List of aircraft carriers


This list of aircraft carriers contains aircraft carriers listed alphabetically by name. An aircraft carrier is a warship with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft, that serves as a seagoing airbase.
Included in this list are ships which meet the above definition and had an official name or designation, regardless of whether they were or were not ordered, laid down, completed, or commissioned.
Not included in this list are the following:
"In commission" denotes the period that the ship was officially in commission with the given name for the given country as an aircraft carrier as defined above.

Numbers of aircraft carriers by country

The table below does not include submarine aircraft carriers, seaplane tenders, escort carriers, merchant aircraft carriers, helicopter carriers, or amphibious assault ships

The total includes ships under construction, but not ships that never got past the planning stage.

CountryIn serviceIn reserveDecommissionedUnder constructionNever completedTotal
Argentina00200 2
Australia00300 3
Brazil00200 2
Canada00300 3
China20210 5
France10707 15
Germany00007 7
India10210 4
Italy20012 5
Japan002024 26
Netherlands00400 4
Russia10402 7
Spain10201 4
Turkey00010 1
Thailand10000 1
United Kingdom2041013 56
United States1205511280
TOTAL 23 0 147 7 48 226

List of countries that have operated aircraft carriers

Argentina

Retired:
Retired:
Active:
Retired:
Retired:
Active:
Under construction:
Planned:
Active:
Retired:
Never completed:
Never completed:
The two planned Italian carriers and were seized by the Germans after the Italian Armistice but not completed.

India

Active:
Planned:
Retired:
Active:
Under construction:
Never completed:
Active:
Retired:
Sunk:
Hōshō, Junyō, Katsuragi and Ryuho survived the war and these were scrapped by 1948.
Never completed:
Retired:
The Russian Navy was established in December 1991, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, most Soviet aircraft carriers were transferred over to Russia.
Active:
Retired:
The Soviet Union was dissolved in December 1991, most Soviet aircraft carriers were transferred to Russia, with the exception of Varyag which was transferred to Ukraine. Ulyanovsk was scrapped before the Soviet Union was dissolved.
In service at the end of Soviet state:
Never completed:
Active:
Retired:
Never completed:
Under construction:
Role changed:
Never completed:
Active:
Retired:
Sunk:
Never completed:
The United States Navy is a blue-water navy that is the world's largest and most powerful because, among its numerous other vessels, it has the world's largest fleet of nuclear powered aircraft carriers. The carrier fleet currently comprises the and supercarriers. These carriers serve as the centerpieces and flagships for the Navy's Carrier Strike Groups, with their embarked carrier air wings and accompanying ships and submarines, which strongly contribute to the US ability to project force around the globe. The following is a complete list of all the US Navy's carriers and classes to date, and their status:
Active
Under construction
Planned
Reserve
*
Retired
Retired
Retired
Sunk
Cancelled before completion
Escort aircraft carrier
The United States Navy also had a sizable fleet of escort aircraft carriers during World War II and the era that followed. These ships were both quicker and cheaper to build than larger fleet carriers and were built in great numbers to serve as a stop-gap measure when fleet carriers were too few. However, they were usually too slow to keep up with naval task forces and would typically be assigned to amphibious operations, often seen in the Pacific war's island hopping campaign, or to convoy protection in the war in the Atlantic. To that end, many of these ships were transferred to the Royal Navy as part of the US-UK lend-lease program. While some of these ships were kept for a time in reserve after the war, none survive today, as they have all since been sunk or retired and scrapped. The following are the classes and stand-alone ships of the US Navy's escort carriers;
Amphibious assault ship
The United States Navy also has several full-deck, amphibious assault ships, which are larger than many of the aircraft carriers of other navies today. These ships are STOVL-capable and can carry full squadrons of fixed-wing aircraft, such as the V/STOL AV-8B Harrier II and the STOVL F-35 Lightning II, along with numerous rotary-wing aircraft. Their primary purpose though, is usually to serve as the centerpiece and flagship for an Expeditionary Strike Group or Amphibious Ready Group, carrying US Marine Corps Expeditionary Units and their equipment close to shore for amphibious landings and departures. The following are ships and classes of US Navy amphibious assault ships;
Active
Under construction
Retired

Citations