With the introduction of military aircraft, the aircraft carrier has become a decisive warship class.Bishop & Chant, p. 1 In 1911 aircraft began to be successfully launched and landed on ships, with the successful flight of a Curtiss Pusher aboard .Bishop & Chant, p. 8 The British Royal Navy pioneered the first aircraft carrier with floatplanes rather than flying boats, which under-performed compared to land-based aircraft.Bishop & Chant, p. 9 The first true aircraft carrier was ,Polmar, p. 30 launched in late 1917 with a complement of 20 aircraft and a flight deck long and wide. the last aircraft carrier sunk in wartime was the , in Kure Harbour in July 1945. The greatest loss of life was the 2,046 killed on —a landing craft carrier and troop transport with a small flight deck, carrying the Imperial Japanese Army's 64th Infantry Regiment.

Submarines were a major enemy of aircraft carriers, having sunk eighteen throughout the Second World War, including the , the heaviest carrier of the war and the largest object sunk by a submarine, when she was hit by four torpedoes from . Carrier-based aircraft sank sixteen opposing aircraft carriers, and land-based aircraft sank five. Ten were sunk in non-combat zones, six were sunk as target ships, one was scuttled to prevent capture, one was sunk as a block ship, one was sunk by an internal explosion, and one was scuttled after scrapping was refused.

Only three (possibly four) carriers were sunk by gunfire in a surface engagement. was ferrying aircraft to Norway in June 1940 when the German battleships and found her within gun range and opened fire, sinking Glorious and her escorting destroyers. In October 1942, after the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, the Japanese destroyers and are sometimes credited with finishing off the crippled and abandoned American aircraft carrier , but Hornet was already sinking with a 45 degree list after bomb and torpedo damage by aircraft operating from the carriers and , and it is debatable whether their torpedoes really affected Hornets fate. In October 1944, was sunk by naval gunfire primarily from the in the Battle off Samar. Meanwhile, the Japanese light carrier was crippled by US dive bombers, and later finished off by a US cruiser task force.

Brazil Image Ship Type Aircraft component Sinking Date Location Casualties Conditions , later Fleet carrier 40 aircraft 3 February 2023 Atlantic Ocean — Scuttled by the Brazilian Navy after being denied scrapping in Aliaga, Turkey.

France Image Ship Type Aircraft component Sinking Date Location Casualties Conditions later Dixmude Escort carrier 21 aircraft 10 June 1966 Mediterranean Sea — Out of service 1953. Sunk by United States Navy as target.

Germany Image Ship Type Aircraft component Sinking Date Location Casualties Conditions Fleet carrier 42 aircraft 16 August 1947 Baltic Sea — Never completed during World War II and extensively damaged by retreating Germans. Raised but later sunk by USSR as target.

Italy Image Ship Type Aircraft component Sinking Date Location Casualties Conditions Fleet carrier 51 aircraft 19 April 1945 Genova Harbor, Italy —Never completed. Sunk by Italian divers to prevent use as a blockship by Germans. Light carrier 34 aircraft 5 October 1944 Genova Harbor, Italy — Never completed. Sunk by Germans to block Genova Harbor

Japan Image Ship Type Aircraft component Sinking Date Location Casualties Conditions Fleet carrier 66 aircraft 5 June 1942 267 Scuttled following bomb damage from the aircraft carrier at the Battle of Midway landing craft carrier 8 aircraft 15 November 1944 East China Sea 2,046 Torpedoed by Fleet carrier 66 aircraft 27 July 1945 Kure Harbor "Light" Sunk during the attack on Kure Harbour 24–27 July Light carrier 30 aircraft 25 October 1944 903 Sunk by torpedo bombers during the Battle of Leyte Gulf Light carrier 30 aircraft 25 October 1944 1,470 Crippled by dive bombers. Later sunk by cruisers , , , and during the Battle of Leyte Gulf. Escort carrier 27 aircraft 4 December 1943 1,250 Torpedoed by submarine Fleet carrier 53 aircraft 20 June 1944 247 Sunk by torpedo bombers from during the Battle of the Philippine Sea Fleet carrier 53 aircraft 5 June 1942 Midway Atoll 385 Scuttled after damage from USS Enterprise dive bombers at the Battle of Midway Fleet carrier 72 aircraft 5 June 1942 Midway Atoll 811 Scuttled following damage from USS Enterprise dive bombers during the Battle of Midway, Light carrier 48 aircraft 24 August 1942 Solomon Islands 120 Sunk by torpedo bombers and dive bombers during the Battle of the Eastern Solomons Escort carrier 12 aircraft 24 July 1945 — Sunk by aircraft from the Royal Navy Fleet carrier 47 aircraft 29 November 1944 1,435 Torpedoed by submarine Escort carrier 27 aircraft 17 November 1944 East China Sea 1,130 Torpedoed by submarine Light carrier 30 aircraft 6 May 1942 834 Sunk by dive bombers during the Battle of the Coral Sea. Fleet carrier 72 aircraft 19 June 1944 1,272 Torpedoed by submarine during the Battle of the Philippine Sea. Fleet carrier 57 aircraft 4 June 1942 711 Scuttled following bomb damage from the aircraft carrier at the Battle of Midway Fleet carrier 65 aircraft 19 June 1944 1,650 Torpedoed by submarine during the Battle of the Philippine Sea. Escort carrier23 aircraft 18 August 1944 ~790 Torpedoed by submarine off Cape Bolinao, Luzon. Fleet carrier 57 aircraft 19 December 1944 1,238 Torpedoed by submarine Escort carrier 27 aircraft 17 September 1944 239 Torpedoed by submarine Escort carrier 8 aircraft 17 February 1945 Yokohama harbor — Sunk by aircraft from US Navy Light carrier 30 aircraft 25 October 1944 215 Sunk by aircraft from US Navy Task Force 38 during the Battle of Leyte Gulf. Fleet carrier 72 aircraft 25 October 1944 843 Sunk by aircraft from US Navy Task Force 38 during the Battle of Leyte Gulf

United Kingdom Image Ship Type Aircraft component Sinking Date Location Casualties Conditions Fleet carrier 60 aircraft 14 November 1941 Western Mediterranean 1Torpedoed by German submarine on 13 November 1941. Sank next day while under tow to Gibraltar. Escort carrier 8 aircraft 21 December 1941 North Atlantic 73Torpedoed by German submarine Escort carrier 15 aircraft 15 November 1942 516 Torpedoed by German submarine U-151 en route to Gibraltar Fleet carrier 48 aircraft 17 September 1939 North Atlantic 519Torpedoed by German submarine Escort carrier 15 aircraft 27 March 1943 Firth of Clyde 379 Sunk from internal explosion of unknown cause. Fleet carrier 30 aircraft 11 August 1942 Western Mediterranean 131 Torpedoed by German submarine while escorting convoy to resupply Malta Fleet carrier 48 aircraft 8 June 1940 Norwegian Sea 1,207 Sunk by gunfire from German battleships and . Light carrier 20 aircraft 9 April 1942 Indian Ocean east of Batticaloa, Sri Lanka 307 Sunk by Imperial Japanese aircraft.

United States Image Ship Type Aircraft component Sinking Date Location Casualties Conditions Fleet carrier 79 aircraft 14 May 2005 Cape Hatteras — Scuttled after being used as target Escort carrier 27 aircraft 21 February 1945 Off Iwo Jima 318 Sunk by two Japanese kamikaze aircraft during the Battle of Iwo Jima Escort carrier 24 aircraft 29 May 1944 Off the Canary Islands 6 Torpedoed by German submarine U-549 Escort carrier 28 aircraft 25 October 1944 Off Samar Island in the Philippines 147 Sunk by surface ships of the Japanese Center Force during the Battle off Samar Fleet carrier 90 aircraft 27 October 1942 Off the Santa Cruz Islands 140 Crippled by torpedo bombers and dive bombers from Japanese fast carriers, finished by torpedoes from the Japanese destroyers and after failed attempt to scuttle during the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands. Light carrier 30 aircraft 29 September 1951 Farallon Islands — Used as target during Operation Crossroads and later scuttled after decontamination tests Seaplane tender (ex fleet carrier) 34 aircraft 27 February 1942 about 75 mi south of Tjilatjap harbor (Java) 319 Scuttled following bomb hits from Japanese land based bombers Fleet carrier 91 aircraft 8 May 1942 Coral Sea 216 Scuttled after damage from the aircraft carriers and at the Battle of the Coral Sea. Escort carrier 28 aircraft 24 November 1943 off Butaritari Island 702 Torpedoed by Japanese submarine I-175 during the Battle of Makin Escort carrier 28 aircraft 4 January 1945 Sulu Sea 95Scuttled after hit by a land based Japanese kamikaze Fleet carrier 91 aircraft 17 May 2006 off Pensacola, Florida — Sunk to become an artificial reef Light carrier 45 aircraft 24 October 1944 Leyte Gulf 108 Sunk by land-based Japanese bomber during the Battle of Leyte Gulf Escort carrier 28 aircraft 25 October 1944 Leyte Gulf 143 Sunk by Japanese kamikaze aircraft during the Battle off Samar Fleet carrier 91 aircraft 25 July 1946 Bikini Atoll — Sunk as target during Operation Crossroads Fleet carrier 76 aircraft 15 September 1942 Southeast of San Cristobal Island 193 Sunk by the Japanese submarine during the Guadalcanal campaign. Fleet carrier 90 aircraft 7 June 1942 North of Midway Island 141 Crippled by Japanese dive bombers and torpedo bombers from the carrier during the Battle of Midway later finished off by Japanese submarine while under tow.

See also List of sunken battleships List of sunken battlecruisers List of sunken nuclear submarines List of aircraft carriers Timeline for aircraft carrier service

Notes

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References

External links British escort carriers in WW2 German carrier "Graf Zeppelin" Italian carriers in WW2 Japanese carriers in WW2 US carriers in WW2