The first aircraft carriers were devised soon after the birth of military aviation during the First World War; these first types were made from the conversion of other military units and they were poorly efficient. During the Second World War aircraft carriers emerged as the main power in the sea, unseating battleships from this position. In those frantic years it was still common to obtain an aircraft carrier from the conversion of military or civilian units, with more or less success. One of the best achieved of these realizations was the Aquila, obtained from the transformation of the transatlantic Roma.

The Cold War brought the perfectioning of aircraft carriers with angled decks, nuclear propulsion and dimensions never seen until then in the North American models. The Soviet Navy, until then of discreet characteristics, had to grow to match the power of the new adversary, bringing alternative ways of understanding aircraft carriers, creating the smaller but very efficient cruiser-carriers of the classes Moskva and Kiev, heavily armed antiship and antisubmarine units which could operate autonomously and in which the specialized helicopters had a prominent role. The subsequent Kuznetsov class adopted a conventional aircraft carrier layout but antiship and antisubmarine weapons would still be present, unlike in western designs.

Nimitz class aircraft carrier

American aircraft carriers of the NIMITZ class (1972-2006)

USS Enterprise aircraft carrier

American aircraft carrier USS ENTERPRISE in 1969

USS Hornet aircraft carrier

American aircraft carrier USS HORNET in 1942

USS Saratoga aircraft carrier

American aircraft carrier USS SARATOGA circa 1935

HMS Illustrious aircraft carrier

British aircraft carrier HMS ILLUSTRIOUS in 1943

HMS Eagle aircraft carrier

British aircraft carrier HMS EAGLE in 1942

HMS Ark Royal aircraft carrier

British aircraft carrier HMS ARK ROYAL in 1939

HMS Furious aircraft carrier HMS Furious aircraft carrier

British aircraft carrier HMS FURIOUS in 1918 and 1941

Bearn aircraft carrier

French aircraft carrier BEARN in 1938

Clemenceau aircraft carrier

French aircraft carrier CLEMENCEAU in 1977

Aquila aircraft carrier

Italian aircraft carrier AQUILA in 1945

Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier

Soviet/Russian aircraft carrier ADMIRAL KUZNETSOV (1985)

Kiev antisubmarine aircraft carrier cruiser Kiev antisubmarine aircraft carrier cruiser

Soviet/Russian antisubmarine aircraft carrier cruiser KIEV (1972)

Moskva antisubmarine helicopter carrier cruiser Moskva antisubmarine helicopter carrier cruiser

Soviet/Russian antisubmarine helicopter carrier cruiser MOSKVA (1965)

Taiho aircraft carrier

Japanese aircraft carrier TAIHO in 1944

Akagi aircraft carrier

Japanese aircraft carrier AKAGI in 1941

Soryu aircraft carrier

Japanese aircraft carrier SORYU in 1936

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