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Aircraft carrier design involved trade-offs between offensive striking power and defensive survivability. The more carrier tonnage allocated to guns and armor for protection, the less was available for carrying and launching aircraft, the warship's principal weapon.
Details for CVE design is included in the article, Design and capability of aircraft carriers during World War II. The greatest initial need for escort carriers, as with FACs, CAMs, and MACs, was to protect merchant shipping in convoys. Transport aircraft to war zones became a critical function after America entered the war.
Some carrier aircraft served in dual roles, such as fighter-bomber and bomber-reconnaissance aircraft. Carrier aircraft functions. Torpedo and dive bombers attacked enemy warships, transports, merchant ships, and land installations. Fighters accompanied bombers on attack missions, protecting them during interceptions by enemy fighters.
The 1942 Design Light Fleet Carrier, commonly referred to as the British Light Fleet Carrier, was a light aircraft carrier design created by the Royal Navy during the Second World War, and used by eight naval forces between 1944 and 2001.
The Casablanca-class escort carrier was a series of escort carriers constructed for the United States Navy during World War II. They are the most numerous class of aircraft carriers ever built. Fifty were laid down, launched and commissioned within the space of less than two years – 3 November 1942 through to 8 July 1944.
This article is part of a series that covers World War II from the vantage point of aircraft carrier operations and is focused upon the types and names of the carriers themselves. It contains complete lists of aircraft carriers that operated at some point during the period from 1937 to 1945.
It became apparent early in the war that control of the air was prerequisite for successful surface action both on land and at sea. [b] [9] For much of the war, Britain and America fought mainly on the seas, [10] [clarification needed] where successful Allied naval operations permitted effective support and reinforcement of troops in North Africa, the Soviet Union, western Europe and the Pacific.
Since World War II, aircraft carrier designs have increased in size to accommodate a steady increase in aircraft size. The large, modern Nimitz class of US Navy carriers has a displacement nearly four times that of the World War II–era USS Enterprise , yet its complement of aircraft is roughly the same—a consequence of the steadily ...