Aircraft Carriers: Books - History, Types and Construction

The Illustrated Guide to Aircraft Carriers of the World

This is a complete 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.
It is a comprehensive country-by-country directory of all the major aircraft carriers, with expert text describing each vessel's construction, appearance, function and history.

It features over 500 photographs illustrating each type. Specification boxes provide information about country of origin, the company that built the carrier, construction and completion dates, displacement, dimensions, types of aircraft carried, armament, power and performance.
This impressive encyclopedia is both a fascinating history of the aircraft carrier's development and a comprehensive visual directory of more than 170 of the world's aviation ships over nearly a century.

Each entry is accompanied by a specification panel, and all the carriers are accompanied by identification photographs, many of which have never previously been published together in one volume.
With magnificent illustrations and up-to-date information, this book provides both enthusiasts and historians with key information about the world's aircraft carriers, and is an essential reference for everyone interested in naval aviation.

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World War I Seaplane and Aircraft Carriers (Osprey)

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.

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Carriers at War 1939-1945

The author begins this book by tracing aircraft carrier development between the Wars and describing their revolutionary but uneven introduction into the leading navies of the world. Eschewed by the Germans and Italians and, with Britain squandering her early lead, the Americans and Japanese quickly became front runners.

The Royal Navy learnt the hard way in the early stages of the Second World War with the losses of HMS Courageous and Glorious. However successes at Taranto and Matapan confirmed the strategic and tactical value of carriers. The role of carrier-borne aircraft in the demise of Bismarck effectively signalled the end of the Battleship era.
Stung by such catastrophic losses from Japanese aircraft at Pearl Harbour, the Americans threw their full industrial might behind the carrier building programme and the ensuing naval war in the Pacific (Guadalcanal, East Solomon Islands, Santa Cruz, Midway and Leyte Gulf) revolved round carrier-borne aircraft. Meanwhile the carrier became pivotal in protecting vital convoys in the Atlantic, Arctic and Mediterranean.

In this informative and interesting analysis of sea power in war, the author, a respected military, naval and aviation historian, backs his arguments and enlivens the narrative with copious and stirring accounts of historic naval and air actions.

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Histoire mondiale des porte-avions, des origines à nos jours

An auxiliary platform during the First World War, the aircraft carrier gained the rank of Capital Ship during the Second World War by giving the air force mobility and permanence in a theater far from land bases.
Its impact on international relations became considerable due to its conventional or nuclear strike capacity on the coastal fringes where most human activity was concentrated.
With the submarine, the aircraft carrier is the naval weapon system which, through its interference or presence, can influence decision-makers and events. A tool for diplomatic and military gesticulation, the aircraft carrier carries or suspends violence, to impose, from the sea, a will on land. A symbol of power, it is, in essence, the emanation of a nation, its technical skills and its economic wealth.

Illustrated with numerous unpublished documents, this second, completely updated edition is the only synthesis published in French on the technical, political and operational history of aircraft carriers in the world.

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