List of aircraft carriers

The list of aircraft carriers contains all aircraft carriers listed alphabetically by name.

Those listed in Bold are currently in active service.

For listings by other methods, see:

* List of aircraft carriers by country
* List of aircraft carriers by type
* List of aircraft carriers in service
* Timeline for aircraft carrier service

A

* "Abraham Lincoln" (navy|USA): "Nimitz" class nuclear-powered supercarrier; commissioned in 1989; currently in service
* "Activity" (navy|UK): Escort aircraft carrier; converted cargo ship hull; served in World War II
* "Admiral Gorshkov" (navy|SUN - navy|RUS): "Kiev" class hybrid aircraft-carrying cruiser; commissioned in 1982 as "Baku", renamed in 1990, and retired in 1996; sold to India to become INS "Vikramaditya"
* "Admiral Flota Sovetskogo Soyuza Kuznetsov" (navy|RUS): "Admiral Kuznetsov" class STOBAR aircraft carrier; launched in 1985 as "Tblisi"; renamed and operational from 1995; currently in service
* "Akagi" (navy|Empire of Japan): Fleet carrier; converted "Amagi" class battlecruiser; commissioned in 1927; sunk at the Battle of Midway 4 June 1942
* "Akitsu Maru" (navy|Empire of Japan) launched 24 Nov. 1941 sunk by USS Hake 12 Jan. 1944
* "Albatross" (navy|AUS): Seaplane carrier commissioned from 1928 to 1933
* "Albion" (navy|UK): "Centaur" class aircraft carrier; launched in 1947; converted into a commando carrier in 1962; sold in 1973
* "Altamaha" (navy|USA): "Bogue" class escort carrier; commissioned in 1942 and immediately transferred to the United Kingdom as HMS "Battler"
* "Amagi" (navy|Empire of Japan): Fleet carrier; converted "Amagi" class battlecruiser; destroyed in 1923 Great Kantō earthquake;
* "Amagi" (navy|Empire of Japan): "Unryū" class light fleet carrier; built in 1944; sunk in 1945
* "America" (navy|USA): "Kitty Hawk" class supercarrier; commissioned from 1965 to 1996
* "Antietam" (navy|USA): "Essex" class fleet carrier, commissioned from 1945 to 1963
* "Aquila" (navy|ITA): Converted liner "Roma" begun in 1941; construction stopped in 1943; broken up in the 1950s
* "Archer" (navy|UK): "Long Island" class escort aircraft carrier; commissioned in 1941; became "Empire Lagan" aircraft ferry in 1944; returned to the United States in 1946
* "Ark Royal" (navy|UK): Fleet carrier in service from 1939; sunk in 1941
* "Ark Royal" (navy|UK): "Audacious" class carrier in service from 1955 to 1978
* "Ark Royal" (navy|UK): "Invincible" class STOVL carrier in service from 1985
* "Arromanches": (navy|FRA): "Colossus" class light carrier in service from 1946 to 1974
* "Attacker" (navy|UK): "Bogue" class escort carrier; former USS "Barnes"; commissioned from 1942 to 1946 when returned
* "Avenger" (navy|UK): Sunk in 1942

B

* "Baku" (navy|SUN): 42,000 ton "Kiev" class hybrid aircraft-carrying cruiser. Commissioned in 1982 and renamed "Admiral Gorshkov" on 4 October 1990.
* "Barnes" (navy|USA): 14,400 ton "Bogue" class escort carrier, commissioned 30 September 1942 and immediately transferred to the United Kingdom as HMS "Attacker".
* "Bataan" (navy|USA): 11,000 "Independence" class light carrier, commissioned 17 November 1943 through 9 April 1954.
* "Battler" (navy|UK): 14,400 ton "Bogue" class escort carrier, former USS "Altamaha", commissioned 31 October 1942 through 12 February 1946 when returned to the United States.
* "Béarn" (navy|FRA): Converted "Normandie" class battleship in service from 1927 to 1948
* "Belleau Wood" (navy|USA): 11,000 ton "Independence" class light carrier, commissioned 31 March 1943 through 13 January 1947, later transferred to France as "Bois Belleau".
* "Bennington" (navy|USA): 27,100 ton "Essex" class fleet carrier, commissioned 6 August 1944 through 15 January 1970.
* "Bismarck Sea" (navy|USA): 7800 ton "Casablanca" class escort aircraft carrier. Commissioned 20 May 1944 and sunk 21 Feb 1945 by kamikaze attack off Iwo Jima.
* "Biter" (navy|UK): "Charger" class escort carrier in service from 1940 to 1945
* "Block Island" (navy|USA): 9800 ton "Bogue" class escort aircraft carrier. Commissioned 8 March 1943 and sunk 29 May 1944 off the Canary Islands by U-549.
* "Bogue" (navy|USA): 9800 ton "Bogue" class escort carrier. Commissioned 26 September 1942.
* "Bon Homme Richard" ((navy|USA): 27,100 ton "Essex" class fleet carrier, commissioned 26 November 1941 through 2 July 1971.
* "Bonaventure" (Royal Canadian Navy): 16,000 ton "Majestic" class light aircraft carrier. Acquired from the United Kingdom as the incomplete HMS "Powerful" after 1950, commissioned 15 January 1957, decommissioned 3 July 1970, and broken up in 1971.
* "Boxer" (navy|USA): 27,100 ton "Essex" class fleet carrier, commissioned 16 April 1945 through 1 December 1969.
* "Bulwark" (navy|UK): "Centaur" class aircraft carrier; launched in 1948; converted into a commando carrier in 1960
* "Bunker Hill" (navy|USA): 27,100 ton "Essex" class fleet carrier, commissioned 24 May 1943 through 9 January 1947.

C

* "Cabot" (navy|USA): "Independence" class light carrier; commissioned from 1943 to 1955; transferred to Spain as "Dédalo"
* "Campania" (navy|UK)
* "Campinas" (navy|FRA): Seaplane carrier; launched 1896 and converted from merchant ship in 1915; fate unknown
* "Carl Vinson" (navy|USA): "Nimitz" class nuclear-powered supercarrier; commissioned in 1982; currently in active service
* "Casablanca" (navy|USA): "Casablanca" class escort carrier; commissioned from 1943 to 1946
* "Cavour" (navy|ITA): V/STOL aircraft carrier; former "Andrea Doria"; planned for commissioning in 2008
* "Chakri Naruebet" (navy|THA): Modified "Principe de Asturias" V/STOL aircraft carrier; commissioned 10 August 1997; currently in active service
* "Charles De Gaulle" (navy|FRA): Nuclear powered aircraft carrier commissioned 2001
* "Chitose" (navy|Empire of Japan): sunk in 1944.
* "Chiyoda" (navy|Empire of Japan)
* "Chuyo" (navy|Empire of Japan)
* "Clemenceau" (navy|FRA): "Clemenceau" class carrier commissioned from 1961 to 1997
* "Colossus" (navy|UK): "Colossus" class aircraft carrier
* "Commandant Teste" (navy|FRA): Seaplane tender and aircraft transport commissioned from 1932 to 1942
* "Commencement Bay" (navy|USA): "Commencement Bay" class escort carrier
* "Constellation" (navy|USA): "Kitty Hawk" class supercarrier; commissioned from 1961 to 2003
* "Courageous" (navy|UK): Sunk in 1939
* "Coral Sea" (navy|USA): "Midway" class fleet carrier; commissioned from 1947 to 1990
* "Cowpens" (navy|USA): "Independence" class light carrier; commissioned from 1943 to 1947

D

* "Dasher" (navy|UK): 8200 ton aircraft carrier, sunk March 27, 1943
* "Dedalo" (navy|ESP, 1918): (ex-British merchantman "Neuenfels", converted to seaplane carrier in Spain 22 October 1918) - Sunk 18 July 1937
* "Dédalo" (navy|ESP, 1967): 11,000 ton "Independence" class light carrier, former USS "Cabot", served from 1967 through August 1989.
* "Dixmude" (navy|FRA): "Charger" class light carrier in service from 1945 to 1966
* "Dwight D. Eisenhower" (navy|USA): 104,000 ton "Nimitz" class nuclear-powered supercarrier in active service, commissioned 18 October 1977.

E

* "Eagle" (navy|UK): Aircraft carrier sunk in 1942
* "Eagle" (navy|UK): "Audacious" class aircraft carrier in service from 1951 to 1972
* "Empire MacAlpine" (navy|UK): Merchant Aircraft Carrier converted from a grain hauler
* "Enterprise" (navy|USA): "Yorktown" class fleet carrier commissioned from 1938 to 17 February 1947
* "Enterprise" (navy|USA): Unique nuclear-powered supercarrier in service since 1961
* "Essex" (navy|USA): "Essex" class aircraft carrier commissioned from 1942 to 1969
* "Europa" (navy|Nazi Germany): Converted merchant cancelled during conversion in 1942
* "Europa" (navy|ITA): (1895) (merchantman converted to seaplane carrier) stricken 1920

F

* "Flugzeugträger" B (navy|Nazi Germany): "Graf Zeppelin" class aircraft carrier; laid down in 1938; cancelled in 1939 and scrapped in 1940
* "Foch" (navy|FRA): "Clemenceau" class carrier; commissioned from 1963 to 2000; sold to Brazil as NAeL "São Paulo"
* "Forrestal" (navy|USA): "Forrestal" class supercarrier, commissioned from 1955 to 1993
* "Foudre" (navy|FRA): Seaplane carrier; stricken in 1921
* "Franklin" (navy|USA): "Essex" class fleet carrier, commissioned from 1944 to 1947
* "Franklin D. Roosevelt" (navy|USA): "Midway" class fleet carrier, commissioned from 1945 to 1977
* "Furious" (navy|UK)

G

* "George H. W. Bush" (navy|USA): 104,000 ton "Nimitz" class nuclear-powered supercarrier under construction, laid down 6 December 2005.
* "George Washington" (navy|USA): 104,000 ton "Nimitz" class nuclear-powered supercarrier in active service, commissioned 4 July 1992.
* "Georges Pompidou" (navy|FRA): (tentative name) modified version of UK "Queen Elizabeth" class design
* "Giuseppe Garibaldi" (navy|ITA): (1983) - Fleet flagship
* "Giuseppe Miraglia" (navy|ITA): (1923) (seaplane carrier) BU 1950
* "Glorious" (navy|UK): 22,500 ton aircraft carrier, sunk June 8, 1940
* "Graf Zeppelin" (navy|Nazi Germany): (1938) (not completed) - Captured by the USSR April 1945 but not used as a carrier. Sank after used as bomb & torpedo target by USSR, August 1947.

H

* "Hancock" (navy|USA): 27,100 ton "Essex" class fleet carrier, commissioned 15 April 1944 through 30 January 1976.
* "Harry S. Truman" (navy|USA): 104,000 ton "Nimitz" class nuclear-powered supercarrier in active service, commissioned 25 July 1998.
* "Hermes" (navy|UK): 10,850 ton aircraft carrier, sunk April 9, 1942
* "Hermes" (navy|UK) (1959): "Centaur" class aircraft carrier built in 1944-1959. In service until 1984 with Royal Navy, and then transferred to India as "Viraat"
* "Hiyō" (navy|Empire of Japan) launched 24 June 1941 and commissioned 31 July 1942 sunk 21 June 1944
* "Hiryū" (navy|Empire of Japan) launched 15 November 1937, commissioned 5 July 1939, sunk at the Battle of Midway 5 June 1942.
* "Hornet" CV-8 (navy|USA): 25,600 ton "Yorktown" class fleet carrier, commissioned 20 October 1941 and sunk 27 October 1942.
* "Hornet" CV-12 (navy|USA): 27,100 ton "Essex" class fleet carrier, commissioned 29 November 1943 through 26 June 1970.
* "Hōshō" (navy|Empire of Japan)

I

* "Illustrious" (navy|UK): 23,000 ton "Illustrious" class aircraft carrier, decommissioned 1954.
* "Illustrious" (navy|UK): 20,600 ton "Invincible" class aircraft carrier commissioned 20 June 1982.
* "Independence" (navy|USA): 11,000 ton "Independence" class light carrier, commissioned 14 January 1943 through 28 August 1946.
* "Independence" (navy|USA): 81,100 ton "Forrestal" class supercarrier, commissioned 10 January 1959 through 30 September 1998.
* "Independencia" (navy|ARG): 18,300 ton "Colossus" class aircraft carrier. Purchased as HMS "Warrior" from the United Kingdom in 1958 and decommissioned 1970, broken up.
* "Intrepid" (navy|USA): 27,100 ton "Essex" class fleet carrier, commissioned 16 August 1943 through 15 March 1974.
* "Invincible" (navy|UK): 20,600 ton "Invincible" class aircraft carrier commissioned 11 July 1980. Decommissioned 3 August 2005.
* "Iwo Jima" (navy|USA): 27,100 ton "Essex" class fleet carrier, construction cancelled 12 August 1945 and scrapped.

J

* "Joffre" (navy|FRA): "Joffre" class fleet carrier never launched
* "John C. Stennis" (navy|USA): "Nimitz" class nuclear-powered supercarrier in service since 1995
* "John F. Kennedy" (navy|USA): Modified "Kitty Hawk" class supercarrier in service from 1968-2007
* "Junyō" (navy|Empire of Japan)

K

* "Kaga" (navy|Empire of Japan): 38,200 ton converted Tosa-class fast battleship hull, commissioned 17 November 1921. Sunk 4 June 1942, Battle of Midway.
* "Kaiyo" (navy|Empire of Japan): ex-liner "Argentina Maru", converted to 13,600 ton escort carrier in 1943. Scrapped 1946 to 1948.
* Hr.Ms. "Karel Doorman" (Netherlands): (ex-British HMS "Nairana", transferred in 1946) - Returned to Royal Navy for disposal in 1948 and replaced by HMS Venerable
* "Katsuragi" (navy|Empire of Japan): 28,300 ton Unryū-class carrier, commissioned August 10, 1944. Scrapped 1947.
* "Kearsarge" (navy|USA): 27,100 ton "Essex" class fleet carrier, commissioned 2 March 1946 through 13 February 1970.
* "Kiev" (navy|SUN): (1972) BU 2000 India
* "Kitty Hawk" (navy|USA): 60,000 ton "Kitty Hawk" class supercarrier in active service, commissioned 21 April 1961.
* "Kumano Maru" (navy|Empire of Japan)

L

* "La Fayette" (navy|FRA): 11,000 ton "Independence" class light carrier, former USS "Langley", serving from 1951 through 1963.
* "Lake Champlain" (navy|USA): 27,100 ton "Essex" class fleet carrier, commissioned 3 June 1945 through 2 May 1966.
* "Langley" (navy|USA): 11,500 ton light aircraft carrier and seaplane tender, commissioned from 20 March 1922 through 27 February 1942 when sunk.
* "Langley" (navy|USA): 11,000 ton "Independence" class light carrier, commissioned 31 August 1943 through 11 February 1947, later transferred to France as "La Fayette".
* "Leningrad" (navy|SUN)
* "Lexington" (navy|USA): 33,000 ton "Lexington" class fleet carrier, commissioned from 14 December 1927 through 8 May 1942 when sunk.
* "Lexington" (navy|USA): 27,100 ton "Essex" class fleet carrier, commissioned from 17 February 1943 through 8 November 1991.
* "Leyte" (navy|USA): 27,100 ton "Essex" class fleet carrier, commissioned 11 April 1946 through 15 May 1959.
* "Long Island" (navy|USA): 13,500 ton "Long Island" class escort carrier, commissioned 2 June 1941 through 26 March 1946.

M

* "Magnificent" (Royal Canadian Navy): Commissioned 1946 to 1956 and returned to the Royal Navy in 1957 and placed in reserve; stricken in 1965 and scrapped
* "Melbourne" (navy|AUS): "Majestic" class aircraft carrier commissioned 1955 to 1982
* "Midway" (navy|USA): "Midway" class aircraft carrier, commissioned 1945 to 1992; now a museum ship
* "Minas Gerais" (navy|BRA): "Colossus" class light carrier, commissioned from 1960 to 2001
* "Minsk" (navy|SUN): Commissioned from 1975; towed to People's Republic of China in 1998 for use as casino
* "Monterey" (navy|USA): "Independence" class light carrier; commissioned 1943 to 1956
* "Moskva" (navy|SUN)
* "Myoho" (navy|Empire of Japan)

N

* HMCS "Nabob" (Royal Canadian Navy): (1943) - BU in Taiwan around 1977
* "Nairana" (navy|UK): 11,420 ton aircraft carrier
* "Nigitsu Maru" (navy|Empire of Japan)
* "Nimitz" (navy|USA): 104,000 ton "Nimitz" class nuclear-powered supercarrier in active service, commissioned 3 May 1975.
* "Nord" (1898) (merchantman converted to seaplane carrier) fate unknown
* "Novorossiysk" (navy|SUN): (1978) BU 1997 South Korea

O

* "Onuyo" (navy|Empire of Japan): 17,830 ton aircraft carrier
* "Oriskany" (navy|USA): 27,100 ton "Essex" class fleet carrier, commissioned 25 September 1950 through 30 September 1975, scuttled as reef 17 May 2006, Florida.

P

* "Painleve" (navy|FRA): Planned "Joffre" class fleet carrier never laid down
* "Pas-de-Calais" (1898) (merchantman converted to seaplane carrier) fate unknown
* "Peter Straßer" (navy|Nazi Germany): "Graf Zeppelin" class carrier never launched
* PH 75 (navy|FRA): Planned nuclear-powered amphibious assault ship never laid down
* "Philippine Sea" (navy|USA): "Essex" class fleet carrier, commissioned from 1946 to 1958
* "Powerful" (navy|UK): "Majestic" class carrier
* "Princeton" (navy|USA): "Independence" class light carrier, commissioned in 1943 and sunk in 1944
* "Princeton" (navy|USA): "Essex" class aircraft carrier, commissioned from 1945 to 1970
* "Principe de Asturias" (navy|ESP): STOL carrier in service since 1988
* "Puncher" (navy|UK): "Bogue" class escort carrier commissioned from 1944 to 1946

R

* "Randolph" (navy|USA): 27,100 ton "Essex" class fleet carrier, commissioned 9 October 1944 through 13 February 1969.
* "Ranger" (navy|USA): 14,500 ton aircraft carrier, commissioned 4 June 1934 through 18 October 1946, sold for scrap.
* "Ranger" (navy|USA): 81,100 ton "Forrestal" class supercarrier, commissioned 10 August 1957 through 10 July 1993.
* "Reprisal" (navy|USA): 27,100 ton "Essex" class fleet carrier, laid down 1 July 1944 but cancelled 12 August 1945.
* "Ronald Reagan" (navy|USA): 104,000 ton "Nimitz" class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in active service, commissioned 12 July 2003.
* "Rouen" (1912) (merchantman converted to seaplane carrier) captured by Germany 1940s
* "Ruler" class (navy|UK): 11,420 ton aircraft carrier class of 24
* "Ryuho" (navy|Empire of Japan)
* "Ryūjō" (navy|Empire of Japan)

* "Sable" (navy|USA): freshwater aircraft carrier of the United States Navy during World War II
* "Saipan" (navy|USA): "Saipan" class light carrier commissioned from 1946 to 1965
* "San Jacinto" (navy|USA): "Independence" class light carrier commissioned from 1943 to 1947
* "São Paulo" (navy|BRA): "Clemenceau" class carrier, commissioned since 2000
* "Saratoga" (navy|USA): "Lexington" class fleet carrier, commissioned from 1927 to 1946
* "Saratoga" (navy|USA): "Forrestal" class supercarrier, commissioned from 1956 to 1994
* "Seydlitz" (navy|Nazi Germany): Converted "Admiral Hipper" class cruiser, cancelled during conversion in 1943
* "Shangri-La" (navy|USA): "Essex" class fleet carrier, commissioned from 1944 to 1971
* "Shimane Maru" (navy|Empire of Japan)
* "Shinano" (navy|Empire of Japan)
* "Shinyo" (navy|Empire of Japan)
* "Shōhō" (navy|Empire of Japan)
* "Shōkaku" (navy|Empire of Japan)
* "Sōryū" (navy|Empire of Japan) Launched 23 December 1935 commissioned 29 December 1937 sunk at the Battle of Midway 4 June 1942
* "Sparviero" (navy|ITA): Converted liner "Augustus" sunk during construction in 1944
* "Surcouf" (navy|FRA): Aircraft carrying submarine in service from 1934 to 1942
* "Sydney" (navy|AUS): "Majestic" class carrier commissioned from 1948 to 1973

T

* "Taihō" (navy|Empire of Japan)
* "Taiyō" (navy|Empire of Japan)
* "Tarawa" (navy|USA): "Essex" class fleet carrier commissioned from 1945 to 1960
* "Terrible" (navy|UK): "Majestic" class aircraft carrier completed as HMAS "Sydney"
* "Theodore Roosevelt" (navy|USA): "Nimitz" class nuclear-powered supercarrier commissioned since 1986
* "Tbilisi" (navy|SUN): Original name for "Admiral Kuznetsov"
* "Ticonderoga" (navy|USA): "Essex" class fleet carrier commissioned 1944 to 1973

U

* "Ulyanovsk" (navy|SUN) (-) (not completed) BU 1992. A sister ship was probably planned.
* "United States" (navy|USA): 68,000 ton unique super-heavy aircraft carrier, laid down 18 April 1949, but cancelled 23 April 1949.
* "Unryū" (navy|Empire of Japan)
* "Unyo" (navy|Empire of Japan)

V

* "Valley Forge" (navy|USA): "Essex" class fleet carrier; commissioned 1946 to 1970
* "Varyag" (navy|SUN - UKR - navy|CHN): "Admiral Kuznetsov" class STOBAR aircraft carrier; Former "Riga"; launched in 1988; later owned by Ukraine and sold to the People's Republic of China for use as entertainment complex and transferred there in 2002
* "Veinticinco de Mayo" (navy|ARG): "Colossus" class aircraft carrier commissioned from 1968 to 1997
* "Vengeance" (navy|UK - navy|AUS): "Colossus" class light carrier commissioned 1945 to 1955
* "Verdun" (navy|FRA): Planned attack carrier cancelled during development in 1961
* "Vikramaditya" (navy|IND): Former "Admiral Gorshkov" planned to enter service in 2008
* "Vikrant" (navy|IND): Former HMS "Hercules"; commissioned 1957 to 1997 for preservation at a museum at Mumbai.
* "Vikrant" (Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (Project 71) (navy|IND): 37,500 ton aircraft carrier Under construction; planned commissioning in 2012. Two will be built.
* "Vindex" (navy|UK)
* "Viraat" (navy|IND): Former HMS "Hermes"; purchased in 1986

W

* HMCS "Warrior" (Royal Canadian Navy): (1944) - Returned to Britain 1948, sold to Argentina 1958 and renamed "Independencia", BU 1971
* "Wasp" (navy|USA): 14,700 ton unique aircraft carrier, commissioned 25 May 1940 through 15 September 1942 when sunk.
* "Wasp" (navy|USA): 27,100 ton "Essex" class fleet carrier, commissioned 24 November 1943 through 1 July 1972.
* "Wright" (navy|USA): 14,500 ton "Saipan" class light carrier, commissioned 9 February 1947 through 27 May 1970.
* "Wolverine" (navy|USA): 7,200 ton unique aircraft carrier, commissioned 12 August 1942 through 1945.

Y

* "Yamashiro Maru" (navy|Empire of Japan)
* "Yorktown" (CV-5) (navy|USA): 19,900 ton "Yorktown" class aircraft carrier, commissioned 30 September 1937 through 7 June 1942 when sunk.
* "Yorktown" (CV-10) (navy|USA): 27,500 ton "Essex" class aircraft carrier, commissioned 15 April 1943 through 27 June 1970, became a museum ship.

Z

* "Zuihō" (navy|Empire of Japan): sunk in 1944.
* "Zuikaku" (navy|Empire of Japan): sunk in 1944.

References

* [http://www.hazegray.org/navhist/carriers/ Haze Gray & Underway World Aircraft Carrier Lists]
* Warrilow, Betty. "Nabob, the first Canadian-manned aircraft carrier" Owen Sound, Ont. : Escort Carriers Association, 1989.