Aircraft carriers have their origins during the days of World War I. The earliest experiments consisted of fitting temporary "flying off" platforms to the gun turrets of the warships of several nations, notably the United States and the United Kingdom. The first ship to be modified with a permanent flight deck was the battlecruiser , which initially had a single flying-off deck forward of the original superstructure. Subsequently, she was modified with a separate "landing on" deck aft and later with a full flush deck. Other ships, often liners, were modified to have full flush flight decks, being the first to have such modification begun. Those first faltering steps gave little indication of just how important the aircraft carrier was to prove to be. During the inter-war years (between the World Wars), Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States built up significant carrier fleets so that by the beginning of World War II, they had 18 carriers between them. The 1940 Battle of Taranto and 1941 Attack on Pearl Harbor in retrospect showed the world that the aircraft carrier was to be the most important ship in the modern fleet. Today, aircraft carriers are the capital ships of the navies they serve in, and in the case of modern US "supercarriers", they embark an air group that is effectively a small air force.

This timeline is an attempt to provide a unified chronology of key dates in carrier service. Aircraft carriers often serve their navies for many decades and this chronology enables the reader to track the progress of the carrier as it has developed alongside the evolution of aircraft for nearly a hundred years.

Pre-carrier history

1849 On 12 July 1849, the Austrian Navy ship was used for launching incendiary balloons. A number of small Montgolfiere hot air ballons were launched with the intention of dropping bombs on Venice. Although the attempt largely failed due to contrary winds which drove the balloons back over the ship, one bomb did land on the city.Military Aircraft, Origins to 1918, p 10, Justin D. Murphy, ABC-CLIO, 2005,

1907 The British Admiralty, according to legend, politely refused the Wright brothers' offer to sell them one or more aircraft, by saying that they could see no place for aviation in naval circles.Australian Naval Aviation Museum (1998), p.2

1910 14 November – First successful launch of an aircraft from a ship, using a temporary wooden platform for a flight deck on the stationary cruiser .The early years, USN official web site

1911 18 January – First deck landing, using a temporary wooden platform on the at anchor ; first use of a tailhook-arrested landing system.

1912 10 January – First launch of an aircraft from a British ship, Charles Samson flies off a platform fixed to the front of the stationary battleship .Sturtivant (1990), p.8 2 May – First recorded flight from a moving ship, Samson flies off , steaming at 10.5 knots.Sturtivant (1990), p.215 Then in June, Samson flies off .

World War I

1914 31 October – First aircraft carrying ship to be sunk in action, (former cruiser) seaplane carrier sunk by U-27.Chesneau (1998), p.79 25 December – Attack on Cuxhaven, the first attack from the sea upon a land target using aircraft (seaplanes carried to within range to bomb the Zeppelin sheds at Cuxhaven).

1915 12 August – First attack using an air-launched torpedo, from a Short Type 184 seaplane flown by Flight Commander Charles H. K. Edmonds from seaplane carrier .269 Squadron History: 1914–1923 5 November – First catapult launch of an aircraft from a ship, .H. M. Friedman and A. K. Friedman (2006)

1916 31 May – First use of an aeroplane during a battle at sea, the Battle of Jutland.Fleet Air Arm Officers' Association web site August – Incomplete Italian liner Conte Rosso purchased by the Royal Navy for completion and conversion to an aircraft carrier, .Chesneau (1998), pp.89–90

1917 February – Incomplete large light cruiser has its forward gun replaced with a flying-off deck.HMS Furious 1917, RN official web site

2 August – First aircraft landing aboard a moving ship, HMS Furious; this ship was subsequently modified with a stern-mounted landing deck in late 1917. 21 August – First air-to-air kill from a ship-launched aircraft, Zeppelin L23 shot down by a Sopwith Pup from cruiser . 2 December – HMS Argus launched.

1918 15 January – laid down;Chesneau (1998), pp.92–93 Hermes was the first ship specifically designed to be built as an aircraft carrier and the first carrier to feature an island superstructure. 28 February – Incomplete Chilean battleship Almirante Cochrane purchased by the Royal Navy to be completed as the carrier .Chesneau (1998), pp.95–96 8 June – HMS Eagle launched. 9 July – First strike by aircraft launched from a carrier, the Tondern raid, an attack by British aircraft from Furious against a German airship base in northern Germany. 14 September – HMS Argus commissioned. 11 November – Armistice signed, signalling the end of WWI.

Between the wars 1919 11 July – authorised to be converted to a carrier. 11 September – HMS Hermes launched. 16 December – laid down.Chesneau (1998), pp.157–158

1920–1929 1920

21 April – USS Jupiter renamed . 1 November – U.S. Navy sinks during an exercise testing aerial bombardment. 6 December – laid down as battlecruiser.Chesneau (1998), pp.159–160

1921 13 November – Hōshō launched.

1922 6 February – Washington Naval Treaty limiting naval forces signed. HMS Furious flush-deck conversion begun. Spanish seaplane carrier is commissioned in the Spanish Navy. 20 March – USS Langley commissioned. 1 July – Battlecruisers and reclassified to be completed as carriers. 27 December – Hōshō commissioned.

1923

July – HMS Hermes commissioned August – Conversion of the French to an aircraft carrier started.Chesneau (1998), pp61-75 and Akagi conversions from battlecruiser to aircraft carrier begun.Chesneau (1998), pp.161–162

1924 26 February – HMS Eagle commissioned. June – Light cruiser carrier conversion started.Chesneau (1998), pp.97–99

1925

Light cruiser carrier conversion started. 7 April – USS Saratoga launched. 22 April – Akagi launched. 1 July – First night deck landing made by F/Lt Boyce flying a Blackburn Dart onto HMS Furious September – HMS Furious re-enters service with flush flight deck. 3 October – USS Lexington launched.

1926 6 May – First night deck landing, aboard .Sturtivant (1990), p.12

1927 25 March – Akagi commissioned May – Béarn commissioned. 16 November – USS Saratoga commissioned. 14 December – USS Lexington commissioned.

1928

5 May – HMS Courageous commissioned as a carrier; first carrier to be fitted with transverse arrestor gear (friction-based).Sturtivant (1990), p.14 31 March – Kaga commissioned.

1929 26 November – laid down.Chesneau (1998), pp.163–164

1930–1939 1930 10 March – HMS Glorious recommissioned as an aircraft carrier. March – HMS Argus placed in reserve.Sturtivant (1990), p.17

1931 2 January – First carrier fitted with hydraulic arresting gear, HMS Courageous. 2 April – Ryūjō launched. 26 September – laid down.

1933

25 February – USS Ranger launched. 9 May – Ryūjō commissioned.

1934

21 May – laid down. 4 June – USS Ranger commissioned. 16 July – laid down.Chesneau (1998), pp.206–210 20 November – laid down.Chesneau (1998), pp.165–166

1935 9 September – First landing of a rotary winged aircraft aboard a carrier – a Cierva autogyro onto HMS Furious 16 September – laid down.Chesneau (1998), pp.100–103 21 December – Sōryū launched.

1936 15 January – Japan exits the Washington Naval Treaty. 1 April – laid down. 4 April – USS Yorktown launched. 8 July – laid down. 3 October – USS Enterprise launched. 25 October – USS Langley taken in hand for conversion to a seaplane tender. 28 December – Flugzeugträger A (Graf Zeppelin) laid down.Chesneau (1998), pp.76–77

1937

29 January – Sōryū commissioned. 26 February – USS Langley recommissioned as a seaplane tender. 13 April – HMS Ark Royal launched. 27 April – laid down.Chesneau (1998), pp.103–107 4 May – laid down. 17 June – laid down. 30 September – USS Yorktown commissioned. 10 November – laid down. 16 November – Hiryū launched. 12 December – laid down.Chesneau (1998), pp.171–172

1938

Takasaki carrier conversion started.Chesneau (1998), pp.169–171 Flugzeugträger B laid down.Emmerlich, R, Kriegsmarine Ships: Aircraft Carrier 12 May – USS Enterprise commissioned. 25 May – laid down. 8 December – Graf Zeppelin launched. 16 December – HMS Ark Royal commissioned; first carrier with deck armour.

1939

21 February – laid down.Chesneau (1998), pp.128–129 4 April – USS Wasp launched. 5 April – HMS Illustrious launched. 1 June – Shōkaku launched. 26 June – laid down.Chesneau (1998), pp.117–118 5 July – Hiryū commissioned. 17 August – HMS Formidable launched.

World War II

1939

1 September – Germany invades Poland, World War II begins. 14 September – HMS Victorious launched. 17 September – HMS Courageous sunk in action. 25 September – laid down. 26 September – First Allied air victory in WWII, a Dornier Do 18 shot down by Blackburn Skua of 803 Squadron from HMS Ark Royal. 27 November – Zuikaku launched. 3 November – laid down.

1940 Conversion of Izumo Maru to carrier started, renamed Hiyō.Chesneau (1998), pp.175–176 Kashiwara Maru carrier conversion started, renamed Jun'yō. HMS Argus recommissioned as training and transport carrier. 28 February – German Flugzeugträger B cancelled while under construction. 26 March – HMS Indomitable launched. 25 April – USS Wasp commissioned. May – Graf Zeppelin construction temporarily suspended. 25 May – HMS Illustrious commissioned; first fully armoured carrier. June – Béarn interned at Martinique. 18 June – HMS Glorious sunk in action. 21 June – Attack on Scharnhorst, first ever torpedo attack by aircraft on a capital ship at sea.Birch 25 June – France falls to Germany. 11 November – Battle of Taranto is the first carrier-based torpedo-bomber attack. 24 November – HMS Formidable commissioned. 14 December – USS Hornet launched. 27 December – conversion of Takasaki completed, commissioned as Zuihō.

1941 Submarine tender Tsurugisaki carrier conversion started. Italian passenger liner Roma carrier conversion started, renamed AquilaChesneau (1998), p.153 28 April – laid down.Chesneau (1998), pp.220–231 May – Incomplete passenger liners Kasuga Maru, Yawata Maru and Nitta Maru carrier conversions started.Ireland (2007), p.119 1 May – laid down as light cruiser .Chesneau (1998), pp.232–236 26 May – German battleship Bismarck disabled by aircraft launched from . Bismarck is later sunk by battleships. 15 May – HMS Victorious commissioned. 24 June – Hiyō launched. 26 June – Junyō launched.

10 July – Taihō laid down.Chesneau (1998), pp.179–180 15 July – laid down. 8 August – Shōkaku commissioned. 2 September – Kasuga Maru carrier conversion completed. 15 September – laid down; Kasuga Maru commissioned as TaiyōChesneau (1998), pp.173 25 September – Zuikaku commissioned. 10 October – HMS Indomitable commissioned. 20 October – USS Hornet commissioned. 13 November – HMS Ark Royal sunk in action.

20 November – HMS Unicorn launched. 1 December – , laid down. 7 December – Japan attacks Pearl Harbor naval base in Hawaii and in Philippines; as a result United States enters World War II. 20 December – Submarine tender Taigei carrier conversion started.

1942 26 January – Tsurugisaki carrier conversion completed, commissioned as Shōhō. February – carrier conversion started by Japan. 16 February – Light cruisers and reclassified for completion as carriers.DANFS, United States Navy 27 February – USS Langley sunk in action. 16 March – laid down as light cruiser. 18 March – laid down.

27 March – Light cruisers and reclassified for completion as carriers; Huntington renamed .