History of the Aircraft Carrier-AircraftCarrierinfo

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History of the aircraft carrier
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Most early aircraft carriers were conversions of
ships that were laid down (or had even served) as
different ship types cargo ships, cruisers,
battle cruisers, or battleships. During the
1920s, several navies started ordering and
building aircraft carriers that were specifically
designed as such. This allowed the design to be
specialized to their future role, and resulted in
superior ships. During the Second World War,
these ships would become the backbone of the
carrier forces of the US, British, and Japanese
navies, known as fleet carriers.
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World War II saw the first large-scale use of
aircraft carriers and induced further refinement
of their launch and recovery cycle leading to
several design variants. The USA built
small escort carriers, such as USS Bogue, as a
stop-gap measure to provide air support for
convoys and amphibious invasions.
Subsequent light aircraft carriers, such
as USS Independence, represented a larger, more
militarized version of the escort carrier
concept. Although the light carriers usually
carried the same size air groups as escort
carriers, they had the advantage of higher speed
as they had been converted from cruisers under
construction.
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