulle (French Navy), USS John F. Kennedy (US Navy), HMS Ocean (Royal Navy) and escort vessels, 2002
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Bow view of the US Navy's USS Gerald R. Ford, lead ship of her class, the largest carrier in the world.
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HMS Queen Elizabeth, the newest and largest aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy.

Included in this list are ships which meet the above definition and had an official name (italicized) or designation (non-italicized), regardless of whether they were or were not ordered, laid down, completed, or commissioned.

Not included in this list are the following:

"In commission" denotes the period that the ship was officially in commission with the given name for the given country as an aircraft carrier as defined above.

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Numbers of aircraft carriers by country

The table below does not include submarine aircraft carriers, seaplane tenders, escort carriers, merchant aircraft carriers, helicopter carriers, or amphibious assault ships. It includes ships under construction, but not ships that never got past the planning stage.

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List of countries that have operated aircraft carriers

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Argentina

Retired:

Australia

Retired:

Brazil

Retired:

  • Fleet carrier:
    • São Paulo: Clemenceau-class carrier in service between 2000 and 2017. Former name as carrier of the French Navy: Foch. Scuttled in 2023
  • Light carrier:

Canada

Retired:

China

Main article: Chinese aircraft carrier programme

Active:

  • Liaoning: partially completed ex-Soviet Navy carrier sold to China by Ukraine and refitted in Dalian as Type 001. Handed over to PLAN on 23 September 2012 and entered active service on 25 September 2012.[1]
  • Shandong: construction started in 2013, launched in 2017, and entered active service on 17 December 2019.[2]

Fitting-out & Seatrials

  • Fujian: Type 003 carrier. Launched 17 June 2022. In January 2024, the Fujian was carrying out mooring tests in preparation for its maiden voyage.[3]

Under construction & Planned:

France

Active:

Planned:

  • PANG: a planned nuclear-powered aircraft carrier

Retired:

Never completed:

  • Engageante: Friponne-class sloop planned for conversion but not completed[4]
  • Conquerante: Valliante-class sloop planned for conversion but not completed[4]
  • Joffre class
    • Joffre: carrier construction cancelled in 1940
    • Painlevé: carrier plan cancelled in 1940
  • Verdun: attack carrier development cancelled in 1961
  • PH 75: projected two nuclear powered helicopter carrier program during the 1970s
    • Bretagne: STOVL aircraft carrier
    • Provence: STOVL aircraft carrier
  • PA 2: modified version of Thales UK/BMT design of the British Queen Elizabeth class (formerly CVF).

Germany

Main article: List of aircraft carriers of Germany

Never completed:

  • German aircraft carrier I  – planned conversion of passenger ship from German shipyard to aircraft carrier. Cancelled in 1918.
  • Graf Zeppelin: Graf Zeppelin-class carrier. Launched but not completed. Construction work stopped in 1943.
  • Flugzeugträger B: Graf Zeppelin class carrier cancelled partly constructed in 1939.
  • Flugzeugträger C: Planned Graf Zeppelin class carrier cancelled in 1938.[5]
  • Flugzeugträger D: Planned Graf Zeppelin class carrier cancelled in 1938.[5]
  • Seydlitz: conversion of part-built Admiral Hipper-class cruiser. Work stopped in 1943 and not resumed.
  • German aircraft carrier I: conversion of the transport ship Europa cancelled at the design stage in November 1942 due to insurmountable problems.
  • Jade: Lead ship of the Jade-class. Converted from the passenger liner SS Potsdam. Laid down in 1934 but never completed. Sunk on 2 May 1943.[6]
  • Elbe: Converted from the passenger liner SS Gneisenau (1935). Laid down in 1934 but never completed. Survived the war but was seized by Great Britain on 20 June 1946.[6]
  • German aircraft carrier II: was a proposed conversion project for the incomplete French cruiser De Grasse. The ship was laid down in November 1938 and lay incomplete in the Arsenal de Lorient shipyard when Germany invaded France in May 1940. In 1942, Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine decided to convert the cruiser into an auxiliary aircraft carrier with a capacity for twenty-three fighters and dive bombers. Work ceased in February 1943, however, due to concerns with the ship's design, a severe shortage of material and labor, and the threat of Allied bombing raids. In 1945, the ship was returned to France and was eventually completed as an anti-aircraft cruiser in 1956 by the French Navy[7]

The two planned Italian carriers Aquila and Sparviero were seized by the Germans after the Italian Armistice but not completed.

India

Active:

Planned:

  • INS Vishal: 65,000 ton carrier. Yet to start, planned to enter service in 2030. It will be conventionally powered.[10]

Retired:

Italy

Active:

Retired:

  • Giuseppe Garibaldi – Commissioned in 1985 as Italy's first through-deck aviation ship. She was decommissioned on 1 October 2024.

Never completed:

  • Sparviero (1927) (converted liner Augustus, not completed as carrier) – Sunk 5 October 1944
  • Aquila (1926) (converted liner Roma) – BU 1951–1952

Japan

Active:[12][13][14]

  • Izumo class
    • Izumo – Commissioned in 2015. Announced in December 2018 to be redesignated and converted into a multi-purpose destroyer to carry F-35 aircraft
    • Kaga – Commissioned in 2017. Announced in December 2018 to be redesignated and converted into a multi-purpose destroyer to carry F-35 aircraft

Retired:

  • Hōshō (1921) – used as transport to repatriate Japanese troops postwar and dismantled 1946
  • Ryūhō (1933) – damaged at Kure by U.S. air raid March 1945 and dismantled 1946
  • Kaiyō (1943) – damaged at Kure by U.S. air raid March 1945, grounded in Beppu Bay and dismantled in place in 1946
  • Hiyō class
    • Jun'yō (1939) – damaged during Battle of Philippine Sea, June 1944. Never repaired; dismantled 1946
  • Unryū class
    • Katsuragi (1944) – used as transport to repatriate Japanese troops postwar and dismantled 1946

Sunk:

Hōshō, Jun'yō, Katsuragi, and Ryūhō survived the war. These were scrapped by 1948.

Never completed:

  • Amagi class
    • Amagi (not completed); damaged beyond economical repair in the Great Kantō earthquake of September 1923, scrapped 1924
  • Taihō class
    • 5x Improved Taihō, project G-15 (cancelled 1944)
  • Unryū class
    • Hull 5002, 3rd unit of Unryū class (cancelled 1943); materials used for Shinano conversion
    • Kasagi, 5th unit of Unryū class (not completed); dismantled post-war
    • Hull 5005, 6th unit of Unryū class (cancelled 1943); materials used for Shinano conversion
    • Aso, 7th unit of Unryū class (not completed); sunk as weapon test target and scrapped postwar
    • Ikoma, 8th unit of Unryū class (not completed); dismantled post-war
    • Kurama, 9th unit of Unryū class (cancelled 1944)
  • Ibuki – heavy cruiser conversion (not completed); dismantled post-war

Netherlands

Retired:

Russia (and USSR)

See also: list of aircraft carriers of Russia and the Soviet Union

The Russian Navy was reestablished in December 1991, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union (USSR), most Soviet aircraft carriers were transferred over to Russia (with the exception of Varyag which was transferred to Ukraine. Ulyanovsk was scrapped before the Soviet Union was dissolved).

Active:

Under Construction:

  • Ivan Rogov Aircraft Carrier [16]

[17]

Proposed:

Retired:

  • Kiev class
    • Kiev (Russia: 1991–1993, USSR: 1972–1991); converted to a theme park (later hotel) in China
    • Minsk (Russia: 1991–1993, USSR: 1975–1991); converted to a theme park in China
    • Novorossiysk (Russia: 1991–1993, USSR: 1978–1991); scrapped
    • Admiral Gorshkov (Russia: 1991–1995, USSR: 1982–1991); sold to India, modified, rebuilt by India and renamed INS Vikramaditya

Never completed:

Spain

Active:

  • Juan Carlos I : 27,079 tonne STOVL carrier in active service, commissioned 30 September 2010.

Retired:

Never completed:

Thailand

Role changed:

  • HTMS Chakri Naruebet (1996)* Commissioned in 1997, but by 1999, only one used AV-8S Matador/Harrier was still operable due to lack of spare parts and age.[21] Since 2006 is solely operated as a helicopter carrier.

Turkey

Active:

Under construction:

United Kingdom

Main article: List of aircraft carriers of the Royal Navy

Active:

Retired:

Sunk:

Never completed:

  • Audacious class
    • Eagle – cancelled 1946
    • Africa – to Malta class then cancelled
  • Majestic class
  • Centaur class – second batch of four cancelled
    • Hermes – cancelled
    • Arrogant – cancelled
    • Monmouth – cancelled
    • Polyphemus – cancelled
  • Malta class – ordered 1943, not laid down, cancelled 1945[25]
    • Malta
    • New Zealand
    • Gibraltar
    • Africa
  • CVA-01 – cancelled 1966
    • Initial four ships planned, reduced to two (likely to have been named Queen Elizabeth and Duke of Edinburgh), reduced to one ship in 1963. No building started.

United States

Main article: List of aircraft carriers of the United States Navy

The United States Navy is a blue-water navy that is the world's largest navy by tonnage and has the world's largest fleet of nuclear powered aircraft carriers. The carrier fleet currently comprises the (CATOBAR) Nimitz-class and (CATOBAR/ EMALS) Gerald R. Ford-class supercarriers. These carriers serve as the centerpieces and flagships for the Navy's Carrier Strike Groups, with their embarked carrier air wings and accompanying ships and submarines, which strongly contribute to the US ability to project force around the globe. The following is a complete list of all the US Navy's carriers and classes to date, and their status:

Active

Under construction

Planned

Reserve

  • (none currently in reserve)

Retired (preserved as museum ships)

Retired (other)

Retired (scrapped)


Retired (scuttled)

Sunk

Cancelled before completion

Escort aircraft carrier

Main article: List of escort aircraft carriers of the United States Navy

The United States Navy also had a sizable fleet of escort aircraft carriers during World War II and the era that followed. These ships were both quicker and cheaper to build than larger fleet carriers and were built in great numbers to serve as a stop-gap measure when fleet carriers were too few. However, they were usually too slow to keep up with naval task forces and would typically be assigned to amphibious operations, often seen in the Pacific War's island hopping campaign, or to convoy protection in the war in the Atlantic. To that end, many of these ships were transferred to the Royal Navy as part of the US-UK lend-lease program. While some of these ships were kept for a time in reserve after the war, none survive today, as they have all since been sunk or retired and scrapped. The following are the classes and stand-alone ships of the US Navy's escort carriers;

  • Bogue class (45 ships, 33 went to the RN)
  • Sangamon class (4 ships)
  • Casablanca class (50 ships)
  • Commencement Bay class (19 ships went into service, 4 were cancelled)
  • Stand-alone ships;
    • No USN name given (AVG-1/BAVG-1) – went to the RN as HMS Archer (D78)
    • No USN name given (AVG-2/BAVG-2) – went to the RN as HMS Avenger (D14)
    • No USN name given (AVG-3/BAVG-3) – went to the RN as HMS Biter (D97), then later to the French Navy as Dixmude
    • No USN name given (AVG-4/BAVG-4) – went to the RN as HMS Charger (D27), later returned to USN as USS Charger (CVE-30)
    • No USN name given (AVG-5/BAVG-5) – went to the RN as HMS Dasher (D37)
    • No USN name given (BAVG-6) – went to the RN as HMS Tracker (D24)
    • USS Long Island

Amphibious assault ship

Main article: List of amphibious warfare ships of the United States Navy

The United States Navy also has several full-deck, amphibious assault ships, which are larger than many of the aircraft carriers of other navies today.[26] These ships are STOVL-capable and can carry full squadrons of fixed-wing aircraft, such as the V/STOL AV-8B Harrier II and the STOVL F-35 Lightning II, along with numerous rotary-wing aircraft. Their primary purpose though, is usually to serve as the centerpiece and flagship for an Expeditionary Strike Group or Amphibious Ready Group, carrying US Marine Corps Expeditionary Units and their equipment close to shore for amphibious landings and departures. The following are ships and classes of US Navy amphibious assault ships;

Active

Under construction

Planned

  • America-class amphibious assault ship (11 total)
    • USS Helmand Province (ordered)
    • LHA-11 (planned)
    • LHA-12 (planned)
    • LHA-13 (planned)
    • LHA-14 (planned)
    • LHA-15 (planned)
    • LHA-16 (planned)

Retired

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List of all aircraft carriers

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